Mononobe no Futo is a character from Touhou Project, debuting in Ten Desires. She is a shikaisen, formerly a hermit practising Taoism. During the war between the Soga and Mononobe clan, Mononobe no Futo betrayed her family and allied with the Soga. As a result, the Soga were victorious. Later, Toyosatomimi no Miko, a saint, was afraid to undergo the process of immortality alone and used Futo as her test subject. Futo trusted Miko and suspended animation first. After confirming that Futo wasn't decaying, Miko went to rest after. Their resurrection was being prevented by Buddhist monks.
During Ten Desires, Futo eventually woke up and encountered the heroines. At first, she thought that the heroine came to celebrate her resurrection and decided to test her abilities on them (Reimu's story), protect the mausoleum from grave-robbers (Marisa's story), to remove her bewilderment (Sanae's story) or was simply being attacked (Youmu's story). After she was defeated, she was surprised on how strong the heroine was. After noticing that the heroine was being surrounded by divine spirits she quickly left making a pardon, except in Youmu's story where she escorted her to the mausoleum, as Futo thought that Youmu was a shikaisen.
Appearance[]
- (Touhou 13) Has grey eyes and light grey hair tied with a long ponytail. Wears a tall dark blue hat decorated with white strings. Wears a white robe with teal and red strings stitched on the edge of the sleeves. She has one large black button and a smaller one underneath on the robe. Has black strings on the collar. She has a teal and gold blouse underneath. Has an indigo skirt with white fluff underneath. Has dark blue shoes with yellow anklets.
- (Touhou 13.5) Same as above, except she looks younger, she is shorter, her hair is brown-ish.
Personality[]
Futo is described as being gentle at heart, but unable to adapt to modern times - and modern Gensokyo in general. Hieda no Akyuu points out in Symposium of Post-mysticism that because of it, she has an extremely "hermit-like" personality. Even in ancient times, she clung to Taoism rather than Buddhism, indicating a dislike of change and a favoring of old ways. She is friendly towards humans, even going so far as to save them on occasion, but hostile towards youkai for some reason. Miko describes her as being a scaredy-cat, though her "fear" of Buddhist statues led to her burning them (and temples) down to the ground (as the head of the Mononobe clan).
Relationships[]
- Toyosatomimi no Miko (Ally)
- Soga no Tojiko (Ally)
- Seiga Kaku (Ally)
Trivia[]
- Futo's backstory is based on the Mononobe clan.
- Her appearance looks similar to the male version of Shingyoku.
- Futo's power allows her to change the shape and properties of her inanimate surroundings, like a form of alchemy. This means she can soften the fabric of clothing, strengthen walls, change the warmth of air and water, or build altars and pillars as she wishes. While Futo can't alter the form of living creatures, she can supposedly tan the skin or shape hair.
- Her name 布都 (Futo) means 'Capital Cloth'. Her surname is derived from the Mononobe clan, but it can mean 物 (Mono) 'Thing' and 部 (Nobe) 'Part'. Her name 'Futo' (布都) is based on Mononobe no Moriya's younger sister and Soga no Umako's wife's name, 'Futsuhime' (布都姫).
- If Futo is Mononobe no Futsuhime, she would be one of the two characters who have had children, along with Suwako Moriya.
- If Futo is Mononobe no Futsuhime, and if Soga no Tojiko is Tojiko no Iratsume, then Futo would be Tojiko's mother. Tojiko no Iratsume's father was Soga no Umako, Futsuhime's husband. However, this is only a speculation as there is no canonical statement saying Futo is Futsuhime and Tojiko is Tojiko no Iratsume.
- If Futo is Mononobe no Futsuhime, Futo would be one of the four characters who have married (the others being Seiga Kaku, Watatsuki no Toyohime and Watatsuki no Yorihime).
- She's also one of the three characters that owns a boat, the others being Komachi Onozuka and Minamitsu Murasa (she rams enemies with her boat).