Rider (Fate/Crossover - Marisa Kirisame)

**Rider** (ライダー, *Raidā*) is the servant of ??? in the ??? Holy Grail War.

"It ain't magic if it ain't flashy! Danmaku's all about firepower!" - Marisa Kirisame

## Profile

### Identity

Rider's true identity is **Marisa Kirisame**, a human magician, and is one of the most important sub-characters of the series (according to series producer ZUN). Her personality is sometimes described as disagreeable, but in some other titles, straightforward. Either way, she is a very self-confident person that likes to stick her nose into every trouble out of curiosity.

During the events of Story of Eastern Wonderland, she made her first appearance as a minion of Mima, to prevent Reimu from reaching her boss, but was defeated. Since then, she has appeared in all but one title of the Touhou series (and some non-Touhou titles too), usually sided with Reimu, but sometimes against her.

She is also known as a hard worker, who's trying to catch up to Reimu with her secret training and magic development. That makes a good contrast to other humans appearing in the series, most of them have some kind of natural born talent (Reimu) or ability (Sakuya). So she is sometimes referred as the "most human-ish human" in the series.

Marisa is the author of The Grimoire of Marisa, a collection of notes about spellcards used by her and other danmaku users she has encountered.

### Appearance

* Marisa Kirisame's appearance
* Marisa's casual appearance
1/2
In general, Marisa is depicted with blonde hair and yellow eyes. She wears clothes with a black and white color scheme, consisting of a black vest and skirt, white waist apron and undershirt, and a black witch hat with a white bow. Her hair is commonly braided on one side with a bow on the end. She sometimes wears dark blue clothes instead, such as in Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom, Subterranean Animism, or the fighting game spin offs from Hopeless Masquerade onwards.

Her exact appearance varies slightly between games and print works, such as having differently colored hat bows, varying hair lengths and style, and different aprons. In Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, she wears a white full apron with a black undershirt. In Perfect Cherry Blossom, she wears a pink capelet and has no braid. In Phantasmagoria of Flower View and Ten Desires, her bows are purple. She wears dark blue clothes with a blue capelet in Subterranean Animism. Her outfit in Undefined Fantastic Object has a brown apron with an 'M', brown hat bow, a red bowtie, and she carries a wand. She wears a crescent moon accessory on her chest in Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom. She has pink scarf and gloves and has snowflake patterns on her apron in Hidden Star in Four Seasons. In Wily Beast and Weakest Creature, she has cat-shaped patterns on her clothes. In 100th Black Market, Marisa has pale blonde hair and red eyes. Her hair flows loosely without any bows in her hair. The three rows of buttons on her outfit have been updated to be more colorful, with the upper row being yellow, the middle row being green, and the bottom row being blue. She also now has a red bowtie on her outfit.

### Personality

Marisa is very straightforward and informal with everyone. She can be condescending, as if trying to make fool of others, and often has difficulty expressing sympathy. She's quick to act if she hears anything interesting. Marisa is also a habitual liar, but she makes no effort to actually deceive as her lies are extremely obvious. However, she's shown to have intelligence. Her personality appears to be somewhat charming due to the friends she has and her ability to walk into the Scarlet Devil Mansion so casually. Marisa takes great pride in her status as the second strongest human in Gensokyo, and is somewhat miffed when people ignore her in favor of Reimu's status as shrine maiden. She puts more thought into her words than Reimu, and occasionally has to caution the shrine maiden from accidentally spilling the truth at an inopportune time[5]. In later appearances, Marisa has revealed that she does care about the well-being of Gensokyo, but she conceals it underneath her usual rowdy self.

She has a mania for collecting things and may have a hoarding disorder. She's unyielding and uncooperative. As a hard worker, she's very diligent, but she doesn't like others to know that.

Unlike most characters, Marisa is known to use a distinct speech tone. The most typical and known example of this is the use of the sentence ending particle ze (ぜ). "Ze" used at the end of verb stems delivers a "mannish" and "impolite" sound to the listener/reader. Ze is mostly used in a context to express one's will to act (similar to "let's" in English), and using it in other cases sound somewhat unnatural, perhaps "phony" or "showy". While she does speak in a rather "manly" tone, she doesn't speak in a "rough" and "masculine" language, but in an "impolite/casual" and "boyish" one.

