Fuu Hououji

Fuu Hououji (鳳凰寺 風 Hōōji Fū) is a fictional character from the anime/manga series Magic Knight Rayearth (created by Clamp). She's one of the three protagonists of the series and wields the element of Wind. A short-haired girl mostly wearing glasses, Fuu is often considered "the smart, calm one" and "the polite one" (calling people with the suffix -san or "Mr" or "Miss") between the trio although she has an odd sense of humor. She's voiced by Hiroko Kasahara in the Japanese version of the anime and Bridget Hoffman in the English version of the TV Series and by Lisa Ortiz in the English version of the OVA.

Season 1
Fuu attended a private school for intellectually-gifted children. She was on a school trip to Tokyo Tower when she saw an energetic girl enjoying the scenery through the telescope. This girl is Hikaru Shidou, though Fuu didn't know her. When she saw her running out of money to continue viewing, Fuu approached her and gave her spare tokens to continue the journey. Only moments after she left, she heard a voice calling her out as Magic Knight. In instant, along with Hikaru and another girl named Umi Ryuuzaki, Fuu was transported to Cephiro. Despite everyone else looking panicked, Fuu remained calm and was the one to initiate the three to introduce each other.

The girls met the Master Mage Clef shortly after and he told them the plight of Cephiro, starting from Princess Emeraude's imprisonment by High Priest Zagato. The only way for them to go home was to save Cephiro. Fuu decided to just "play along", unlike Hikaru who was more than willing to save Cephiro, or Umi who kept insisting to return back to Earth. Unfortunately, Zagato's minion Alcyone attacked them and the girls had to flee. She gave pursuit, but was eventually driven back by Hikaru's magic.

The girls was soon sent to Legendary Spring of Eterna by Presea to obtain the Legendary Minerals of Escudo. On the way, while traveling inside the Forest of Silence, they met a swordsman named Ferio whom Fuu eventually persuaded into their bodyguards. After this, the outcome differed between the anime and manga.


 * In the anime, they stumbled upon a stone that turned nearby animals to monsters and also dragged humans that tried to attack it and turn them to stone. While Hikaru and Umi distracted the monsters, Fuu and Ferio were about to destroy to stone, but Ferio, being a close-ranged fighter, ended up being dragged to the stone. After urging Fuu to believe in herself, she took her bow and shot a sure shot to the stone, destroying it. After this battle, they managed to exit the Forest of Silence. Ferio gave the girls a certain box, in which he claimed that it may grant a wish to come true, and left. However, Fuu started to develop small feelings to him.


 * In the manga, the encounter with the stone didn't happen. However, right after exiting the forest, Alcyone ambushed and wounded Umi from behind. While Hikaru fought a losing battle, Ferio became desperate and wanted to help, but Fuu stopped him, saying that it's Hikaru's fight. Eventually, Umi couldn't take it anymore and managed to acquire her magic and ultimately drove Alcyone away. Looking at Umi's wounds, Fuu also wished for magic and soon Clef gave it to her through telepathic link. With her spell, she healed Umi's wounds. Ferio also departed at that point, but not before he gave a ring to Fuu, causing her to blush heavily and even lost her sense of direction for a short moment.

The girls eventually obtained the mineral of Escudo and brought them back to Presea. In the anime, she's killed by Ascot's monsters while completing the weapons, but in the manga, the attack didn't exist. The girls now journeyed to revive the Rune-Gods. As they journeyed they grew into best friends.

In the anime only, the girls decided to use the box Ferio gave to them. It turned out to be a communicating device to Ferio himself, and while Hikaru and Umi's wishes were deemed to be "stupid and loud" by Ferio, he was stunned with Fuu's wish, who just wanted him to be safe. The girls later met Ferio again, secretly under the contract of Ascot to lure the girls to the desert. Although it looked like he would betray them, he ended up helping them. Unfortunately for him, Ascot caught him red-handed and used him as a hostage to lure the girls again. During the night, Fuu left her friends alone to save Ferio. They ended up helping each other to survive, and eventually after Ferio used himself as a bait to the monster, which was sensitive to sounds, using Hikaru and Umi's wishes recorded in his communicator, and told Fuu to run, she didn't run and resolved to fight. This results her sword to evolve and finished Ascot's monster in one blow. Afterwards, Ferio left again, but he would occasionally help the girls.

