What annoys you about guy characters in GxB?

[polkapink]

I find in a lot of VNs guys/men do not look like guys/men. Or they are not fleshed out and their personality/character are very transparent. People need to offer more info regarding why a character acts the way they do or players will think they are a typical stereotype with no back story.

[OtomeWeekend]

I'm not really picky but I rarely like shouta characters, they always annoy me... also the kind and gentle craps(I think I'm always mentioning this but here I go again)... I'm glad the current otome games being released lately has no kinds of like "that." I like the kind but actually yandere types but the kind and gentle all the way is killing my nerves... even in real life, I never liked those kind of boring people... life is all about adventure but those kinds were killing the fun <.< *gets shot for being evil*

[lepapillonrouge]

...so um, how many people who have commented in this thread are guys?

Anyway, Aleema kind of brought the points that I wanted to point out, so I'll list what I don't like.

Rape, rapists, guys who are too controlling. I mean seriously. How is that endearing, and why would anyone go for that kind of person?
It kind of scares me that this is a persistent trait in some of the R-18 otome reviews I read...

I'm actually kind of sad that kind and gentle people aren't liked as much in games, but I can understand. You'd go for a guy like that in real life, but not in a game, because they tend to have bad storylines. Usually such a person is only 'redeemable' by having some kind of dark secret or whatever that they hide under their smile. But I don't know...I kind of don't like it since it's a bit cliché (not that otome games aren't usually but..). But at the same time, how could you make this character more original and interesting for the audience? I mean, you could play it how sake did with Shiro in re:Alistair where the reveal was not as serious as it could have been...but...

I've also noticed that manly men tend to get shafted a lot in otome. Ossans--er, older men don't get a lot of love. But I guess the age gap, as I've said, has always been a factor against them, since a lot of otome game protagonists are usually teenagers. Also, they tend to fall into two categories - really creepy, or have some kind of second love backstory.

tl;dr okay I guess my main problem like everything else is clichés.

[RhyukiChan]

Hmmm...if the guy is a jerk,..i mean like total jerk o_o

[Mocha07734]

When the guy is being a complete jerk and the main character just says that he does it because he loves her or that it is all okay since she loves him... for some reason...

I also absolutely hate it when a guy is absolutely perfect at everything (and I mean everything) without trying at all... or is an absolute Gary Sue.

[Anthy]

I like the nice ones, actually. So long as that isn't their only defining trait in the relationship.

I mean who wants to play through a route that is little more than "I like you!" "I like you too! ^_^" "You're nice, friendlytaro." "Right back at ya! AND PRETTY TOO!! ^_^" over and over.
And it doesn't really please me when the guy that acts super nice at first is just being nice as a front for being a complete total psychopath or jerk, who just wants to manipulate the heroine (but then -gasp- falls in love for real). I hate that.
Preferably, I'd like to see genuinely nice ones that suffer. suffer suffer suffer, subject them to trials of pain and humiliation as they try their hardest to smile through their shitty life. break their heart and kill their puppies.

[RhyukiChan]

I like the nice ones, actually. So long as that isn't their only defining trait in the relationship.

I mean who wants to play through a route that is little more than "I like you!" "I like you too! ^_^" "You're nice, friendlytaro." "Right back at ya! AND PRETTY TOO!! ^_^" over and over.
And it doesn't really please me when the guy that acts super nice at first is just being nice as a front for being a complete total psychopath or jerk, who just wants to manipulate the heroine (but then -gasp- falls in love for real). I hate that.
Preferably, I'd like to see genuinely nice ones that suffer. suffer suffer suffer, subject them to trials of pain and humiliation as they try their hardest to smile through their shitty life. break their heart and kill their puppies.

O.O *staarez* -gives cookies- XD

[azureXtwilight]

- When guys go OOC. First off he's a psycophatic jerks and then he fall in love and suddenly he turns 180 degrees all of a sudden! It's aww-worthy, but considering what he was... MAYBE NO. He changed and someday he could change back and it kinda freak me out thinking about it.

- It's okay to have guys to be bad guys, jerks, abusive, etc etc in the game as long as it's shown that it's bad and he gets punished for it and the heroine and him don't get their happily ever and a sparkly sparkly ending after because that means either the heroine is a moron or the guys has split personality. Except when the "happily ever after" is meant to be an irony.

