The Sub-Heroine Route – An Anatomy of Visual Novels
Entry posted by Pallas_Raven in Analysis
984 views
This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.
She Was Always Right Beside Me
A story always has its heroes and heroines, defining characters who shapes the narrative and break out of the normal to change the world around them. These are the people who the player remembers long after they have put the game down and are the focus of a developer's time and effort. But what about the supporting cast? The men and women who stand bellow our protagonists and who sit closer to the normal and mundane, individuals who would normally stand in the background of a scene. Visual novels have found a place for them within their structure in the form of the Sub-Heroine Route. This curious phenomenon is the topic of this article and it has a surprising degree of complexity and variety to its form. From its implementation to its effects within the narrative, there is a fair amount to cover. And perhaps along the way you might see the value and place of including a Sub-Heroine Route in your own work.
In The Shadow Of Importance – Defining The Sub-Heroine
The category of Sub-Heroine is one which is somewhat vague by its nature. It has been used to refer to a variety of characters, such as those who have major routes but are not focus of the overarching narrative or those are not the clear favourite of the writers. However, the set of characters which this article poses as the real Sub-Heroines are those minor characters or important supporting character who would not under normal circumstances have a route of their own due to their nature as secondary characters. They tend to either reflect the more normal aspects of the protagonist’s life or they are some type of plot device required by the story and in most cases these are the people the developers tend to want the player to not fixate on. So having entire, albeit shorter, routes dedicated to them is a strange choice under normal circumstances. Their routes tend to take two forms, shorter unlockable routes and offshoots of an existing route, and it is these which we will be examining.
Perhaps the common manifestation of the Sub-Heroine Route is in the form of shorter unlockable routes in which the protagonist chooses said heroine over the main cast. These are generally the home of Sub-Heroines who are minor characters which would normally occupy supporting roles and have little influence on the overall narrative. This type of Sub-Heroine Route is treated as a form of unlockable reward for the player to incentivise them to keep playing and potentially uncover more hidden content. In terms of structure, they focus around a single point of conflict, often romantic, and spend their entire play time exploring it without any diversions or interactions which are not absolutely necessary. Sometimes they are even paired up together with another Sub-Heroine Routes if their content is similar enough in order to save on space. A prime example of this practice can be seen in Senren Banka with the coupled routes of Koharu and Roka who share an initial build up before splitting off into their own self contained sections. Their shared path is disguised as a competition between the two heroines to see who will get to be with the protagonist, Masaomi, and gives them a change to shine through various character interactions before they enter their isolated routes. It also allows them to serve as a sort of antidote to the grander narrative plots of the main heroine’s routes by offering a glimpse into the mundane lives of the rest of the cast.
A less common type of Sub-Heroine Route is one which exists as an offshoot of a major route. In these the narrative will shift off the original main heroine and moves onto the Sub-Heroine while maintaining the same thematic and tonal aspects. The Sub-Heroines often found here are those which under normal circumstances would serve as plot devices or form part of the world building and the routes they off shoot from are generally the ones they have an important role to play in. This results in an expansion of the player’s understand of this character and their role in the story. It is less prevalent than the separate route type due to the effort required to set it up and there being no call for such a route in many less narratively complex visual novels. An interesting example of can be seen in Hoshizora no Memoria with Mare’s route which is an offshoot of the final route of the game. Here the player gets to see the mysterious Mare behave in more human fashion as opposed to the aloof manner she has been throughout the game and serves to tie her character up. Mare is a constant presence in the narrative but never shifts out of a supportive role, acting as a means of moving the narrative forward both within a route and in an overarching sense. There is a definite argument that Mare’s route is not a particularly good Sub-Heroine route due to it being short in duration and lacking in substance, but it is nonetheless a good example of how this type can be presented and placed inside a visual novel.
