Hisao The White Knight *SPOILERS*

[purple haired Katawa Shoujo character]

I guess this is somewhat in response to Hisao's Six Personalities thread. Even though he becomes a different person to some extent in each path, he still has an over-arching personality. The major point of which is his being a white knight of sorts. He always seems to be attempting to save the girl from herself, and in a way, it's rather selfish because he is doing it so he doesn't have to lose her. In the process, not only is he trying to rescue each girl from their major, life-changing dilemna, but he is doing so for himself.

In Lilly's path, he stops her from moving to Scotland.

In Hanako's, something about scars and traumas

Rin's - something about change that was way too abstract

Emi's - teh PTSD

shzune - idk

overall, each path is just a rescue mission and hisao is Don Quixote

[Palas]

Hisao is blatantly white-knighty towards Hanako. He states so himself.

"If she wants a prince, I'm going to be that prince,"

Or something like that.

Interestingly enough, the player is the one who has to save him from himself because he's a complete idiot.

[Kyou_kun]

Hisao is blatantly white-knighty towards Hanako. He states so himself.

"If she wants a prince, I'm going to be that prince,"

Or something like that.

Interestingly enough, the player is the one who has to save him from himself because he's a complete idiot.

Just remember to never let him do stuff out of his gut feelings, and you'll be alright

[Harco]

That is why I liked Shizune's route so much. After completing Emi's and Hanako's route is was refreshing to see Hisao not angsting about his relationship with this route's girlfriend or trying to change, protect or fix her. Shizune was who she was and he had peace with that -- in fact, that extreme competitiveness is what made him like her in the first place.

[Guest Poster]

White Knight syndrome is a common phenomenon when disabilities come into play. I'd define it as someone approaches another person they (often unconsciously) perceive as in need of fixing through the power of love. Emi's position on it is a fairly accurate reflection of the contempt many disabled people have about white knighting. However, I also feel there's a fine but important line between white knighting and making attempts to help a person you feel close to. (either succesful or misguided)

While Hisao shows some subtle white knight traits in several routes, there's only one route where he actually falls prey to the white knight syndrome himself. (obviously, this is Hanako's route) Hisao didn't approach Emi with the intent of fixing her. He was drawn to her cheerful personality, her playful banter with him and their mutual like of running. It wasn't until he was well into a relationship with her that her PTSD-related issues started showing. Likewise, Hisao approached Rin due to a fascination with her quirky character and their tendency to hang out, not because he immediately saw her as a damsel in distress. With Lilly, there's even a case of a reverse white knight syndrom where he finds out he used Lilly as a crutch too much and it would have been better to be a bit more white knight towards her himself. Shizune's route avoids dealing with the white knight thing altogether.

That leaves Hanako and white knight syndrom is essentially the thing her whole storyline revolves around. I think it's not just Hisao who falls prey to it though...by the end of Act 1, we still don't really know Hanako well. Nevertheless, I have no doubt that (up until release) Hanako's popularity was strongly rooted in her ability to trigger that "protect me" instinct in the player. Heck, Hanako herself subconciously plays this up by clinging to or hiding behind the few people she trusts. I very much doubt players were attracted to things like her selfless nature, her love of singing, affection for computers or her competitive streak in games (which is moderate compared to Shizune's extreme competitiveness) ...those things weren't visible until she let her guard down a bit and people were well into her route. Even if you know white knight syndrom is an unhealthy thing, you can't help but feel Hanako's "orphaned kitten"-vibe makes her adorable...which is kinda infuriating. Still, Hanako's route deals well with the white knight phenomenon and rather than encouraging it, its moral ultimately seems to be about laying off the shining armor and simply being there when someone you grew to care about needs you.

So no, I don't agree that each path is a rescue mission.