Oct. 29th, 2009 at 11:22 AM
Nobuko's being the devil is due to her accepting (and, indeed, actively seeking out) a situation that is unhealthy due to her own ignorance. Obsessed with the attention of her fans, she allows herself to be chained to her mental illness. Medicine is available for her but she chooses not to take it due to fear that without her mental problems she will be unloved.
The mirror on the wall/evil queen (technically the latter/the latter using the former is the persona but she doesn't really have a name) is Nubuko's first persona, granting her the ability to know a foes' abilities and capabilities.The devil is an apt card for the evil queen and her mirror. Given access to all the knowledge in the world, the evil queen chooses to remain ignorant and uses this gift only to sate her own ego. When faced with someone better, her first instinct is to destroy them rather than to try to better herself. Her end, dancing herself to death, is entirely fitting for Nobuko.
(In the event that she is forced to be a combat character, Narcissus may replace the mirror. He shares similar 'vanity' symbolism but is a danger only to himself and, to an extent, those whose hearts he breaks. Despite seeming to have the vanity/addiction or obsession with the physical covered, though, he is not a particularly convincing devil. The most widespread version of the story suggests he met his end due to finding enlightenment by seeing his own reflection for the first time, something which is at odds with the 'ignorance'/choosing to remain in the dark symbolism of the card. IMO, Narcissus would make a better hanged man than a devil if the roman version of the myth was used.)
Bloody Mary is Nobuko's second persona. I'm using the Myths over Miami version of her a lot of facts with other myths as suppliment. She appears as an eyeless woman weeping blood from empty eyes. She wears all black and her hair and clothes blow around even in the absense of wind. The devil symbolism in Mary's case, other than the obvious 'let's relate the devil to an evil figure', refers to those foolish enough to summon her. By calling upon her they treat the spiritual as nothing more than a tool for thier own entertainment and, as a rule, pay dearly for thier ignorance and lack of respect. Fitting the 'support' thing, Mary herself is, if nothing else, very wise. In the stories where she does not haunt/kill/turn the tapwater to blood her summoners she is said to know the answer to any question she is asked. Because it's difficult to find one large consistant base of knowledge about her I'm essentially combining the stories here and saying her reaction to disrespectful sumonners depends entirely on her mood at the time. She is a mercurial woman, just like Nobuko herself, and relying upon her can bring reward but also brings a disporportionate amount of risk.
Mirrors, aside from being a symbol of vanity, have some constrdictory symbolism going on. They show the viewer themselves and appear to provide enlightenment, but only show the physical and even that is flipped and distorted. Despite this, mirrors being used to summon spirits to provide answers is nothing new, possibly related to myths of mirrors being able to trap souls.