Character Amount?

[HamstarXCrown]

How much character do you think suit a :

1. Otome Game
2. Horror VN
3. Adventure VN
4. Short VN
5. Long VN

[RunicV]

Are you referring to character development or just the amount of characters you have in VNs?

If you're talking about amount of characters, the less the better. More characters mean more loose ends to clean up. If you have a humongous cast of characters, it can be hard to make the all well-developed. You end up not really liking them or getting to know them. Having a few characters is better since you can focus more on them. If you have too many characters, you might want to just combine a few into one by taking their traits and mashing it up into the same character.

Basically all the advice I have in a nutshell. >_> If I find any useful links about it, I'll dump them here. Ookami Kasumi gave a small writing tip/guide once that talked a bit about it.

[mirelle]

For me, working with less is better since they are... Say, more memorable. I often get lost in track with vns containing a buckload of characters, like for example naruto/ fairy tail/ just name any recent shonen manga here :/

[cuttlefish]

How much character do you think suit a :
1. Otome Game
2. Horror VN
3. Adventure VN
4. Short VN
5. Long VN

I feel these would be the minimum amount of characters,
1) protagonist + 3 love interests (could work with 1 or 2, but I think 3 love interests would provide greater balance/variety with personality types)
2) protagonist + antagonist
3) protagonist + friend + antagonist

4) and 5) could be any story, so any amount of characters could be involved.

If you have a humongous cast of characters, it can be hard to make the all well-developed.

Is it really necessary to make sure all characters are well-developed?
There are those characters in plays/stories that may serve a purpose in the plot, but you don't really get to know them.
In a VN, these characters don't usually have sprites.

[HamstarXCrown]

How much character do you think suit a :
1. Otome Game
2. Horror VN
3. Adventure VN
4. Short VN
5. Long VN

I feel these would be the minimum amount of characters,
1) protagonist + 3 love interests (could work with 1 or 2, but I think 3 love interests would provide greater balance/variety with personality types)
2) protagonist + antagonist
3) protagonist + friend + antagonist

4) and 5) could be any story, so any amount of characters could be involved.

If you have a humongous cast of characters, it can be hard to make the all well-developed.

Is it really necessary to make sure all characters are well-developed?
There are those characters in plays/stories that may serve a purpose in the plot, but you don't really get to know them.
In a VN, these characters don't usually have sprites.

I think 2-3 Love Interest is fine. More will making it more complicate. I like Antagonist Character because they're fun making. So my VN used to have atleast one was input in the progress of making.

P/S : This doesn't involved the topic but is that Mafuyu from Oresama Teacher (Your Avatar)?

[cuttlefish]

I think 2-3 Love Interest is fine. More will making it more complicate. I like Antagonist Character because they're fun making. So my VN used to have atleast one was input in the progress of making.

Yeah. I think 2-3 would be the easiest to handle. If a person can pull off 5 or more love interests, that'd be cool too.
Antagonists can be really great characters if they're written well~

P/S : This doesn't involved the topic but is that Mafuyu from Oresama Teacher (Your Avatar)?

Yes ;)

[RunicV]

If you have a humongous cast of characters, it can be hard to make the all well-developed.

Is it really necessary to make sure all characters are well-developed?
There are those characters in plays/stories that may serve a purpose in the plot, but you don't really get to know them.
In a VN, these characters don't usually have sprites.

I'm referring to important characters in a story. Like the characters you'll stick with all the way from the start to the end, not those characters that are only important for a bit. Of course those side characters don't need to be developed as much.

Some stories have main characters, but then they give equal screen time to other characters. It doesn't feel like the main characters are main. >_>

[cuttlefish]

I'm referring to important characters in a story. Like the characters you'll stick with all the way from the start to the end, not those characters that are only important for a bit. Of course those side characters don't need to be developed as much.

Some stories have main characters, but then they give equal screen time to other characters. It doesn't feel like the main characters are main. >_>

Ah, okay then. I know what you mean (about main characters not being main)...

But that's more an issue on the writer's part, and not that the story has too many characters (although that could also be the case).

[SundownKid]

My VN is a 3-4 hour mystery/adventure/etc. VN, and has 6 main characters, 14 secondary characters and 5 generic ones. I could probably have removed 5 secondary characters without seriously harming the story, though it would have been a little sparse, because they wouldn't have been able to know each other in the same way as they do now - it would be more like 1 person per area, which is kind of boring.

Right now, I feel that there are at least a few too many characters, but I don't want to remove them, since, hey, the art is already done. However, I would have had more room to develop the remaining characters with less secondary ones around. I was actually planning to make more, but luckily, I canned the idea.

[gekiganwing]

If you ask me, the number of characters in your VN should be adjusted according to the following:

* How much do you want to write?
* How much gameplay do you want to create?

This applies to both important and side characters. If your project is small, then your cast of characters might be limited to three or four main people, and a handful who have only minor or background roles. Eliminate or consolidate any charas who don't seem relevant to the plot, or who seem redundant. If you think you can create a lengthy, intricate story, then feel free to expand your cast.