In the PC-98, Marisa's way of speaking included "~da ze" at the end of sentences and "~ka?" at the end of questions as well as using watashi (私, lit. "I") (frequently considered to be masculine). However, in Story of Eastern Wonderland, she used atai (あたい, lit. "I") and the expression "kyahaha", which are feminine. Other than the fourth stage in Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream and Lotus Land Story, her use of "I" had become "私", but she laughed with "ufufu". Furthermore, in Mystic Square she didn't laugh, and, other than femininity, she had become pretty much the same as she is now. Also, although in Embodiment of Scarlet Devil and Perfect Cherry Blossom there are a few traces of PC-98 references, she didn't say "~desu wa" in the PC-98 canon as she does today.

In the endings of the later PC-98 games her speaking style was pretty much the same as she is now today, and in the earlier game Phantasmagoria of Dim.Dream, Chiyuri Kitashirakawa had a speaking style resembling Marisa in Windows canon. This could have been one source of influence. Although at first in Shuusou Gyoku, she spoke femininely, but immediately she then began to use a speaking style that's the same as she uses now.

## Abilities

Marisa is a normal human with no innate abilities, but she has trained herself in magic, using exotic mushrooms as ingredients and her Mini-Hakkero as a power source. The majority of her spells rely on power over finesse, and are themed after stars and other astronomical phenomena. Despite her best spiritual affinity being with water, her preferences lead her to rely mostly on light and heat magic. As a result of her research, Marisa is also knowledgeable in explosives. She is an Eastern magician who takes a Western approach to magic, the opposite of Patchouli Knowledge. Many of Marisa's best-known spells are replicas of spells used by other characters which fit her tastes, though she has also experimented with them to create improved versions.

Her range is at least tens of meters with Danmaku (Her firing range should be comparable to Sakuya's, who can throw knives at at least 36 meters). It becomes more "Interplanetary" with Magic Space "Asteroid Belt" (This spell card can pull away two large planets).

She is considered to be an exceptional destructive magician, somewhat comparable to most incident solvers. Has considerable knowledge about mushrooms due to tasting them often and being a magician primarily. She somehow built a telescope on her house). Her sense is reduced to one-third when against coldness.

### Skills

#### Class Skills

* Riding (B+ Rank): At this rank, Rider can figure out and handle any kind of vehicle or animal with incredible skill. Additionally, this skill actually increases in rank if she is piloting any kind of aircraft, whether big or small. Of course, there is only one kind of object she would be piloting to any extent…

* Magic Resistance (B Rank): At this rank, Rider is capable of ignoring a spell with a chant below three verses, as well as being heavily resistant to other effects. Additionally, Rider herself can ‘graze’ certain spells, rendering them to, at best, a slight inconvenience in most cases. However, the spells she can graze are ones that do not require chants. Any other kind of spell she cannot avoid via such an effect.

#### Personal Skills

* Item Creation (B+ Rank): For Marisa, most of her time. that isn’t spent engaging in Spell card battles or hanging around the shrine, is spent on creating and inventing more uses for her magic. Whether that involves liberal use of mushrooms she's picked up from the forest around her home, or ‘borrowing’ certain expressions of magic from others, she’s made progress in her field through sheer effort.

Traditionally, this is one of the main class skills of the Caster class. Allowing for the creation of magical items, whether for battle or for daily use. Rider possesses this skill due to her legend being heavily tied into creating or modifying magical items for her benefit. Whether for simple curiosity, convenience, or for spell card fights.

While the rank of the skill would allow Rider to make a fair amount of differing items for her use, she specializes in things that could be described as ‘flashy’. Whether potions or other deadly concoctions, this magician is someone who cares for visual appeal more than anything else. She could create more daily life creations by making it technically flashy, even if in the end it would lack proper substance, but Rider is the type of person to go all in or not at all.

* Youkai Slayer (A- Rank): Gensokyo was a land separate from the world, enclosed in a barrier that accepts everything but doesn’t let go of anything. It was created to preserve fantasy, and to preserve those ancient traditions that had given birth to Gods and Youkai. Alas, just that separate space alone was enough to keep Gods and Youkai alive, so they needed humans to be inside as well.

