Miho

First seen in strip 99.

File:Color-Miho.jpg

Tohya Miho (凍耶 美穂) is a student at Shiritsu Daitou High School and is a member of Largo's class. Miho's name, "Toh ya", is a non-standard romanization (the Hepburn variant used on passports) of "Tō ya" and "Tou ya". Online, Miho is known as m0h.

As a general matter, Miho is not highly regarded by her peers or by Largo, though Kenji cares about her quite a bit. In addition, Miho's relationship with Ping also caused speculation that she might be either bisexual or lesbian, although that speculation has been revealed to be incorrect. Her parents, or other direct family, have been conspicuously absent, though there is no indication of where they have gone or why.

Miho is seventeen years of age, based on her comments to Largo regarding a bottle of 17 year old Balmenach scotch she serves him at the Cave of Evil. Support for this assumption comes from the fact that Miho and Yuki attended Daitou Gakuen Attached Middle School at the same time, with Yuki in her first year and Miho in her third, combined with Yuki being currently fifteen years old. It is believed that Miho is older than her classmates due to an unknown illness which happened at least two years ago and was related to Miho's "involvement" with the disgruntled fanbase of Erika after she left Girl Phase and her idol status behind.

In addition to her schooling, Miho is the player behind the Endgames character Moh and both are easily recognized by the unique hair ribbons. While in the game, Miho was able to take control of other characters by manipulating certain emotional statistics. It was in this capacity that she first became known to Piro and Largo as they played together up until Moh betrayed Pirogoeth by killing Largo's character. Miho's play in Endgames was also responsible for the collapse of the U.S. East Coast servers.

Miho also works at the Cave of Evil and has, over the course of the story, distributed several free passes. How long she's been working there is unknown, although she's been friends with some employees, like Kenji for years.

She apparantly was also a fan of Girl Phase, and has a favorite episode, which Piro didn't like.

Memorable Quotes

"I wanted to use you, but you have nothing I need. Nothing. You're an empty vessel..." - to Ping

"You're a little too 3D for a 2D girl. The more real you are, the more problems boys will have with you..." - to Ping

"Piro didn't like it, but it was my favorite episode." - to Erika, Largo, Boo, Kimiko, and Piro

Miho's true nature

Throughout the story, Miho has been portrayed in such a way that her exact character type is difficult to identify. There are, indeed, very few beliefs about Miho which are uncontested, although some theories have far more support in the comic than others. What can be said for certain is that she is not an ordinary girl in the real world sense of the term.

Evidence in the comic confirms that Miho is a Magical Girl. Her ability to reach great heights by a means which appears to be flight, as well as exhibits of super-strength, casts the greatest evidence in support of Miho's magical nature. Additional support comes from Miho's reference to herself and Yuki as monsters with at least some degree of similarity. She is also linked at least once to Meimi — a character plainly stated to be a Magical Girl — by Miho's discussion of hair. A line from Meimi professing herself to be a mother, friend, and mentor is also cited in support of Miho's magical nature by people who believe the references to be to Yuki, Erika, and Miho, respectively; however, this interpretation is mired in a great deal of uncertainty due to the vagueness surrounding who the "friend" and "mentor" references may be read to address. Up to this point, Miho had kept her power a well hidden secret. Outside of recently revealing her true nature to Yuki and, accidentally, Ping, the only other person who has been confirmed to know is Inspector Sonoda.

Over time, other theories have attempted to tie together unusual aspects of Miho's character in various ways. There was, at one point, a widespread belief that she is some sort of psychic vampire, a theory which seemed to stem from Largo's belief that she is some class of undead, perhaps even a zombie queen. Additional theories which have gained lesser support include the idea that she is an EDS unit, a mere psychic, a mere vampire, a kitsune, and a number of various other things. Miho has said that she feeds off emotions of others, which could account for Largo's belief that she is a vampire and "evil". Largo speculates after he is told by Sonada to "never let anythng thats to hard to kill become a zombie." that she is a Magical Girl who has been infected by Zombieism. Her last apperance in the strip seems to confirm the Zombie Queen theory when the zombies call her "Mistress". This is right before Ed fires the killbot at her which supposedly killed her. She hasn't been seen up until Strip 1249, walkthrough where she is shown bedridden in a hospital.

Unrelated speculation about Miho is that she is a highly skilled hacker with a great deal of knowledge about computers and computer programming. The most powerful evidence in favor of Miho's hacking ability comes from her mention of performing an exploit which resulted in the collapse of the east coast Endgames servers. Proponents of this theory also tend to believe that she has modified Ping's operating code somewhat and, at the very least, is responsible for Ping's corrupted data and switching Ping over to the game Catalyst. Those opposed to the theory are quick to point out that dead batteries can also cause data corruption. Opponents also assert that Miho may simply have exposed a bug in the Endgames system by using the emotional statistics in a way allowed as part of normal gameplay, but not anticipated by game designers. Most, however, agree that Miho has average or above average skills with computers.

Relations with other characters

Piro

Although Miho seems able to throw Piro off balance at her pleasure, they were on reasonably good terms until the Cave of Evil incident in Chapter 6. It has been rumored that she had an online relationship with Piro off Endgames but not in real life. First Shown Together: Strip 179.

Largo

Miho has an interest in Largo, despite his resistance to virtually any sort of relationship with her. Although Miho is hurt by what Largo does, she continues trying to get to know him better. First Shown Together: Strip 99.

Ping

Classmate. How Miho views Ping is open for some debate, but it is clear that she feels something powerful about her android friend. Miho has contemplated whether Ping could be the means for her to "play" both Piro and Largo. First Shown Together: Strip 154.

Yuki

Not exactly friendly, but not exactly antagonistic. Miho seems to view Yuki as a child worthy of her interest, but not quite yet her friendship. Recently, Miho proved to her that she is indeed, like her mother Meimi, a Magical Girl. First Shown Together: Strip 563.

Erika

"A fan of [her] fans." It is strongly implied that Miho's interaction with Erika's fanbase resulted in her hospitalization. First Shown Together: Strip 780.

The Sonoda Family

She has encountered Inspector Sonoda in the past and he is the only other character who appears to knows exactly what her relation to Erika's fans was and why she was hospitalized. She is also aware that Sonoda Meimi is more than just a housewife. First recognition by Inspector Sonoda: Strip 798. First Shown Together: Strip 606.

Kimiko

Miho interceded between Kimiko and Dom at a local restaurant, and then tried to usher her out the back before grabbing her and jumping out of harm's way, saving her life. Other than that, Miho has some interest in her well being as it relates to Piro. First Shown Together: Strip 113.

Kenji

Co-worker at the Cave of Evil and longstanding friend. First Shown Together: Strip 116.

Waltah

Co-worker at the Cave of Evil and possibly butler or more. First Shown Together: Strip 698.

External links

• The Tohyology Website (Pro-naturalistic, not NPOV)
• Miho Theory Database (Neutral compilation of theories.)