The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th century onward, the rise of illusionism in staging practices, which culminated in the realism and naturalism of the theatre of the 19th century, led to the development of the fourth wall concept.
"The Yellow Wallpaper" is a short story by American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman, first published in January 1892 in The New England Magazine. It is regarded as an important early work of American feminist literature for its illustration of the attitudes towards mental and physical health of women in the 19th century. It is also lauded as an excellent work of horror fiction.
The Sylvia Plath effect is the phenomenon that poets are more susceptible to mental illness than other creative writers. The term was coined in 2001 by psychologist James C. Kaufman, and implications and possibilities for future research are discussed. The effect is named after Sylvia Plath, who died by suicide at the age of 30.
Natsuki is a common Japanese given name. While it is a unisex name, it is more commonly used by women. It can also be used as a surname.
Shugo Chara!, also known as My Guardian Characters, is a Japanese shōjo manga series created by the manga author duo, Peach-Pit. The story centers on elementary school girl Amu Hinamori, whose popular exterior, referred to as "cool and spicy" by her classmates, contrasts with her introverted personality. When Amu wishes for the courage to be reborn as her would-be self, she is surprised to find three colorful eggs the next morning, which hatch into three Guardian Characters: Ran, Miki, and Su.
Atlus's 2006 role-playing video game Persona 3 focuses on the exploits of the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad (SEES), a group of high-schoolers defending their home city from monsters known as Shadows. Persona 3 is set in a fictional Japanese city in the year 2009. Due to past events, there is a hidden period between one day and the next, known as the "Dark Hour", during which most people become unconscious, and Shadows feed on the minds of those still aware of their surroundings. In addition, a large tower called Tartarus, filled with Shadows, rises out of the ground during the Dark Hour. SEES is composed of students attending Gekkoukan High School. The player names and controls the game's protagonist, who leads SEES in its exploration of Tartarus. Persona 3 mixes elements of role-playing and simulation games: during the day, the player attends school, and is able to spend time with other characters, forming relationships known as Social Links. These Social Links, when formed, have gameplay benefits, increasing the player's proficiency in battle.
A Manic Pixie Dream Girl (MPDG) is a stock character type in fiction, usually depicted as a young woman with eccentric personality quirks who serves as the romantic interest for a male protagonist. The term was coined by film critic Nathan Rabin after observing Kirsten Dunst's character in Elizabethtown (2005). Rabin criticized the type as one-dimensional, existing only to provide emotional support to the protagonist, or to teach him important life lessons, while receiving nothing in return. The term has since entered the general vernacular.
Yume Nikki is a 2004 adventure game created by the pseudonymous Japanese developer Kikiyama. The player controls a girl named Madotsuki and explores her dreams, collecting 24 effects that change her appearance and equipment. Random events also occur throughout the game in the form of cutscenes and unique gameplay sequences. The game was developed using RPG Maker 2003 without a traditional plot or battle system. Gameplay instead focuses on exploration of the dream world.
Eversion is a platform game by British indie studio Zaratustra Productions for Microsoft Windows. It was originally released as freeware in 2008, with a high-definition remake being released on Steam and Humble Bundle in 2010.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is a 2017 action-adventure game developed and published by Ninja Theory. Set in a dark fantasy world inspired by Norse mythology and Celtic culture, the game follows Senua, a Pict warrior who must make her way to Helheim by defeating otherworldly entities and facing their challenges, in order to rescue the soul of her dead lover from the goddess Hela. It was released for PlayStation 4 and Windows in August 2017, Xbox One in April 2018, Nintendo Switch in April 2019, and Xbox Series X/S in August 2021. Hellblade features support for virtual reality, which was added in a 2018 update.
Cecil Harvey is the protagonist in the 1991 video game Final Fantasy IV. He is a Dark Knight, and spends much of the game grappling with the actions he committed while serving the kingdom of Baron. He eventually overcomes his demons, abandoning his role as a Dark Knight and becoming a Paladin. He has been recognized as a standout protagonist in the Final Fantasy series, with his transformation into a Paladin receiving commentary, particularly as a representation of abandoning violent masculinity.