Thus, those humans were all placed within a human village and were taught to fear Youkai and respect the Gods to ensure that the balance of power was kept in flow. As a result, almost every human in the village feared youkai, and couldn’t hope to stand against them. Yet… there were always going to be youkai who overstepped their bounds and attacked the village or humans that became youkai to be free of some responsibility. So, someone had to be there to stop them.

While the Hakurei Shrine Maiden was who many thought as the one who’d enact this task of youkai slaying, there was another who was just as adept at taking youkai down. That, of course, was the Ordinary Magician, Rider.

This skill is a direct representation of all of the youkai and beasts Rider has defeated in life, and just how renowned she had become as a result of it. When faced with any kind of phantasmal species or monstrous beasts, whether a hydra, a vengeful spirit, or even a dragon, Rider will gain a full rank to all of her parameters. This effect increases with just how ‘fantastical’ her opponent is. She also receives further increases in her stats if what she is facing is described as a ‘youkai’.

Additionally, she is also far more likely to ‘discover’ the weakness of the creature if she wasn’t already aware of it. Whether by accidentally figuring out the Hydra’s weakness to fire or that some dragons require a charge up to fire their breath, Rider manages to figure it out all the same. It does not give her otherworldly insight or some kind of supernatural future sight, it simply gives her a higher chance to discover it on her own. Leading her to be quite effective in her duty as a ‘yokai slayer’. She needs to be if she wants to keep up with that red-white Shrine Maiden… and what better way than pure dedication?

* Protection from Arrows (A++ Rank): Spell Card duels were all about dodging, weaving through complex patterns and rapid attacks to come out on top and attain victory over your foe. Whether through attrition via dodging or outdoing them with your own fire power. Agility was perhaps the most important part of succeeding in a danmaku fight, even more so than having an innate ability to support you or even the ability to use magic in the first place. Since, if you couldn't dodge any attacks, you wouldn't be able to compete in the slightest with those who could. No matter how overwhelming you're power. Without speed, one could not succeed in a Spell card duel. Yet, on the same token, even the fastest couldn't hope to succeed without experience in such battles. So, they could easily be played by something someone with experience could escape.

And, among those in Gensokyo, there was almost no one who was as experienced or swift as Rider when it came to such battles.

Protection from Arrows is a skill that denotes the ability to deal with projectiles through extraordinary means, such as sensing the air or the opponent's killing intent. This skill is notable in that it is something one is born with, such as the legendary Hound of Chulainn who could avoid even Noble Phantasms if he has a visual on them. That is not the case for Rider, for Marisa Kirisame. She was not born with this ability; she had no innate talent at dodging or avoiding projectiles. Yet, she was perhaps the foremost example of raw blistering speed and impossible maneuverability when one thought of such a thing. The reason was simple, her ability was the result of years of trial and error and endless training to surpass all others. And, just perhaps, in her field of agility and dodging danmaku, she had done just that.

This skill is the ultimate representation of Rider's immense cultivated talent in Spell Card duels, specifically her ability to dodge seemingly anything thrown at her. If an attack can be considered a projectile, whether it was blisteringly fast or terrifyingly slow, whether it was invisible or wide enough to blot out the sky, whether it was just one almighty attack or enough projectiles to imitate a rainstorm, Rider can dodge it. Weaving through attacks without a single touch, somehow managing to escape an all-consuming blast due to quick thinking, or even dodging something she couldn't have possibly seen. All of them were things Rider had done before, so what was following through one more time? It could be considered one of the greatest possible defenses against projectiles a servant could have.

She was completely peerless in her field, but... not even this skill allowed the impossible. The one 'type' of projectile attack she cannot dodge are attacks that cannot possibly be dodged. Perhaps due to them not actually traveling, or they sabotage one's ability to dodge, or even simply due to its AOE being far too great for Rider to escape. This skill cannot violate the odds and make the impossible possible, as it is a reflection of Rider's talent in life. Of course, even when faced with her sole 'weakness', Rider would fearlessly barrel forward regardless.

...Maybe, just maybe, that was the secret to her success.

