King of the Silent Bliss of Nirvana
The usual outfit of Zanmu Nippaku. She was once a monk, but you'd never know that looking at her now.
Christmas Eve Party at Hakurei Shrine
Zanmu's Christmas Eve party outfit. It was made at Kourindou. Even on holy nights, oni are allowed to have fun.
The usual outfit of Zanmu Nippaku. She was once a monk, but you'd never know that looking at her now.
Ganshou (a Touhou LW original) refers to magma. This is an apt temperament for Zanmu, a human-oni who rules over her own Hell. Zanmu is endowed with Sun Essence as an intelligent ruler and Star Essence due to her transgressions. The alluring and arrogant Sun Essence resists the diverse and uncooperative Star Essence, but it is weak to the cooperative and indecisive Moon Essence. The diverse and uncooperative Star Essence resists the cooperative and indecisive Moon Essence, but it is weak to the charming and arrogant Sun Essence. The combination of Sun Essence and Star Essence cancels out any resistance or weakness to Moon Essence.
The ability of Zanmu Nippaku, the heretical human-oni monk. Despite her transgressions, abandoning any hope in humanity's future, and being an oni, she has managed to attain a state of nothingness. A state of nothingness does not refer to a sense of futility or lack of purpose. It is knowing, without any doubt, that nothing in the universe has value. Since Zanmu has attained this state, you may expect her to be apathetic or nihilistic, but that couldn't be further from the truth. It's quite likely that the whole reason why she decided to cause an incident (or rather be suspected of causing an incident and then resolving it) around the time when ownership over land had been called into question was because of this philosophy. The idea that nothing has value is in accordance with Buddha's teachings. The true path to salvation lies in freeing oneself from all worldly desires. Simply observing the rules and traditions of a Buddhist temple is not enough. If you feel that something in this world has value, then it will become an attachment, holding you back on your path to enlightenment. Recognizing that the present has no value lets you have hope in the future. What makes Zanmu an oni is that she sought this future not in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss but in Hell. Zanmu and Byakuren are both monks who became disillusioned with humanity. Zanmu and Hecatia both rule over their own Hells. Zanmu and Okina both orchestrated incidents from behind the scenes to announce their presence in Gensokyo. However, the person with the most in common with Zanmu has to be Reimu. Though their exact relationships may differ, like Reimu, Zanmu is surrounded by allies who trust her. These allies include the leaders of the Animal Realm clans, her three spies within those clans, Hisami, and the denizens of Former Hell. They all trust Zanmu because, like a true oni, she's utterly ruthless. She showed this when she decided to abandon Former Hell during her reformation of Hell. Another similarity with Reimu is that while her allies may depend on her, she does not depend on them. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to call Zanmu the Hell version of Reimu. In all likelihood, if Zanmu had known more about Reimu before she started her incident, it would have been quite different.
Zanmu Nippaku's Spread Shot (a Touhou LW original). The attack of a former monk who renounced her humanity. Zanmu gave up all hope in humanity's future when she witnessed the foolishness of war. It was the norm for humans to kill other humans on the battlefield, while it was supposed to be forbidden for monks to take life under any circumstance. However, this didn't stop temples from becoming armories or monks from carrying swords wherever they went. Zanmu became disillusioned in humans by their hypocrisy and complete lack of conviction.
Zanmu Nippaku's Focus Shot (a Touhou LW original). The attack of a king of Hell who rules over the dead. Youkai are born from human fears. However, oni aren't like other youkai, with some speculating that they existed first. Regardless, there still wouldn't be any oni without humans. Some oni, called human-oni, started out as humans. But don't be fooled. They are not half-human, half-oni. They are oni through-and-through and every bit as terrifying.
Zanmu Nippaku's Spell Card. She attacks with pure spirits. Zanmu has been a manager of Hell since before it was relocated, so she has a lot of experience with handling spirits. She is also an expert at manipulating animal spirits, perhaps because she absorbed some to supposedly grant them salvation. However, she also sacrificed her flesh to a starving animal, a seemingly selfless act reminiscent of Buddha. There's no doubt that Zanmu was a true Buddhist monk.
Zanmu Nippaku's Spell Card. She rules over an unimaginably vast Hell in this attack. Zanmu is the one who proposed the creation of a new Hell, abandoning Former Hell in the process. Only a true oni could devise such a bold and cold-hearted plan. As a result, the youkai of Former Hell admire, fear, and, in some ways, envy Zanmu. You might expect some oni to look down on Zanmu since she used to be human, but, in truth, there is not a single oni in Hell who doesn't respect her.
Zanmu Nippaku's Last Word (a Touhou LW original). She demonstrates the underlying principle of nothingness in this attack. Zanmu used to be a human monk, so where did she falter? When did she become an oni in both body and spirit? Perhaps we'll never know. Nevertheless, it's clear that Zanmu's convictions have not changed at all from when she was a human. And they didn't change while she was becoming an oni or at any time after she became one. Her only transgression was becoming an oni and falling to Hell. From her perspective, it is the world of humans that changed, not her.
If the world is at fault, the only choice is to break with conventions and create your own.
Nothingness is not a sense of futility or a lack of purpose. It is necessary to build the future.
Zanmu shares the characteristics of both humans and oni, making her one of the most intelligent minds in Hell.