One example of what not to do: the 2010 movie Valentine's Day. It's kind of like the 2003 movie Love Actually, but the cast is larger, which results in a movie that doesn't really have *main* characters. It's interesting to see a web of interrelated relationships and characters, but it would probably be better to focus on a few of them.

[Pyonkotchi]

it doesnt matter, put as many characters as you want,
all I can say is that having a lot of characters just means you probably have to have a longer story, you'll have to develop them all and you'll have a lot of loose ends to clean up.
the webcomic Homestuck has like a hundred characters, and its more than 6000 pages and still growing
and yes, every single character is an important one.

a story with a few characters would probably be shorter and easier to handle than one with a humongous cast.

[Aines445]

How much character do you think suit a :

1. Otome Game
2. Horror VN
3. Adventure VN
4. Short VN
5. Long VN

1. - Well in Otome games I like to have a lot of obtainable characters, which means, variaty. But that's personal preference (If I did an otome game I would also put a lot of obtainable characters), so I would say at least three, because that's a middle term. And in side characters, do as many as you need, because having useless side characters can make a player be annoyed (Not me though).

2. -In a horror game (Visual Novel), it depends. I'm not the best with horror games, but from what I've seen, there's mostly a slightly big group of characters, but I guess it's mostly cause one (or more) is going to die. Well, that's if only one person in particular, is the protagonist and the rest of the group are side characters (there CAN be more than one protagonist in horror games). The protagonist(s) normally survive(s), but that can also vary, you can kill him too. And maybe the WHOLE group is important, and they all survive. But some are about 1 person, that's running away from something (an example). I'd give a minimum of 4 main characters with an unlimited maximum, and for the antagonist/villain/monster, I'd say 1 or 2 (MAIN there could be like minions or a whole race of monsters). And side characters (I say side characters but it's secondary characters I bet I confused someone) that depends. The group thing aside since I already explained that, maybe there's a mystery, and there's a certain character that will help you solve it? It really depends.

3. - For an adventure game (Visual Novel), there's mostly a big amount of characters, but 1 protagonist (This could differ!). Like there's a "party" (since it's a visual novel, the party would (mostly) just be a group of people in an adventure) of characters that will have to travel with the protagonist, or will the protagonist be a loner? It really depends on what kind of game you'll make. And there's mostly one villain(MOSTLY), some antagonists (Like I don't know, there could be three antagonists that are total assholes so they sabotage you all the time) and maybe the villain is SATAN and has his demons to try to stop you (but you're awesome and kick their asses ) For side characters, I would say you need a fair amount, like , for example, there would be some characters that would guide you and your party to the hidden teleportation device that takes you to hell for you to kill satan, or maybe they are just figurants, to make it feel like you're not the only person in the world.

4. - For a short visual novel, I would RECOMMEND less characters, because can you develop your characters in such a short time? If you can then you're an awesome person and do it. If you can't you're also awesome but you should have less characters. Like 1 protagonist, 4 secondary and side characters (Not each I mean 2 side characters and 2 secondary ones, and this is an example)