* Dual Slayer (A Rank): In Gensokyo, there were few who didn't know of the flashiness of a certain magician. From the usually peaceful human village all the way to the far reaches of youkai mountain, everyone had seen something from her. Whether it was simple danmaku or her signature move, everyone had seen something of the shooting star that was the Ordinary Magician. Yet, they rarely if ever saw her, just the overwhelmingly bright after-effects she always brought with her, like a streaking comet that rocketed through the sky. Her blazing speed made it so even the most eagle-eyed of individuals sometimes missed her in the time it takes them to blink.

This skill acts as partial combination of both Godspeed and a variation of Mana Burst. Representing Rider's blinding speed that she proudly proclaimed as the best in Gensokyo, beat by none and only equaled by some. Unlike Godspeed, however, Blazing Star cannot normally be built up simply by being in a fight. It requires Rider to 'graze' something mid-combat, which then translates into increasing her agility heavily based on just what she had grazed. The more powerful the attack or the more plentiful the attack, the most agility she gains from the action. The moment she leaves a fight, the 'graze' she had built up disappears, along with the bonus to her agility. Of course, she can also briefly massively increase her agility stat via expending magical energy (as well as graze). The main difference from most mana bursts, however, is that Rider's use of it can only affect her agility, it cannot provide any other bonus to her stats no matter how much energy she puts into it.

* The Incident Resolving Magician (EX Rank): Gensokyo was a land of fantasy, a land of impossibilities and things long forgotten from the world outside it. As a result, almost anything was possible inside. Common sense was essentially lost when it came to everything within the land. But, even in a place of magic, there were events that were far beyond even the normal of Gensokyo. A vampire blocking out the sun with scarlet mist, a night that seems to never end, the sudden resurrection of a saint, an invasion from the moon, or even the chaotic overturning of the seasons. These occurrences were extraordinary even among the unordinary, so they were dubbed Incidents. And since they could threaten the stability of Gensokyo at large if they went unaddressed, someone had to do something about them. Someone had to go out and search for the source, then when it was found, to resolve the incident.

While there were many who ended up attempting to or succeeding in ending incidents, there were only two who were widely renowned as the premier 'Incident Solvers'. Reimu Hakurei, the Shrine Maiden who even the greatest of youkai feared... and Rider, Marisa Kirisame, the Ordinary Magician. Individually or together, they fought against all-powerful youkai, ancient almighty gods, the highly advanced people of the moon, and many, many more opponents. No matter who she faced, Marisa managed to triumph over them to bring an end to the incident. Even with the odds seemingly stacked against her as a 'mere' human, she was never brought to a loss.

This skill is not something Rider possessed in life, nor is it some gift or blessing from a divine being. It is the direct manifestation of her reputation of winning despite seemingly impossible odds, somehow defeating gods and demons despite only being a human, one that had no inherent talent or abilities beyond her own dedication. Fundamentally, it is a skill that allows for the impossible to be possible, as long as Rider rides forth without hesitation like she always has done. It does not allow for others to do what she has done, even if they all imitate what she did perfectly. It is not a skill that can be replicated, nor can it truly be relied upon to get her out of a situation. But... when the odds are truly stacked against her, and it seems like a 'simple human' couldn't hope to do anything more than grovel... Marisa always found her own way forward, even if it should have been unfeasible for anyone else.

That is, to say, as long as her desire to keep moving burns bright, the chance to escape even certain death will open.

### Noble Phantasm

#### **Sungrazer: "Trusted Broom of the Human Magician"**

What was an essential tool for a magician? Their own grimoire of research? Perhaps a library of magical books or even a specific ancient item that acts as the centerpiece of their magic? Maybe it was just their own innate talent that acted as that most important piece to one’s own power.

Well, if you were to ask Rider, one of the most essential items a magician would need is a broom. Specifically, one can fly on to ride through the sky. Thus, she made a broom, one that was made of completely ordinary bamboo with no prior history, innate magic, or even her own magical tampering, and used it as just part of her appearance. She flew on her own power, with the broom just acting as an easy extension to her movements.

