Ringo

Overview

Ringo is a character from the Touhou Project series, making her debut as the Stage 2 boss in Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom. She is a moon rabbit belonging to the Eagle Ravi Earth investigation squad, where she holds a high-ranking yet relaxed position in charge of information management. Sent to Earth as part of an advance recon unit, she battles the protagonists at the lake atop Youkai Mountain. Following the game's events, she decides to remain on Earth and opens a dango shop in the Human Village.

Appearance

Ringo is a moon rabbit with short blonde bob hair, red eyes, and long drooping rabbit ears. She wears a brown newsboy cap over her rabbit ears, a midriff-baring short-sleeved orange shirt, and yellow-and-white striped pumpkin shorts. She is barefoot without footwear. In her official portrait, she is depicted sitting cross-legged, holding a wooden skewer in her right hand and multiple dango stacked on her left hand. Her in-game sprite shows her constantly moving her mouth as she munches on dango while fighting.

Personality

Ringo has a relaxed, easygoing demeanor compared to her peer Seiran. She grows thoroughly fond of Earth due to its abundance of food and freedom, showing little enthusiasm for her official duties or combat, treating her position as a job to be handled with minimal hassle. Despite her lazy nature, she possesses a keen analytical eye and sharp mind; she realizes the true nature of their circumstances from her intelligence gathering and tactfully manipulates the protagonists into investigating further on her behalf. She is also extremely particular about food quality and takes great pride in the flavor of her wares.

Abilities

Ringo possesses the ability to become stronger the more dango she eats. True to this capacity, she actively consumes dango during battle to increase her power. Her spell cards and bullet patterns feature themes directly named after dango and traditional moon-viewing rituals.

Background

While serving as an intelligence manager for the Eagle Ravi squad, Ringo's exposure to data about Earth sparked her interest in the surface world. During her recon mission, her information gathering revealed that the Lunar Capital they knew was actually trapped in a dream world. To avoid the peril of investigating this anomaly herself, she directed the surface humans who confronted her into the passage leading to the dream realm. After the resolution of the incident, she chose to stay on Earth permanently, establishing a dango shop named Ringo-ya along the Human Village street.

Relationships

Seiran is her fellow squad mate in the Eagle Ravi unit; after settling on Earth, the two open neighboring dango stands in the Human Village, competing as friendly business rivals. Dialogue suggests she had prior acquaintance with Reisens and Eirin Yagokoro before their defection from the Moon. When confronted by Reimu Hakurei and the other protagonists, Ringo concedes after combat and grants them passage to further her own indirect investigation.

Trivia

Her name is believed to reference both 'rabbit apples' (a decorative fruit-cutting technique resembling rabbit ears) and a Chinese-styled pet naming aesthetic intended by ZUN. Her theme song title 'September Pumpkin' links the traditional mid-autumn full moon of September to the pumpkin-style bloomers she wears. The sound effect prompt 'MGMG' (representing chewing sounds) that appears alongside her artwork became a widely recognized signature trait representing her gluttony.