History VisualNovel / SlayThePrincess

* BigDamnKiss: [[spoiler:It is possible to pull this off with the Thorn version of the Princess once she is freed, provided the player chose to flirt with the Witch in the previous chapter, and therefore have the Voice of the Smitten with them. The Narrator is absolutely indignant about it and makes no secret of it, but realizes that even he has to follow narrative convention when it comes to these things and so breaks out the PurpleProse, even if at first he does so with clenched teeth and lays on the sarcasm as thick as possible. The Voices pick up on this and gang up to call him out on it, telling him not to ruin the moment and give its due description, and he begrudgingly acquiesces.]]

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: The game features different levels of scrolling for various elements on the screen to give the illusion of 3-D movement -- things closer to you will move more as you move your mouse around the screen, while things that are farther away will move less. However, if you find this distracting or it causes motion sickness, you can turn it off. The game also tells you this when you boot it up, so anyone who would have trouble with those effects can turn it off before it causes them any trouble.

* FairyTaleMotifs: The overarching premise is one big subversion of the usual fairy tale fare. While your goal ''is'' a princess as in many such stories, it is so you may ostensibly slay her, not save her.
** The Adversary route [[spoiler:and the Eye of the Needle]] has the princess acquire draconic traits that bring to mind the classic "knight slaying a dragon to save the princess" story, only here the dragon to be slain ''is'' the princess.
** The romance between the very [[AmbiguouslyHuman "human'']] looking Princess and the [[BirdPeople Player character]] is very much like Literature/BeautyAndTheBeast.

** The routes where you betray the Princess result in either a slavering Beast that must be out fought, outmaneuvered or outwitted (a challenge often doled out by dragons or [[Main/TheBigBadWolf big bad wolves]]) or a Witch who is, in a sense, [[spoiler:guarding the path to at least one other Princess.]]
** [[spoiler:The Thorn]], as the name would suggest, [[spoiler:[[Literature/SleepingBeauty is found entangled in an extensive briar patch.]] She can even be given TrueLovesKiss if you choose the right options to the Witch in the previous chapter.]]

* FirstGirlWins: [[spoiler: If you go to the heart of the Shifting Mound, the Princess inside will be based on whatever choice you made in your first run of the game in picking up the knife. If you took the knife, she'll be somewhat cynical, if you didn't, she'll be kindly. If you refused to go the cabin at all and got The Stranger, she'll be there in a more stable and happier state and encourage you to accept godhood.]]

* LoopholeAbuse: The Princess cannot leave the cabin without your help or if you die. When the Princess becomes less trustful of you, she tries to find ways to get around this. [[spoiler:The Beast, for example, [[EatenAlive eats you alive]] and walks out of the cabin with you in her digestive tracks.]]

* FairyTaleMotifs: The overarching premise is one big subversion of the usual fairy tale fair. While your goal ''is'' a princess as in many such stories, it is so you may ostensibly slay her, not save her.

* [[invoked]]EsotericHappyEnding: If you slay the Princess without a second thought, you get [[spoiler:an eternity in the cabin, the world outside having seemingly vanished along with the princess, and accepting this fate results in the "Good Ending" where the Narrator gives you a poorly-drawn card congratulating you for saving the world]].

* BroughtDownToNormal: [[spoiler:In the ''And? What happens next?'' ending, you and the Princess leave the cabin and the Construct, but forgoe ascension to godhood.]]

''Slay the Princess'' is a UsefulNotes/RenPy-based PsychologicalHorror VisualNovel[=/=]DatingSim[=/=]AdventureGame developed by Black Tabby Games, the creators of ''VideoGame/ScarletHollow''.

* ApocalypseMaiden:
** The Narrator certainly insists that the Princess is this, and implies that she'll end the world regardless of whether or not she intends to or even knows how, but refuses to elaborate as to how or provide any proof that she can. The Spectre route brings up the possibility that she may instead be a BarrierMaiden, as you can note that [[spoiler:the world outside the cabin seemed to vanish]] after you killed her. [[spoiler:The truth ends up being a little more complicated. After going through five routes, (and meeting five different Princesses) the Narrator reveals that the real Princess (the entity absorbing the others at the end of each route) is "the Shifting Mound", the personification of, among other things, transformation, death and rebirth. She was imprisoned in the construct by His Creator to keep all that she represents locked out of the rest of existence.]]

''Slay The Princess'' is a UsefulNotes/RenPy-based PsychologicalHorror VisualNovel[=/=]DatingSim[=/=]AdventureGame developed by Black Tabby Games, the creators of ''VideoGame/ScarletHollow''.

[[folder:A-L]]

[[folder:M-Z]]

--->'''Princess:''' ''(in a bored tone)'' That will be fine, I can lose an arm.

* MaleGaze: Given an odd if cheeky justification. The Princess' figure and look [[spoiler:are molded by how the player interacts with her. In routes where she is little more than a wish fulfilling fantasy, like the Damsel, her cleavage is larger and more accentuated by the camera. The more standoffish she becomes the less sexualized the angles, to the point she isn't human looking to begin with]].

->[[TheStinger Finally made it out.]] [[EvilIsDeathlyCold Wait... why is it so cold...?]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: In the Spectre route, [[spoiler:after the Princess possesses your body, the Narrator states that [your] body wasn't made to hold you and the Princess. He says "made", as if you were created and not born, which is the case: both you and the Princess are ArtificialGods made to represent stasis and change respectively. When the Narrator says that you weren't made to hold both of you, he means that the explicit purpose of the Player's creation is to keep those concepts separate, which is also why he is trying to push you into slaying the Princess.]]