As a result, the broom wouldn’t normally be a noble phantasm, if carried over at all to Rider as a servant. Since, in reality, it had no legend of its own since she could fly on her lonesome.

However, over the many years of usage, over the many duels and incidents it’s been through, and its close proximity to so much magic… a strange growth began. Somehow, in some way, the broom started becoming something new, something more than ordinary. Despite the bamboo of its handle being long dead, leaves began to sprout from it, completely outside of Rider’s own magic. It became far more durable than a broom had any right to be and somehow became even lighter than it was originally to allow better maneuverability. That growth and change only continued as it was exposed to more magic, but not to the point it became burdensome to its sole owner.

Faced with this strange change that occurred over the years, Rider had no choice but to give her trusted ‘steed’ a name, something perfect for something that had allowed her, in its own way, to escape and defeat the greatest of gods and most feared of youkai. Something that had braved Hell, Heaven, the Moon, and everything in between. Pondering this conundrum, a name suddenly snapped into her head.

Sungrazer was a perfect name for something that had flown close to the sun and survived. And thus, a new legend was formed. It was the confirmation ‘it’ had needed, as the one and only mount of the Ordinary Magician she would ever use.

As a Noble Phantasm, Sungrazer acts as Rider’s sole mount, and the direct reason she is credited as a member of the Rider Class in the first place. It allows anyone riding it to be able to fly, even if they aren’t Marisa herself or even a mage in the first place. Additionally, it can be utilized as a weapon, as its durability can allow it to block most physical attacks. Of course, as a broom, the amount of damage it can actually take or deal isn’t much, so utilizing it as such should be a last resort. It’s also capable of firing projectiles itself at Rider’s command, even if she isn’t directly touching it.

However, the most benefits are gained when actively used as its original purpose. That, of course, was being the mount of Rider. When she is riding it, her agility reaches a level that could only be considered ‘unmatched’.

She is capable of dodging even the most unpredictable attacks like they weren’t anything special and rendering even the most overwhelming of onslaughts a pleasant workout she would be willing to go through again. Whether melee or ranged, with her broom, Rider is unreachable and untouchable to basically all manner of attacks. As one of the greatest, if not the greatest Spell card duelist, it's expected.

Indeed, truly it's a perfect mount for someone like Rider. Someone who makes use of anything and everything to become a great magician. No matter how insignificant or ‘low quality’ they may be.

…

But, just maybe, there is something more that resides within it. The magic that animates it, which caused dead bamboo to grow once again, is not something that originated from Marisa herself. She did not make it change, she did not make it gain the ability to fire danmaku, and she surely didn’t give it the ability to fly on its own. So, just what caused it?

Even if such an answer is unknown, what it means is quite simple. If exposed to more magic, or maybe just when faced with potential mortal danger to its wielder, it may just change again. It may just act on its own to protect or assist its master. Tools, especially when they are so well-used and immersed in magic, tend to act on their own, after all.

#### **Mini-Hakkero: "Eight Trigram Furnace, Go Love-colored Master Spark!"**

There was a girl, a completely ordinary human girl. A girl who, more than anything, wanted to do magic, to be like those great magicians of the myths she had heard of, and to fly through the sky.

Alas, such a thing was impossible. After all, she was completely and utterly normal. She had no innate ability, she had no natural talent for magic, hell, she didn’t even have the ability to use it without assistance! What could she possibly do to reach those great witches and wizards of legends?

One day, she decided that only one path was open to her. To move to that Forest of Magic that lurked beyond the village, supposedly full of youkai, fairies, and all manner of magic, and to never give up on that dream of becoming a great magician. No matter who opposed her, no matter what barrier tried to stop her. She would become a magician to surpass all others.

But… she needed a tool for that, a tool to meet all of her needs and to allow her studying of magic to even occur. That tool came to her from an old family friend when she left that family behind, a handheld furnace he had used as a heater he had made himself but had far greater potential than something simple like that.

That was how she had gained her most prized possession, the Mini-Hakkero.

And with it, the long path to her ultimate goal to become a great magician was opened. After all, it was useful for both research and for combat, acting as the cornerstone of her whole world of magic. Without it… her life of youkai slaying, incident resolving, and spell card battles could have never been. And to that, she is truly grateful.

