The role of men in a magical girl narrative

[SuperLexxx]

This past year I've been working on intense and massive rewrites to my long-term project, Heavenly Soul. While this is a good thing, since the narrative makes more sense now and there is a clearer backstory, set-up, and motivation for the characters, it also causes a huge problem because many of the characters I originally had no longer serve a purpose or seem superfluous. The biggest problem with this is the male protagonists in the story, as I want to have men in the story but their purpose for being there has lost some weight. Let me explain.

I'm writing a magical girl story where the magical girls have all the power, while the men have very little of it. In old drafts of the story, the male and female students had equal powers but that is no longer the case since the story has become more focused on girls in particular and why their power is important for plot reasons. It's a magical girl story, so I'm focusing on the girls. This leads me to an issue because since the school is focused on the education and training of magical GIRLS, I no longer have a reason for men to be there except as close family members, tutors, or teachers. I'd like to have some romance in the story but would prefer not to have any teacher/student pairings (I have some moral issues with that).

So basically what I'm struggling with is how to make the male characters still relevant in a magical girl setting. They are important for plot and character development reasons, but with the current setting it doesn't make sense why they would be at the school if they have no powers. The obvious solution is to give them magical powers, but to what extent and how powerful they are is something I haven't quite figured out. One example I'm thinking of is Tuxedo Mask in Sailor Moon (moreso the manga than the 90's anime). Tuxedo Mask still had powers of his own and used them to help out the Scouts. However, his powers are not nearly as strong as Sailor Moon's or the other scouts, but he's still considered an equal partner to her in every respect. He still has a well developed character and stuff despite not being a Scout. Anyway, I'm kind of ranting now so if anyone has some advice or ideas, or would just like to discuss the broader topic of the male role in a strongly female centric genre, please post.

[Laiska]

My gut thought is to just make those male characters female, but that would require you to have GxG romances, which I don't know if you're interested in doing. If you want them to definitely be male and be in the same school, and you have a very good reason for why only the girls have large amounts of power, then I do think that having the males being trained as support, a la Tuxedo Mask, would be a good idea. Any good hero needs a sidekick, so it may as well be male sidekicks to the female heroes.

That said, if you feel like at any point you're just shoehorning the characters in, it's probably better just to drop them. Characters who don't really have a narrative purpose can just muck up things. So, say, they may seem important to plot or character development because they carry certain traits, but perhaps those traits could be shifted over to other characters who could fulfill the same function?

[trooper6]

If they don't serve a purpose, drop them. But if they do serve a narrative purpose and you want them for romance, you can find a way to include them. They don't have to be students at the school, to be included. I went to a women's college and the women who were interested in dating men still found men to date. They dated men at a college right next door. I had freinds who went to an all-girls Catholic high school, and they dated boys from the all-boy Catholic high school nearby. So make the boys townies, and you can explore town and school relations. Make the boys from a brother school. It can open up some interesting possibilities.

[Elmvine]

Young male library assistant? Maybe part timers in the school.
If males have less magical and combat ability, perhaps they could be trained to the equivalent of some sort of squire. Trained to accompany magical girls. Or maybe while females are more magically adept, males are trained in something else that proves beneficial to combat. Like a support class. Easy set up for romance is that the magical girls are always keeping an eye out for possible 'pairings' in this case. Personally, after looking at your Visual Novel thread, that sort of brother school element trooper suggest may be a nice addition.

But I agree with Laiska and trooper, if you're forcing the characters in... then just drop them. Characters should move the plot really.

[Mariaachi]

I agree with everyone so far, drop them if unnecessary but if you really wanna keep 'em make them supporters. Unless...you make magical boys like in the case of Cute High Earth Defence Club LOVE anime but I highly doubt you'll do that.

[SuperLexxx]

My gut thought is to just make those male characters female, but that would require you to have GxG romances, which I don't know if you're interested in doing. If you want them to definitely be male and be in the same school, and you have a very good reason for why only the girls have large amounts of power, then I do think that having the males being trained as support, a la Tuxedo Mask, would be a good idea. Any good hero needs a sidekick, so it may as well be male sidekicks to the female heroes.

The story will include GxG, BxB, and BxG relationships. The main character is hetero, but there are characters of other preferences. Also, wow, how did I not think of just having the boys trained in a sidekick capacity. That seems like it should be an obvious solution, haha. Thanks for your input!

I agree with everyone so far, drop them if unnecessary but if you really wanna keep 'em make them supporters. Unless...you make magical boys like in the case of Cute High Earth Defence Club LOVE anime but I highly doubt you'll do that.

I still need to watch that anime! It looks really silly and cute. I'm totally for more magical boy shows existing.

Young male library assistant? Maybe part timers in the school.
If males have less magical and combat ability, perhaps they could be trained to the equivalent of some sort of squire. Trained to accompany magical girls. Or maybe while females are more magically adept, males are trained in something else that proves beneficial to combat. Like a support class. Easy set up for romance is that the magical girls are always keeping an eye out for possible 'pairings' in this case. Personally, after looking at your Visual Novel thread, that sort of brother school element trooper suggest may be a nice addition.

But I agree with Laiska and trooper, if you're forcing the characters in... then just drop them. Characters should move the plot really.

!! Those are all great suggestions, especially the library assistant one. Hmm, cute bookish male love interest....

Sorry, where was I?

[Mad Harlequin]

I would also look at Steven Universe. While Steven is the main character, he's still learning how his powers work, with the help of the other Crystal Gems, and unlike most male heroes, he has defensive and healing abilities instead of offensive ones, and he's still very much in a trainee position. Steven's father, Greg, is human, so he can't help much with the magic stuff, but he tries his best as a single dad.