* NamelessNarrative: The Narrator and the Voices aren't referred to with any name, only receiving epithets through the subtitles, the Princess is referred to as such by the Voices and Narrator with her subtitles having no name for her, and the Player is neither given a title in his text nor referred to by one. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in the case of the voices who [[SplitPersonality aren't really people to begin with,]] [[spoiler: and later the Princess and player character, who are [[DietyofMortalCreation Artifical Gods]] (titled the Shifting Mound and the Long Quiet respectively) who never had "real" names to begin with.]]

* BigDamnKiss: [[spoiler:It is possible to pull this off with the Thorn version of the Princess once she is freed, provided the player chose to flirt with the Witch in the previous chapter, and therefore have the Voice of the Smitten with them. The Narrator is absolutely indignant about it and makes no secret of it, but realizes that even he has to follow narrative convention when it comes to these things and so breaks out the PurpleProse, even if at first he does so with clenched teeth and lays on the sarcasm as thick as possible. The Voices pick up on this call him out on it, telling him not to ruin the moment and give its due description, and he begrudgingly acquiesces.]]

* BirdPeople: Your character appears to be an avian-human hybrid, based on what can be seen of them. In every route, you get to see your scaly arm and taloned hand as you try to attack the Princess, and your upper arm also looks like it's sprouting feathers around the shoulder area. In some routes, the Princess refers to you with avian terminology, and the Voice of the Smitten worries about having "a feather out of place" if you try to check the mirror.

The premise is simple, as the Narrator (played by Creator/JonathanSims) explains: You're a knight on a quest, walking through the woods. At the end of the path lies a cabin. In the basement of that cabin lies a Princess (played by Nichole Goodnight). Your job is to slay the princess, otherwise the world will end. The Narrator makes sure to emphatically warn you that the Princess is a quite cunning creature indeed and should not be trusted; she will do anything to find a weakness she can exploit in order to dissuade you from your task. She will lie, cheat, offer bargains and bribes, and mix lies with the truth if it means getting an angle on you.

Because if you ''do'' decide to slay her, [[CruelAndUnusualDeath she WILL make you regret it]]. If you leave her behind, [[CruelAndUnusualDeath she WILL also make you regret it]].

Because if you ''do'' decide to slay her, [[CruelAndUnusualDeath she WILL make you regret it]].

Because if you ''do'' decide to kill her, or to seal her away in the basement, [[CruelAndUnusualDeath she WILL make you regret it]].

Because if you ''do'' decide to kill her, [[CruelAndUnusualDeath she WILL make you regret it]]. If you leave her behind, locked in her prison [[CruelAndUnusualDeath she WILL also make you regret it]].

->''"Whatever horrors you may find in these dark spaces, have heart and see them through. There are no premature endings. There are no wrong decisions. There are only fresh perspectives and new beginnings. This is a love story."''

** In the Adversary [[spoiler: if you somehow manage to slay her after she baits you into attacking, the Voice of the Stubborn is eager for a rematch, so much so that he wills her back to life, so that you can keep fighting and killing each other multiple more times over]].
** In The Wraith [[spoiler: The Narrator tries to stall her escape and possession of you by making the hallway longer. Realizing that she can warp reality to, she takes over the narration, and warps to the door]].

* RuleOfCool: In Chapter One, freeing the Princess from her shackle means cutting off her arm. On a playthrough with the developers, Matt brings up the complaint he'd heard that it would make more sense to sever her hand at the wrist than to start ''above'' the shackle, where her arm is thicker. They chose the spot they went with because of how it looks.

** If you've played through at least one route, meaning you've [[spoiler:met the Shifting Mound]], it is impossible to [[spoiler:accept the "Good Ending" which occurs after a straightforward murder of the princess in Chapter I. Attempting to do so will nudge the Mound into reminding you that you have a job to perform for her, and from there you must kill yourself to proceed to ''The Spectre'' route.]]
** During "The Tower" route, [[spoiler:the Princess is a towering goddess with a CompellingVoice. When you approach her, she'll tell you to drop your pristine blade (if you brought it) and [[KneelBeforeZod prostrate yourself before her]]. While you have options to resist, these are fruitless, as you'll be forced to do what she wants no matter what you pick. Several other defiant dialogue options in this route are also greyed out to further illustrate the strength of her commands.]]
** If you keep trying to run from the Nightmare Princess, [[spoiler:eventually the route collapses into a 'Moment of Clarity' and you have no choice but to take her hand.]]
** The game does not allow you to take a route that would lead to a Chapter 2 that you've already seen - The options are either greyed out or simply not present in the list of choices.

* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: [[spoiler:The princess's appearance and personality are determined by how the protagonist sees her. Even the very first decision of whether to take the knife changes the way she'll call out to you before she can see you.]]

* HostileShowTakeover: A couple of variations.

-->'''Princess:''' You bastard! If I have to kill you to leave this place, I'll do it.

* SchmuckBait: [[spoiler: In the Prisoner route, there's an extra neck shackle beside the princess. Her dark smile, when she suggests that it will probably fit and the other voices warning you against approaching it; makes it clear that something bad will happen if you approach it. Sure enough, if you do it suddenly fastens around you and repels your blade through some mysterious magnetism. Ironically though this is the only way for both you and the princess to escape in one piece, uninjured in this chapter as time accelerates and the entire prison corrodes around you.]] In theRazor Route, [[spoiler: the princess pretend she needs rescuing while making multiple references to stabbing you to death.]]

* CreateYourOwnVillain: Shown in the endings where you decide to kill the Princess after befriending her, or decide to leave her in the basement. [[spoiler:She embraces her monstrous nature and exacts bloody revenge on you. She even tells you this, claiming that she's perfectly capable of being harmless and friendly... until she believed you betrayed her.]]
-->'''Princess:''' I can be innocent and harmless... if I want to be. Teasing me with fresh air and a chance to finally live freely doesn't inspire me to play nice.