Nekopara, taglined Cats Paradise, is a series of adult visual novels developed by NEKO WORKs and published by Sekai Project. The first game in the series, Nekopara Vol. 1, was released in December 2014. Taking place in a world where humans live alongside catgirls. The series follows Kashou Minaduki and Shigure Minaduki, siblings who have a family of catgirls named Chocola, Vanilla, Coconut, Azuki, Maple, Cinnamon and Cacao. It is centered around work life at Kashou's pâtisserie and home life at Shigure's family house.
Mad Father is a survival horror role-playing puzzle video game. The game was developed by Japanese developer Sen, published by Miscreant's Room and released on 10 December 2012. The game centers around an 11-year-old girl named Aya, who breaks into her father's secret laboratory to uncover the horrifying truth of his research. A Steam version, published by AGM Playism, was released on 23 September 2016.
Prince of Stride is a Japanese multimedia series by ASCII Media Works. The project was unveiled in April 2012 in Dengeki Girl's Style. It spawned a light novel, as well as an otome game adaptation developed by Kadokawa Games and Vridge for the PlayStation Vita. An anime television series adaptation developed by Madhouse entitled Prince of Stride: Alternative aired from January 5, 2016 to March 22, 2016. A spin-off manga entitled Prince of Stride Galaxy Rush launched in November 2015 in Dengeki Maoh. The series is based around the fictional extreme sport of "stride", where teams of six run a relay race including parkour elements through a town.
Doki Doki Literature Club! is a 2017 freeware visual novel developed by American independent game studio Team Salvato for Linux, macOS, and Windows. The story follows a student who reluctantly joins his high school's literature club at the insistence of his friend Sayori, and is given the option to romantically pursue her, Yuri, or Natsuki. Club president Monika also features heavily in the game's plot. The game features a non-traditional plot structure with multiple endings and unlockable cutscenes with each of the main characters. Although it initially appears to be a light-hearted dating simulator, it is actually a metafictional psychological horror game that extensively breaks the fourth wall.
Madeline is a fictional character who serves as the main protagonist of the video game Celeste by Maddy Thorson. Throughout the game, she climbs the titular Mount Celeste, simultaneously dealing with anxiety and other issues. The character is notable as one of the few transgender protagonist characters in the video game industry: her identity as a trans woman was confirmed by Thorson in 2020, after the release of Farewell, a downloadable content expansion pack for Celeste, which received significant media coverage.
Monika is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the visual novel Doki Doki Literature Club! The character was created by Dan Salvato and voiced by Jillian Ashcraft. While Monika initially appears as the main tutor and supporting character that guides the player on their path to romance the three provided love interests, she is later revealed to be self-aware of her existence as a video game character; her words, actions and surroundings become increasingly malicious as she makes her intentions clear. She is apparently deleted at the end of the game, but returns to destroy the game itself to protect the player after the character Sayori becomes sentient in Monika's absence.
Alphys is a character in the 2015 video game Undertale. She is a bisexual monster who serves as a scientist under the leader of the Underground, Asgore, and is a fan of anime and manga. She is also a friend to Mettaton, a robot, and the captain of the Royal Guard, Undyne, who eventually becomes her girlfriend. She suffers from social anxiety, depression, and self-harm tendencies, and the depiction of her struggles with these have been the subject of praise and commentary by critics. She watches the player-character throughout the game, offering guidance at some point, though with limited benefit. She is revealed to have dark secrets, including ones that relate to experimentation. She also appears in Deltarune in a different role.
Sayori is a character in the 2017 video game Doki Doki Literature Club! She is the childhood friend and neighbor of the protagonist, pushing him into joining the literature club, of which she is a member. Over the course of the game, Sayori's cheerful personality is shown to be forced, with symptoms of depression becoming more evident. This culminates in Sayori committing suicide and being deleted from the game by the game's antagonist, Monika. She is ultimately restored by the end of the game, though her fate depends on the player's actions.
Natsuki is a character in the 2017 video game Doki Doki Literature Club! She is one of four girls in the titular literature club, alongside Sayori, Yuri, and Monika. She is a tsundere and a victim of domestic abuse by her father, with her traits ultimately becoming more pronounced due to Monika's intervention in the game's files. She was created by Dan Salvato, who recognized the "reality" behind her and the others. Her character was inspired by people with depression in Salvato's life.