Fuu was the second to revive her Rune-God, Windam. The events differ greatly between the anime and manga.


 * In the anime, the girls met Ferio again, this time taking care of a girl named Selena. Although he was just "taking care" of her, Fuu grew jealous on her and left with her hearts in doubt. Unfortunately for Ferio, these were all a trap set by Zagato's minion Innouva (an anime-only character). When Fuu confronted Windam, Innouva knocked Hikaru and Umi away and fought Fuu before revealing that he had Ferio as a hostage, and told her to choose between Ferio's life or Windam's power. After several thinking, eventually Fuu chose to save Ferio. This proved her heart's strength which Windam quickly acknowledged. He used his power to drive Innouva away, and eventually granted Fuu his powers, but would not be seen again until the last Rune-God is revived. In the end, Ferio was overcame with guilt and after a brief apologizing he left. But he later helped the girls to ultimately defeat Innouva through his communicator.


 * In the manga, the dancer Caldina used her dance to brainwash Hikaru and Umi, and she had them fight Fuu in front of Windam. She tried her best not to injure her friends to the point that she developed a new spell to immobilize both of them. Caldina then manipulated Fuu with her dance, directing her to attack Hikaru and Umi. However, Fuu was merely "playing along" with Caldina's tricks and ended up blasting her with magic. Shortly after, Caldina repented her ways and walked away in a friendly note, and Windam also acknowledged Fuu's heart strength. This event also happened in the anime, but it has nothing to do with the test.

Eventually, the girls were able to revive all the Rune-Gods and defeated Zagato. However, this just incited the anger of Emeraude, who had fallen in love with Zagato. The Magic Knights were attacked, and after Emeraude told them the whole truth and the purpose of her summoning was to kill her, the girls had no choice but to kill her. Emeraude was at peace and the girls returned to their world. However, their hearts were filled with grief due to the shockingly sad event.

Season 2
While returning to Earth, Fuu acted rather normal, but she still harbored her grief within her heart. Eventually she revisited Tokyo Tower to reunite with Hikaru and Umi. After Hikaru declared that she wanted to return to Cephiro, they were brought there in instant. The exception was that due to the lack of Pillar (Emeraude's position) the world was in crumbling state and three other worlds, Autozam, Chizeta, and Fahren, attempted to take over. The girls must defend Cephiro and look for a new Pillar before Cephiro crumbled.

In these series of events, Fuu helped in defending Cephiro. She also found out that Ferio was actually the little brother of Emeraude, making him Cephiro's Prince.

In the anime, more depth was given. When Hikaru's sword was broken thanks to Nova, Umi and Fuu was left to defend Cephiro on their own. Unfortunately, she was captured by the Fahren faction. In there, she struck a deal with its ruler Lady Aska into an archery match. If she wins, she's about to be freed but if she lost, they can do whatever they like. Fuu ended up winning and told Aska the truth of being the Pillar of Cephiro, which casted doubts on Aska's ambitions. Just then, Ferio busted in to save Fuu. However, her words eventually made Aska cancel her dream to take over Cephiro's Pillar position, knowing that she still love Fahren. Fuu later joined Hikaru and Umi to destroy the individual behind the chaos, Debonair. When they did, they returned to Earth, unable to come back to Cephiro anymore. However, they were satisfied that Cephiro returned to its peaceful state and beautiful form, and it was able to function on their own.

Love Interest
Fuu has only one love interest in the series, and that is Ferio. However, their relationship is the one that looks the most obvious in the series. She is very sad when she finds out that Ferio is Emeraude's brother, but he forgives her quickly and their relationship continues to grow. Unfortunately, they had to separate once more after Debonair's defeat. However, they never forgot each other; in the manga, the girls were mentioned to be able to return to Cephiro whenever they want, so Fuu and Ferio were able to stay together.

