Patchouli Knowledge

Overview

Patchouli Knowledge is a highly intelligent anemic witch who lives in the Scarlet Devil Mansion, where she spends most of her time reading or writing magic books within the library . She seems to be capable of casting extremely powerful spells, combining many elements in a single spell, however, her anemia and general poor health prevent her from reciting a large amount of these spells.

She has purple hair and eyes, and wears pyjama-like clothing as well as a night cap, which are her daily wear, according to ZUN . She also has many ribbons tied to her hair.

Touhou 06 - The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil

During the events of The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil , Patchouli attempts to prevent the heroine from progressing any deeper into the mansion, however, she fails to do so. Later on, during the Extra Stage, she once again tries to prevent the heroine from getting too deep into the mansion, this time using much more powerful magic as she is "feeling better" on that day, however, she once again failed.

Character Profile

"The Girl of Knowledge and Shadow

Patchouli Knowledge

Ability: the power to control fire, water, wood, earth, metal, sun, and moon

The 4th stage boss. She is the friend of the young mistress and is a witch who has lived for 100 years. The "One-week Girl".

Her weak constitution makes her poor at physical combat, but she makes up for for that with her sheer variety of magical attacks. Patchouli's ribbon is not a holy charm, but rather an accessory that boosts magic power.

Since she's a genuine witch, her magical power is terrifying. However, because of the anemia she was born with, she often cannot recite the spells. She also seems to have a vitamin A deficiency.

Maybe her windowless library room is dusty. No, obviously, it's very dusty. But, since she spends all her time near books she considers them a part of herself, and cannot stand to be separated from them. This is how she has spent about a hundred years."

Touhou 7.5 - Immaterial and Missing Power

During the events of

Immaterial and Missing Power

, she decides to investigate the recent strange events, although during other character's scenarios, she is visited by several of them as they believe that she of all people must know what the mysterious mist is, despite the fact that getting a straight answer from her tends to be a difficult task.

Character Profile

"The Unmoving Great Library, Patchouli Knowledge

Species: Witch

Residence: Scarlet Devil Mansion

Ability: The ability to use magic (mainly elemental magic)

A witch who has settled down in the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Unlike the mistress of the house, she is not weak against sunlight; however, she does not go out much.

She spends her days in a library where the sunlight cannot reach. This is so that the books won't be damaged, but the unhealthy atmosphere is bad for her health.

She doesn't have a very proactive personality, but rather always walks her own path. However, she is always interested where knowledge is concerned and will proactively go and try to acquire it. She does everything by the book, but still makes a lot of mistakes.

Although she is quite skillful, her complete lack of physical fighting ability can't be helped. She pretty much never attempts to directly punch or kick her opponent. She makes up for this with her knowledge of a great variety of powerful magic. She's more at ease using magic than trying to attack physically. Dividing the magic she uses according to the days of the week is a secret hobby of hers, but no one has realized this."

Touhou 10.5 - Scarlet Weather Rhapsody

Character Profile

"Patchouli Knowledge

Race: witch

Occupation: witch

Place of residence: Scarlet Devil Manor

Ability: the power to use magic (primarily elemental magic)

Personality: dark and taciturn.

Dark just means she doesn't interact well with others - it's not a reflection of her outlook."

Touhou 11 - Subterranean Animism

In

Subterranean Animism

, Patchouli is troubled by the large amount of spirits emerging from the geyser, and decides to go and see

Yukari

, who comes up with a plan to make the humans explore the underground.

Character Profile

"The Great Unmoving Library

Patchouli Knowledge

Species: magician

Ability: power to use magic

A magician that lives in the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

She noticed the great number of earth spirits that came from the geyser. On further investigation, they turned out not to be earth spirits, but evil spirits that looked just like phantoms. These evil spirits were spirits that bore a grudge agaisnt the world. They were a threat to humans, youkai, and fairies alike.

She wanted to find out what was causing the evil spirits to appear, but going herself would have been quite dangerous. Troubled, Patchouli went to see Yukari. Yukari, who was also surprised by the incident, came up with a plan to make the humans go explore the underground."

Trivia

• Her first name, "Patchouli" is derived from the name of an herb used in perfumes and incense. Her second name, "Knowledge", is a clear reference to her large amount of knowledge.
• She is known as the "One-week Wizard" or "Wizard of the Week" as her elemental magics coincide with the days of the week on the Japanese calendar.
• Patchouli is often featured in the endings of most of the games after The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil.
• It is rumoured that Patchouli was the inspiration for the character Yue Ayase from the manga Negima! Magister Magi Negi, as, much like Patchouli, Yue is a short and quiet girl with long, purple hair and an unexcitable personality. She also has a fondness in books and magic.
• Patchouli's "Non-Directional Laser" was copied by Marisa and used during the events of Imperishable Night.