Why Writing Sub-Heroine Routes Is Hard
There are relatively few Sub-Heroine routes in visual novels compared to total number of titles which just include a spread of standard routes. This drought has come about for a variety of reasons with the most prominent being that the compact nature of a Sub-Heroine routes requires a certain set of narrative skills. Writing a long main heroine route is very different from a short form narrative with a single focus. As has been expressed earlier, this is a problem which many Sub-Heroine routes suffer from and there have been various attempts to mitigate it such as the aforementioned partial merge of two routes in order to give the developers more space to work with. However, these are just band-aids and demonstrate the writers are much more comfortable creating a longer story than managing the swifter pace of a short route. Knowing how to keep events to their necessary space while at the same time not making the whole route not feel rushed is an off-putting challenge for many and so they simply choose to avoid the problem entirely.
Another noticeable barrier to the effective inclusion of a Sub-Heroine route is the fact that the emphasis they place on mundanity through these more minor characters is difficult to make engaging for the player. Our everyday lives are not filled with constant excitement and so a narrative focused around such ideas and themes may bore an audience which is expecting an escape from that life. There is also the issue of how it can rub up against a serious and supernaturally inclined story with the sudden shift into a slower paced route coming across as jarring and even as a betrayal of the experience the player signed up for. It is a delicate line to tread when designing a Sub-Heroine route and there are as many aspects to consider as there are in a main route even if the outcome differs. Balance has to be found between the heroine’s arc, their lower narrative stakes and their shorter length, and this is a struggle for many Sub-Heroine routes. As such their quality varies even more wildly then normal routes despite how relatively few of them there are and it is perhaps a sign of how flawed their core ideas are in practice.
For The Importance Of The Sub-Heroine Route
If Sub-Heroine routes are so hard to get right within their constraints and they focus on less important characters, why would anyone choose to use them at all? This is the inevitable question which comes from the issues shown above and a perfectly reasonable reaction to them. However, even in the face of these concerns the Sub-Heroine route offers some unique strengths which allow it act as an important narrative pillar for the main routes. The first of these, which has been alluded to before, is the contrast it provides. By supplying a point of reference for the player for what the more grounded elements of the world and characters are like, it gives the player a lens through which to appreciate the dramatic highs of the central plot. It makes clear that not everyone lives in the high powered drama and action which the main cast finds themselves in, there are normal people living their lives and doing their best to deal the changes brought by the protagonists. This sense of perspective is lacking in many visual novel and the Sub-Heroine route can give a space where the developers can insert the necessary fleshing out of their vision.
The other strength offered by the Sub-Heroine route is the opportunity it gives for humanising more minor or plot device characters and providing another angle to their interactions with the main cast. There is an inherent imbalance necessary in a standard linear narrative to allow for a proper pacing of events and arcs which visual novels have assumed to make certain they can keep the player engaged. However, it is only in breaking out of these conventions where the medium can truly show its uniqueness. The Sub-Heroine route plays into the non-linear nature of visual novels by allowing for the exploration of characters who would normally go ignored and in doing this expands the player understand and investment in the overall game. No longer are these character to be simple background noise, they are as alive as the main cast and in many ways more relatable due to the smaller scale of their problems and triumphs. In addition their optional nature ensures the player will never become bogged down by them and helps keep the Sub-Heroines from the possibility of overshadowing the main heroines.
Conclusion
If there is one thing which the existence of the Sub-Heroine Route demonstrates it is the flexibility and engaging nature of visual novels. Having the ability to examine the side characters of a story within a cohesive and thematic section of the game is a major advantage of the medium. While Sub-Heroine routes do have their issues in terms of being difficult to write for, due to their short length and focus on the more mundane, the ability to humanise these characters and provide much needed contrast greatly outweighs these problems. The debate as to whether a game should have one or not is a matter decided by the overall narrative need for these strengths and a defined enough secondary cast to utilise it with. Having a Sub-Heroine route can elevate a story in a surprisingly effective manner and should definitely be on your list of possible options when you create your own visual novel.
1 Comment
Recommended Comments