A Recurring JRPG Trope: Clueless Chick Magnet

[vanguard333]

1 hour ago, B.Leu said:

...Huh ? Cloud is a clueless chick magnet ? Never got that impression.

1 hour ago, eclipse said:

Kinda not feeling this trope in 7 - Aerith's still hung up over someone else, which leaves Barrett Tifa.  Yuffie doesn't seem to be interested in Cloud himself (his materia is another matter).  IMO the romance VNs have it the worst, because that's the entire point of the game, with the main character (you) choosing who to go with.  I'd love to see a game/anime where the main character realizes this, and uses it as a way to match those interested in him/her with better options.

I can't disagree since I haven't played Final Fantasy 7 yet, but TVTropes lists Cloud as an example. Here's what it says:

Quote

Cloud Strife of Final Fantasy VII, over the course of the game, earns the affections of Tifa, Aerith, Yuffie, Jessie and Priscilla. He never clues in that it's possible that he may very well be a hit with the ladies.

 

1 hour ago, eclipse said:

If you go by that logic. . .yeah.  Maybe "The Clueless Chick Magnet trope and JRPGs" would work as a topic title?  Or something like that?  Regardless, a non-clickbait title will tell the reader what to expect not "open this to find out what I mean".

Well, I changed the title. Just checking: does the new one still sound like clickbait?

 

[B.Leu]

Really ? That's weird, I could have sworn that Cloud make passes to ladies, in his way. I was probably wrong.

7 hours ago, Glennstavos said:

Yeah I'm not a fan of sex-less universes either. From what I've seen in video games, many romances tend to go over well with fans of the big franchises. There are bad romances too, but not proportionally more than the amount of bad plots that exist in general. I can't think of any great game story marred by, of all things, a romance sub plot. When there's no canonical romance it just leads to shipping and ugliness online, regardless of whether the game itself allows for player control of that shipping. Maybe a Japanese marketing expert will tell us that the "shipping factor" is responsible for half the sales, but I think it's hard to quantify the value of this trope.

 

It's even more funny in a ecchi settings !

There's two reasons that it might be so, to gain a "character development", that really isn't and/or to make the whole thing needlessly long. Seen enough of that stuff to be salty about it.
 

8 hours ago, AnonymousSpeed said:

Escapism is unhealthy.

March WTF are you doing here ? Or is it Joker now ?

I'd say that escapism is good, as long as you don't go down the rabbit hole. In the end, we are all a bit escapist.
I'd also argue that tropes are tools, but some have been used so overused and in a not fun way, that you can't see how they could be.

Edited December 23, 2019 by B.Leu

[AnonymousSpeed]

6 hours ago, Flere210 said:

It depend on what we mean as "bad". An immoral trope is bad in a way, but is not necessarily bad writing. Is a moral trope "good" just because it teach a good lesson?

I mean probably.

5 hours ago, B.Leu said:

March WTF are you doing here ?

I'm pretty sure there's an 'e' on the end of that.

[Fields]

I don't mind romances if they're written with some subtlety and care. I can even go with a harem plotline if it's well integrated (The Last Sovereign comes to mind).

 

[Slumber]

11 hours ago, vanguard333 said:

I can't disagree since I haven't played Final Fantasy 7 yet, but TVTropes lists Cloud as an example. Here's what it says:

Tifa has liked Cloud since they were kids. Aerith is attracted to the part of Cloud that is emulating Zack. Yuffie largely just likes Cloud's materia, and really doesn't go that hard after him. Priscilla is a child who has a crush on the guy who saved her life.

The only one that really just likes Cloud just because is Jessie.

He is a bit clueless, but he really only likes Tifa back canonically, which probably clouds(hehehehe) him being able to see the others being attracted to him

Edited December 23, 2019 by Slumber