Alice Margatroid

Overview

Alice Margatroid is a character from the Touhou Project series who resides in the Forest of Magic as a magician and puppeteer. Commonly known by epithets such as the "Seven-Colored Puppeteer," she is renowned for her exceptional dexterity in controlling numerous dolls simultaneously. Having made her initial debut in the PC-98 title Mystic Square, she resurfaced in Perfect Cherry Blossom and has remained a prominent figure throughout the series.

Appearance

She features short, wavy blonde hair secured with a red hairband. Her eye color varies between depictions, appearing blue in some titles and light brown or golden in others. Her clothing consists of a blue sleeveless dress with a long skirt, paired with a shoulder capelet, forming a color palette centered on blue, white, and red. Her footwear shifts between boots and socks depending on the work. She routinely carries a locked spellbook bound with a ribbon. She has a relatively tall stature—comparable to Hakurei Reimu and taller than Kirisame Marisa—and possesses a pale complexion that gives her a doll-like physical presence.

Personality

Alice is an indoor person who values solitude and logic, maintaining a somewhat detached demeanor toward others. However, she is not socially inept; she routinely attends banquets and performs puppet shows at village festivals. While she exhibits politeness and common sense toward formidable youkai, she also has a competitive streak. Fearing the absolute finality of a full-power defeat, she deliberately holds back in combat, fighting just slightly above her opponent's strength. Despite her house being filled with eerie dolls, she displays genuine kindness and honesty, offering hospitality to humans and fairies lost in the forest.

Abilities

Her primary capability is the manipulation of dolls, allowing her to command multiple puppets simultaneously with intricate, lifelike coordination. She utilizes dolls for daily chores such as snow removal and cooking, while in combat she deploys them in numerical superiority tactics, including filling them with gunpowder for explosive attacks. Her ultimate goal is to create a fully autonomous doll. She also possesses general magical abilities specialized in seven-color magic without elemental weaknesses, though direct spellcasting is secondary to her puppetcraft. Without the constraint of operating dolls, her raw magical output would be significantly higher.

Background

Originally a human, Alice achieved the status of a youkai magician through extensive training and study. Because her transition into a magician is relatively recent, she continues to maintain human habits such as eating and sleeping. She lives in a doll-filled house within the Forest of Magic and is credited as the author of A Story of Mysterious Dolls documented in historical archives of Gensokyo. Though initially appearing in Makai during the series' earlier era, she actively travels across various locations throughout Gensokyo.

Relationships

She maintains a prominent dynamic with her neighbor in the Forest of Magic, Kirisame Marisa, frequently engaging in cooperation and rivalry. She regularly visits locations like the Hakurei Shrine, the Scarlet Devil Mansion library, and Eientei. She interacts with characters such as Hakurei Reimu and Yakumo Yukari, while Ibuki Suika has commented on her battle logic and preference for approaching humans rather than strong youkai. She also showed hospitality to the Light Three Fairies when they unexpectedly visited her home.

Trivia

Alice holds a unique position within the franchise, sharing naming elements with the creator's circle. She is noted for rapid mathematical calculations in dialogue based on color ratios, as well as eccentric experiments such as testing straw dolls behind the shrine. Her signature musical themes include "Doll Judgment ~ The Girl Who Played with Shapes of Very Human."