Family
Not much is known about Fuu's parents. However she does have an elder sister named Kuu. Kuu has an obsession with a certain cake sold in Tokyo Tower and always asks Fuu to buy one whenever she visits the Tower.

Spells
Fuu's magics revolves around the Wind Element. Her spells include:
 * "Winds of Healing" (Iyashi no Kaze): A healing spell. Fuu covers her target with soothing winds, healing them.
 * "Emerald Typhoon" (Midori no Shippu): Fuu's first and most used attack spell. She sends out a strong gust of wind towards the enemy.
 * "Winds of Admonishment"(Imashime no Kaze): Fuu covers her enemies within winds and immobilized them.
 * "Winds of Protection" (Mamori no Kaze): Fuu protects herself and her allies with a barrier of wind.
 * "Emerald Cyclone" (Midori no Zenpuu): This spell was made in the anime only. Basically, it's Fuu's strongest attack spell which spends out simultaneous gusts of wind that seem as sharp as blades.

Because Fuu is attributed to Wind, her magic is mainly used for defense. Her attributed wind may also be a factoring reason why she has the most spells.

Trivia

 * Fuu Hououji literally means "Wind of Phoenix Temple".
 * An interest note about her name: 鳳凰寺 風, the character 鳳凰 literally means phoenix; whilst the character 風 translates to wind; and the character 寺 actually carries the meaning of shrine or temple. Fuu's name suggested that she is a wind-user and that her Rune God takes the form of a bird - the phoenix.
 * Fuu is in the Archery club. At the beginning of her journey, she used a bow and arrow she borrowed from Presea to defeat her enemies. However, once she received her sword, she never used her bow and arrow anymore.
 * Fuu's sword is the largest in the manga, easily matching the height of Clef's staff, but in the anime, it is slightly shorter, only at Fuu's height, it is also ironic how Fuu should have the largest sword, considering her element.
 * One of the series' running gags is that Fuu is prone to stating the obvious, which sometimes irritates Umi.
 * Fuu likes playing RPG games. She often compared the journey in the first season with RPG elements such as fighting monsters, gaining experience points and finding treasures.
 * The wind/air color is yellow. However, Fuu's color is green, the color of Earth element.
 * Her Rune God was located in the Sky Shrine which appears as a floating mountain-shaped crystal in the sky.
 * She once persuaded Umi to eat Mokona.
 * In Chapter 222 of TSUBASA RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE, Fuu, Hikaru and Umi appear as the classmates of a reborn Clone Sakura. It is unknown if these are the same Fuu, Hikaru and Umi or alternate versions from a different world.

Appearances
Manga
 * Magic Knight Rayearth'''
 * Volume 1: Japanese Edition: ISBN 4-06-334642-0; English Edition: ISBN 1-59182-082-0
 * Volume 2: Japanese Edition: ISBN 4-06-334643-9; English Edition: ISBN 1-59182-083-9
 * Volume 3: Japanese Edition: ISBN 4-06-334644-7; English Edition: ISBN 1-59182-084-7
 * Magic Knight Rayearth II
 * Volume 1: Japanese Edition: ISBN 4-06-334659-5; English Edition: ISBN 1-59182-266-1
 * Volume 2: Japanese Edition: ISBN 4-06-334660-9; English Edition: ISBN 1-59182-267-X
 * Volume 3: Japanese Edition: ISBN 4-06-334661-7; English Edition: ISBN 1-59182-268-8

Anime
 * Rayearth
 * Rayearth 2 (known as the second part of Rayearth in Japan)
 * Rayearth Anime Art Book (available only in Japan)
 * Rayearth anime script book (available only in Japan)

Other
 * OVA
 * Rayearth Art Book I
 * Rayearth Art Book II
 * Rayearth games
 * Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle