Seefic said: I wonder why Alice is a unicorn but the equally-magic Marisa isn't?
Because Marisa's an ordinary human (or earth pony in this case) who learned magic through sheer effort, whereas Alice was a magician (and thus a unicorn by analogue) by birth.
From TV Tropes: "This may be a coincidence, but did anyone notice that the pilot was the quest of a group of girls to track down a villain who escaped from the moon and complete 6 impossible requests to put an end to an imperishable night, after which Defeat Means Friendship?"
lily_white said: ... Alice was a magician (and thus a unicorn by analogue) by birth.
I'm sorry, but this is incorrect. Alice WAS human, just like Marisa is, but through shear will power and an amazing amount of training, she changed into a magician.
DoubleT said: LOL @ Danbooru users. Tell the truth or trying to correct someone gets you downvoted.
DoubleT said: I'm sorry, but this is incorrect. Alice WAS human, just like Marisa is, but through shear will power and an amazing amount of training, she changed into a magician.
DoubleT said: I'm sorry, but this is incorrect. Alice WAS human, just like Marisa is, but through shear will power and an amazing amount of training, she changed into a magician.
Whoops. My apologies, writing something halfheartedly like I did tends to result in errors.
Still, it's ambiguous, but more or less that; human the first appearance, magician the next, we draw our own conclusions thereafter.
lily_white said: Whoops. My apologies, writing something halfheartedly like I did tends to result in errors.
Still, it's ambiguous, but more or less that; human the first appearance, magician the next, we draw our own conclusions thereafter.
From what I understand of the books ZUN made and are translated on the Touhou Wiki, there's a certain spell that makes the caster's body run on magic instead of food. This makes a human take the first step to being a Magician Youkai, and Alice has taken this step. However, there is a second spell, which turns the Magician's ability to feel anger 'off', instead increasing their power, to better let them focus, and Patchouli has taken this step, while Alice has not. Marisa, if she finds the first spell written down by a Magician at a level of power she has surpassed, will be able to cast it, and then never truly need food again, being a Youkai. Somehow I don't think she would take that step, however- Marisa the Human would 'die' and Marisa the Magician would stand in her place, and she'd technically have to give back the mountain of crap she's 'borrowed until she dies' in that case.