That aside, the archetype of the guy who is a complete, possibly violent or ice cold douchebag only to win the heroine's heart by being nice to her once/having a sudden change of heart out of nowhere/HE HAD A DARK PAST ALL ALONG. If bishoujo games have too many infantile, pure as the driven snow moeblobs, otome games have too many dark broodfest jerks with no redeeming qualities.

THIS.
But they seem to attract more fans, le sigh.

I never cared about looks, no matter how hard you want to smash someone because they look girly and stuff and all... Well, that's just how GXB makers attract female audiences 8D Gimme a good, strong personality, awesum plot, and that's what I'm aiming for.

Games for some people are to fool around and escape from the reality, so most games are purely for entertainment anyway~ I don't want to see what I see real life in the games I play, what's the point? XD LAL.

[Anthy]

I always wondered what a happy relationship with a crazy guy would be like if there wasn't a 180' behavior change. It would actually make the heroine a bit of a crazy too...

Like, in the case of killer/criminal boyfriend:
Heroine: "Daaaarling, I think Normal-taro was making eyes at me, you know-- looking at me like that. Can you take care of it for me?"
Psycho-taro: "Anything for you, my love. When I'm done, we'll be hanging his ears and eyeballs as ornaments for our christmas tree."
Heroine: "Oh, darling, you're so sweet."
And of course, Normal-taro never did anything. Heroine just loves the thrills she gets from having someone dangerous like that at her command. Maybe she watches her boyfriend's dirty work from a distance with an evil grin. While it's pretty disturbing behavior for a main character, it would be... different...
But maybe to get a route with that character (whether a twisted happy or more realistically strained one), you need to lead her down the path of 'darkness', so to speak. Bad guys don't reform that easily, even if their feelings change, a lifestyle is not that easy to switch.


(I still like the nice ones best. Even if they're psychologically damaged, I still prefer them to be at least obviously good at heart. Either outwardly kind/polite/whathaveyou or have a scolding tone that makes it obvious they care. Like I said in my last post, there's nothing quite like the delicious tears shed by a good person because their fate is cruel. I can't help but become attached to those types)

[Taleweaver]

...so um, how many people who have commented in this thread are guys?

At least one - I.

Really, guys are people too. People with their own thoughts, needs and demands. Their personalities usually don't revolve around one single gimmick like being "the kind guy" or "the aggressive guy". Three-dimensional people is what games about relationships should show.

[yummy]

I'm a guy too!
A bit offtopic too:
As Aleema stressed about, Japanese society has some visual codes, where metrosexuals aren't viewed as weird. Nowadays, you even have university male students carring Vuitton bags! Yes, the same the ladies love to carry. There's also a play on man/woman sex codes, where sometimes you have androgyny styles, also with cosmetics, where you can't know for sure if it's a ladyboy or not.

Now to post ontopic:
I think that in GxB, stereotypes have a purpose. They are here just to entertain. I mean, you have SF, historical, or whatever label you want to put on a story. You want to identify the type of character you have your interests set on. It's easier with stereotypes. It's as simple as that.

Otome games are currently being released at a faster rate, be it commercial, non-commercial, pro or fan made.
They still share some common features and it's not that easy to elaborate on new character types.
But rather than the male characters personalty, it's more the main character's personality that sets me off.

I mean, guys are in most cases the ones tracking (sometimes desperately) for the OK signals, while the girl has the ultimate power to accept a serious relationship (the ultimate rule of "men suggest, women choose"). That is, if the girl doesn't send the candidate towards the everlasting friendship path before. While the harem in bishoujo games are almost impossible to exist in reality, the male harem in otome game is a reality.

So, the best way to make a credible story about a male harem is to oppose the males between them, because that's just how it works in real life. BUT I understand that in otome games it's most likely a fantasy too. And that there are stories to be conveyed in some sort of way. And that in bishoujo games it's even more unlikely girls swoon that much around a single guy XD

Anyway, the point about the MC's personality (be it male or female actually) is mainly the indecisiveness and the initial clueless feature, like "I don't know what persons of opposite sex can do together" (the famous hana yori dango syndrome). Just like in Falcom's Legend of Heroes 6, where Estelle is so thick headed when it comes to Joshua. Or recently in the anime Kaichou wa maid sama, or in Nyankoi... It really makes me worry because this is the reason I still keep on practising facepalms.

I'd really like to see MC's the same caliber as characters of Toradora for example.

[Fawn]

I'd really like to see MC's the same caliber as characters of Toradora for example.

Seconded so hard.

I would love someone forever if they could pull off some toradora guys... I've always had a crush on Ryuuji!