5. - For a long visual novel, do as many as you want or need. For example, let's use this japanese cliché school setting (or maybe just school setting) to explain this. Takanashi is a transfer student that will stay in that school for 3 LOOOONG YEARS. Well, Takanashi can be really well developed in this whole time, since he's the protagonist, so, he's got some busy parents that had to move away from their fictional japanese city of Matamura (WTF) to the other fictional japanese city of Kishiragi. But he doesn't even care, cause he's always moving from place to place, so he's an anti-social guy, cause he thinks it's not worth it to have friends because when he moves away again, he'll be lonelier. He also had this friend named Hiro and they did a lot of stuff, but then he had to move away and got traumatized. FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE. Well, see how much backstory I got out of there? Well you should probably explain this in various parts of the game, like if someone mentions something similar. Well there he had to sit next to this girl named Mina, that was shy so she didn't say anything to him either, in the game, if she's an important character, then you'll also develop her background story and future through out the game.Like, She was often bullied by his jerk brother and his asshole friends, and when she told her mother she wouldn't belive her, because he had the best grades EVAH. So she got really depressed. Well, fortunatly, there was this dude named Daichi that LOOOVES to talk, even in class. He's very loud and cheeful, and likes supernatural things. He also has a girlfriend named Shizuka, that was more serious, but also loves supernatural stuff. Well you could also develop this more, like how did they start dating, and other things, like their grades (Same applies to Mina but I'm forgetful so she normally has I don't Know, B's) or what supernatural things in particular do they like. For example, Daichi was checking out the school clubs but there was nothing in perticular that he wants to join, then he sees this girl asking the teacher for permission to make a club for people that like supernatural things, and that girl was Shizuka. Unfortunatly the teacher was a jerk and said no, but then he decided to go talk to her. Well, they got along pretty well, and then they started dating. Well, Daichi's grades are actually really high, scoring A's without any effort, but Shizuka's are C's, even though she really tries her best. Well, Takanashi was really rude to him at first, but figuring that in the next year they wouldn't be in the same classes, he decided to at least talk to the dude. Well, let's develop this further: Daichi tried to talk to him in the middle of classes, but Takanashi ignored him, but in the end of classes, Daichi went to his seat to talk to him, so he couldn't ignore him, so he thought "Why not? I do need someone to show me around" and pretty much used the dude to show him around. Besides, if in the next year they would be in different classes, they wouldn't need to be friends or anything. So what happens is that he shows him around and then in the cafeteria, they see Mina alone there, so Daichi decides to go talk to her, and they all meet. Let's put this into MORE detail : He showed him around various places, but then Daichi remembers that the cafeteria is also open because they have an open bar for food, so Daichi decided to show the cafeteria too. Well when they get there, they find Mina sitting in one of the tables alone, eating some bread and drinking juice. Daichi then tells you that her name is Mina, and that she's very shy, and normally sees her alone, and when he approached her, she'd run away. But he then wants to try to talk to her again, with you there to make sure she doesnt escape (XD). Takanashi protested, but ended up doing it anyway. So they say hello to her, but she gets very nervous and says hello very fast and tries to run away, but Takanashi does his job, and doesnt let her run away. Then when Daichi was trying to talk to her, Shizuka was going to buy some bread, she saw him talking with Mina, that was very nervous. Because of this, Shizuka goes there immeadiatly to see what's going on, but ends up scaring Mina even more. But Takanashi has too much patience, so she still isn't getting away. And he also explains the situation to Shizuka, making her calmer. So Daichi introduces them all, and Mina decides to give up escaping and stick around. What sucks is that the bell rings and you got to go to class again. Yup, all this was just a recess, and you didn't have to have that many characters to make this long. Well to finish this up, they all become friends but then this bitch named Rika shows up, and no one else can see her, because she's actually dead. So they decide to investigate this, because no normal person can see ghosts, and they discover that there was this scientist that injected this weird thing that made you see souls, but it only worked after THAT long, and that the scientist was Takanashi's uncle, Riichirou, and he was after them because it actually worked. Okay now that THAT'S done, if I had kept describing the story, it would be really long, and that was just with four characters. So it's really as many as you need, as long as you can develop them nicely. (And DAMN I JUST MADE A WHOLE STORY, but that was with the japanese high school thing, too common....Oh well)

So yeah I think it really depends on how much you can develop the characters. If you have this visual novel with 20 main characters, as long as you develop them well, I would play it.

[dramspringfeald]

1. Otome Game
2. Horror VN
3. Adventure VN
4. Short VN
5. Long VN

It takes as many as it takes. I've played games with 3 characters, I've played games with hundreds. Just remember keep it efficient and keep the numbers down and manageable.

[Shad12ow]

1. Otome Game -> 1 main, 1-3 love interests. For me, too much choice is confusing.
2. Horror VN -> Maybe 1-2 main, 1-3 secondary.
3. Adventure VN -> 1-3 main depending on your story. Then maybe 2-3 secondary.
4. Short VN -> 1-3 character (main+secondary)
5. Long VN -> Go crazy! Hahaha...

It takes as many as it takes. I've played games with 3 characters, I've played games with hundreds. Just remember keep it efficient and keep the numbers down and manageable.

Really? Hundreds characters? May I know the name of the game? Hehehe...
Well, for me, I agree that it takes as many as it takes. But less is better for starter.

Is it really necessary to make sure all characters are well-developed?
There are those characters in plays/stories that may serve a purpose in the plot, but you don't really get to know them.
In a VN, these characters don't usually have sprites.

Yeah, I also don't think that every character has to be well-developed. But as long as you need someone to make the story move on, then you need it.

[dramspringfeald]

It takes as many as it takes. I've played games with 3 characters, I've played games with hundreds. Just remember keep it efficient and keep the numbers down and manageable.

Really? Hundreds characters? May I know the name of the game? Hehehe...

Yeah, I also don't think that every character has to be well-developed. But as long as you need someone to make the story move on, then you need it.[/quote]
Though not a dating sim The Disgaea series is the one I'm talking about. Starts with 4 or 5 then by the end of the game you can have about 70. The second game has 125 character slots reserved. Now remember most of them are legacy characters carried over from other games or projects... or just because but each has a full story arc with 1 or 2 endings. Not sure how many characters 3 and 4 have. you'll spend a good 6 or 7 months to unlock them all too.

There is also a H game out there called Monsters Girl Quest. Though only having 6 main characters and 3 total endings (so far) with one* possible love interest. The game has both a large and easy customization system to make your own arcs, sub stories or your own stories. *In the game if you loose you either die, get raped to death, or become their mate for life. at present there are over 300 encounters. some with "multiple endings."

Back to OP

So character wise at the minimum you need 3 characters; The Hero (player*) the Girl, The Bad Guy (the Writer*), Then you more or less repeat it for the other obtainable characters or sub characters. If you give them their own arc they get the same treatment. Just make sure you have a place for your characters in the story and a story for your characters. If there is no room for one then cut the other.
*the bad guy/hero thing can be reversed but no one has the balls or skill to make the player the bad guy.