Rider’s Mini-Hakkero is an incredibly powerful magical device, utilizing the magic native to Gensokyo and the ‘magic’ of the Modern age, capable of outputting enough power to turn entire mountains to ash in one attack with just its own innate heat. Rider can change its level of power at will, ranging from nearly nonlethal in its power, to potentially even greater than the power accredited to it by its creator.

Not only is its power immense, but its speed is just as unmatched as its power. Many of the attacks it fires are made entirely of light. As a result, paying attention to where it's pointing is one of the only ways one can dodge it once it is fired.

Along with that its durability is just as astounding as its power and speed, capable of withstanding far more punishment than something its size should. This is the direct result of its makeup. Specifically, it is made of the same kind of material as the legendary Sword of Kusanagi and other great Regalias of Japan.

It acts as the focus of Rider’s magical abilities and acts as her most powerful option in fights. And, just like Rider herself, it is not restricted to simply one attack option. It can be used to fire one almighty blast of heat and light, yes, but it can do so much more. It can create lasers that split into two, several lasers that aim in all directions, producing a magical flamethrower, and far, far more. It may also be possible to replicate the effects of certain noble phantasms she does not possess, but more esoteric effects would be beyond her ability to replicate without the item itself.

In a way, the capabilities of the Hakkero is entirely based on Rider’s imagination and her drive to create something with its power. And, well, the Ordinary Magician’s drive to become the greatest of magic users is something that outshines all others in Gensokyo. Whether they are a youkai or a god, Marisa Kirisame would overcome them all with her handheld magicannon of love.

## Quotes

* *"How’s it hanging Reimu! It’s been a bit, hasn’t it? You're still as unstoppable as ever, eh? …How am I? Well… I could be better; I don’t have the Kirisame Magic Shop nor the Forest of Magic here! How can I get anything done?! It's– …Hey! Why are you laughing!"* - Marisa to Reimu

* *"Heh, I’m shocked you’re here at all! What, with how dry and boring you are, Alice. What did you do to deserve being a servant? …Oi, what the hell do you mean ‘more than you’?!"* - Marisa to Alice

* *"Huh, so Remilia’s little sister is here? I can’t say I’m surprised, actually. While she obviously never beat me, she took down that Hell Goat where Reimu and I failed. What was her name again, Toe-tetsu or something? She could eat and absorb anything; so she was a total cheater when it came to spell card fights…"* - Marisa to Flandre

* *"Oh shit, it’s the ATSS! The Anti-Theft Security System! …Of course it’ll catch on! It’s the only thing that describes you well! You’re the mansion's guard dog after all, right?"* - Marisa to Sakuya

### Crossover Quotes

* *"Howdy there! I heard you were big into making magical stuff, so I wanted to bring up some ideas with you. So… how good are you working with mushrooms and/or magicannons? If you aren’t good with it, I can definitely get you up to speed"* - Marisa to Medea

* *"You are Tamamo-No-Mae? One of those big 3 yokai in Japan who are called the most terrible? I kinda expected someone a bit more… monstrous? Epic? Whatever the case, where’s that rock that kills everyone that touches it? I really wanted to see that in action."* - Marisa to Tamamo

* *"So… you’re saying he has an infinite amount of riches, magic tomes, noble phantasms, and who knows what else in a giant endless treasury that has a key? …I’ll be right back Master, I’m just going on a quick walk, nothin’ to worry about."* - Marisa to Gilgamesh

* *"Sayyyyy… that’s a pretty nice sword you got there; do you mind if I… borrowed it real quick? ‘Stealing’? No way, I’m just gonna borrow it for a bit, gimme gimme."* - Marisa to Any Saber with a Beamsword

### Gallery

#### Fate/Crossover

* Ascensions

1st Ascension2nd Ascension3rd AscensionFinal Ascension
* Craft Essence

Bond CE: The Grimoire of Marisa
## References

https://touhou.fandom.com/wiki/Marisa\_Kirisame

https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Marisa\_Kirisame

https://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Marisa\_Kirisame

https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/summon-a-servant-mark-vi-the-dark-six-f-sn-crossover-servants.370875/page-547?post=87034998#post-87034998