Flandre Scarlet is a vampire in the Touhou Project series of video games, first appearing in the sixth game in the series and first of the Windows-era games, Embodiment of Scarlet Devil. The younger sister of Remilia Scarlet, the titular Scarlet Devil, Flandre is also commonly known as the Sister of the Devil by those few who know her, a reference to her sister's own title, or "that person" by her sister.
Character[]
Flandre look to be a small child, below the age of 10. Despite this, she is at least 500 years old, having been locked in the Scarlet Devil Mansion for 495 years. She has red eyes and short, blonde hair, and is commonly seen wearing a red dress and vest, a pink undershirt and socks, and a pink mob cap with a red ribbon. She also wields a wand, believed to be the mythical Lævateinn, the wand used by the Norse god Loki and, during Ragnarok, Surtr. Her most notable feature is her wings. Unlike the bat-like wings of her sister, Flandre's wings lack the patagium, the thin membrane of skin between the body and the wing tip. Instead, eight crystals hang from them, arranged by colour - light blue, blue, purple, pink, orange, yellow, light green and returning to light blue.
Flandre suffers from emotional instability due to her isolation. Whilst this isn't clearly shown in the games, she is described as nice and quiet, but at the same time, "rather nuts," and is shown in the fan-made anime Fantasy Kaleidoscope - Memories of Phantasm to destroy her own toys due to the treatment from her sister and the other members of the Scarlet Devil household, and almost killing Marisa Kirisame in her attempts to play with the intruder. Although she doesn't get angry often, she is considered to be quite strange, making it difficult for others to understand her. In Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red, it's suggested that she isn't very good at talking to other people, though she can get rather sassy and uppity when talking with her sister.
History[]
According to Flandre, she hasn't left the Scarlet Devil Mansion for about 495 years, sleeping in the basement all that time. This has been theorised by Hieda no Akyuu to be because she is a shut-in person, but in actual fact, it is because of her peculiar personality making it difficult to have a conversation with her.
Following the Scarlet Mist Incident, Flandre makes her way out of the Mansion's basement whilst Remilia is visiting the Hakurei Shrine. With no other choice, Patchouli Knowledge, the Mansion's resident librarian, uses her magic to cause a rainstorm around the mansion to stop her from leaving. Both Reimu Hakurei and and Marisa Kirisame head off to stop her, with the events that happen being based on the character chosen by the player. When Reimu finds Flandre, she demands an explanation as to why Remilia has been bothering her at the shrine. They decide to have a danmaku battle, in which Reimu eventually emerges victorious, and Flandre calms down afterwards. Meanwhile, upon meeting Flandre, Marisa introduces herself as Reimu. However, Flandre is aware of Marisa's identity, and see through the lie. After Marisa defeats her, they trade quotes from Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, adapted to fit their current situation.
In April 2006, Aya Shameimaru reports on the strange explosion of a meteorite above Gensokyo. She learns that Flandre was the one who destroyed it and gets permission from Remilia to interview the younger vampire. However, Aya becomes increasingly confused by Flandre's explanation, where she claims she destroyed it by squeezing the eye of the meteor in her hand. It doesn't help when Remilia explains the event herself, claiming that the meteorite was fated to be aimed at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and that Flandre was fated to destroy it.
In her follow-up interviews, Aya interviews Flandre about the explosion and Remilia's information. Flandre gives her the same explanationa and, when questioned about Remilia's account, says that her sister likes to act like she knows what's happening. Remilia interrupts, chastising Flandre for the way she talks about her older sister, and confirming that everything Flandre said was true, insinuating that Aya doesn't understand.
Abilities[]
Vampirism - As a vampire, Flandre possesses all the abilities of one, including superhuman strength and agility, regenerative ability and the shapeshifting, specifically into the form of a bat. She can also fly, though whether this is due to her vampirism or some sort of magical ability is unknown, as her wings appear to be incapable of carrying her. This also means she shares all the vampire weaknesses, including the sun, running water and garlic.
Destroying Absolutely Anything and Everything - Flandre possesses the ability to destroy anything she wants, seemingly with no drawbacks or weaknesses. She does this by manipulating the "eye" of the object - the point where the tension is highest. She can move the "eye" into the palm of her hand, then pour her power into it, allowing her to crush the object with a light squeeze. According to Flandre, everything has an "eye," and she holds those "eyes" in her hand. In her interview with Aya on how she destroyed a meteorite aimed at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, she explained to Aya that she "went squeeze and it went boom," as a way of describing how she does this.
Cloning - Flandre is able to clone herself, creating up to three identical copies that help her in battle. Attacks from these clones are just as capable of defeating her enemies as her own abilities. These clones appear to be able to think independently to some level, though due to the spell card used to summon them being under the category "Slave Type," it's likely that they're under the command of the original.
Magic - Like a lot of characters in the Touhou Project, Flandre possesses magical abilities, determined by the spell card system created shortly after the Vampire Incident.
List of Spells[]
- Taboo "Cranberry Trap"
- Taboo "Lävatein"
- Taboo "Four of a Kind"
- Taboo "Kagome, Kagome"
- Taboo "Maze of Love"
- Forbidden Barrage "Starbow Break"
- Forbidden Barrage "Catadioptric"
- Forbidden Barrage "Clock that Ticks Away the Past"
- Secret Barrage "And Then Will There Be None?"
- Q.E.D. "Ripples of 495 Years"
- Taboo "Forbidden Fruit"
- Taboo "Forbidden Games"
- Scarlet Devil Sign "Bloody Catastrophe"
- Scarlet Divine Sign "Catastrophe of Seventeen Articles"
- Scarlet Star Sign "Superhuman Catastrophe Pilgrimage"
Trivia[]
- A couple of things related to Flandre reference to the works of Agatha Christie, specifically the novel And Then There Were None. Besides her talk with Marisa at the end of Embodiment of Scarlet Devil after the two of them have finished their duel, her spell card "And Then Will There Be None?" has been confirmed to be a reference to the novel, and her theme, U.N. Owen Was Her? refers to U.N.Owen, the alias of the person that sent out the invitations which led to the events of the novel.
- Both Flandre and her sister, Remilia possess a weapon linked to the Norse gods (Loki's Lævateinn and Odin's Gungnir respectively). Whilst it is unknown if these are the actual weapons of the gods, the editor comment for Flandre's spell card Taboo "Lävatein" reads "Really Flandre, you shouldn't take things that aren't yours," suggesting it is the actual Lævateinn.