[SuperLexxx]

I would also look at Steven Universe. While Steven is the main character, he's still learning how his powers work, with the help of the other Crystal Gems, and unlike most male heroes, he has defensive and healing abilities instead of offensive ones, and he's still very much in a trainee position. Steven's father, Greg, is human, so he can't help much with the magic stuff, but he tries his best as a single dad.

After reading everyone replies in this thread and thinking about things, I was actually considering giving the male characters healing abilities as their specialty. Steven Universe is on my to-watch list. It's been highly recommended to me by many others and has some nods to Sailor Moon, which fills me with joy.

[Enigma]

I would also look at Steven Universe. While Steven is the main character, he's still learning how his powers work, with the help of the other Crystal Gems, and unlike most male heroes, he has defensive and healing abilities instead of offensive ones, and he's still very much in a trainee position. Steven's father, Greg, is human, so he can't help much with the magic stuff, but he tries his best as a single dad.

After reading everyone replies in this thread and thinking about things, I was actually considering giving the male characters healing abilities as their specialty. Steven Universe is on my to-watch list. It's been highly recommended to me by many others and has some nods to Sailor Moon, which fills me with joy.

It's also got a few nods to Hokuto no ken and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann which makes me even happier. However, I'd like to offer an alternative to healing abilites in the form of nonstandard and situational abilites. For example the ability to teleport objects from one shiny surface to another as long as you're above the surface you're moving the object to. The ability doesn't really seem too useful, but in the proper circumstance it'd actually be very powerful, it just requires a lot more creativity on the users part, and it'll never quite have the universal usefulness as shooting lasers.

[SuperLexxx]

It's also got a few nods to Hokuto no ken and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann which makes me even happier. However, I'd like to offer an alternative to healing abilites in the form of nonstandard and situational abilites. For example the ability to teleport objects from one shiny surface to another as long as you're above the surface you're moving the object to. The ability doesn't really seem too useful, but in the proper circumstance it'd actually be very powerful, it just requires a lot more creativity on the users part, and it'll never quite have the universal usefulness as shooting lasers.

And the Enigma of Amigara Fault! Never thought I'd see a reference to Junji Ito in an American cartoon.

That's a really good suggestion, and also reminds me somewhat of Tuxedo Mask. Considering how huge of an influence Sailor Moon is in my own project (and in my life) I really should be examining Tuxedo Mask more. One of his powers is the ability to locate people anywhere in the world by feeling the Earth. He uses this to find the Sailor Scouts at the end of the first arc. Some kind of locator or psychic ability would make a lot of sense. Actually, psychic abilities in general might work very well. The girls have physically manifesting powers (control of fire, illusion-based powers, creating forcefields, etc.) while the boys have more mentally focused powers (sensing auras, telepathy, and so on).

I'm also looking around for some kind of one-on-one mentor who can help me out with some of the stickier details of this project, but I have no idea what recruitment thread to post that sort of request in.

[trooper6]

I'm also looking around for some kind of one-on-one mentor who can help me out with some of the stickier details of this project, but I have no idea what recruitment thread to post that sort of request in.

If your game is going to be non-commercial and you don't plan on paying this mentor, I'd recommend posting in the free project recruitment thread. You might also want to be clear on what sort of mentoring you want: writing? Coding? Artwork? Etc?

[Mad Harlequin]

The girls have physically manifesting powers (control of fire, illusion-based powers, creating forcefields, etc.) while the boys have more mentally focused powers (sensing auras, telepathy, and so on).

I like this idea a lot better than simply giving male characters trainee roles, or making them almost powerless.

You can have a magical girl series with important male characters---look at Rooster Teeth's RWBY! (While it may not strictly fit in the magical girl genre, I think it's a good idea to mention it.) The titular team is all female, but there are male characters in other teams at Beacon. One of my favorite characters is Jaune Arc, who is noticeably weaker and more clumsy than the other students at the start, but has been slowly realizing his potential with the help of his team.

[SuperLexxx]

The girls have physically manifesting powers (control of fire, illusion-based powers, creating forcefields, etc.) while the boys have more mentally focused powers (sensing auras, telepathy, and so on).

I like this idea a lot better than simply giving male characters trainee roles, or making them almost powerless.

You can have a magical girl series with important male characters---look at Rooster Teeth's RWBY! (While it may not strictly fit in the magical girl genre, I think it's a good idea to mention it.) The titular team is all female, but there are male characters in other teams at Beacon. One of my favorite characters is Jaune Arc, who is noticeably weaker and more clumsy than the other students at the start, but has been slowly realizing his potential with the help of his team.

Oh yes, I'm a big fan of RWBY. My animation professor hates it, but I defend its merits all the time. I am also a big fan of Juane (he's so adorkably adorable).

I'm glad I started this thread. I think it's helped me sort things out in my head and I realize I've been thinking about it the wrong way. I was overthinking it way more than I needed too, so I appreciate everyone's thoughts and suggestions. Yaay!

[Enigma]

I'm also looking around for some kind of one-on-one mentor who can help me out with some of the stickier details of this project, but I have no idea what recruitment thread to post that sort of request in.

I might be able to offer some help, I have my own projects but I like to talk to people while I work (or rather message them, physically talking to people distracts me for some reason.)

[LPRe]

If this thread is basically already done, sorry! I just wanted to add a bit of input.

I actually first thought of Princess Tutu after reading your post, the male characters are both sidekicks and main characters in their own right. Neither of the main male characters can transform(well, one can at the very end, but he's actually mostly just a motivator until Events occur), but one male character has a large role in the story with specific powers he has, while the other main male starts out as motivation for the main heroine and then turns into a bit of a, spoilers, villain. You could incorporate them that way, with them not really being the focus but being strong support characters with specific skills, or tying them into the story in a sort of Checkov's Gun kinda way.