MTG color analysis: Furry VN protagonists and the color pie

For funsies I decided to run an experiment and see where the protagonists of furry VNs tend to fall on MTG’s colour pie and if there are widespread patterns.

For this I’m sampling 30 VNs and see what happens.

Echo Project

As I’ve noted before Chase is pretty Blue/Black, his motivations focused around individuality issues.

Adastra’s Marco primarily Red (main motivations being to be free and romancing Amicus), tilting towards Black or White depending on some choices.

Sam from TSR is primarily Red (impulsive, mostly driven by his fear), with some Green (passive attitude, likes forests) and White (religious fundamentalism, possibly some altruistic tendencies if other character descriptions about him prior to the events of the game are to be believed).

Dev and Cam from Arches are a Jund pair. Dev is mostly Green/Red and Cam Black/Red; their initial conflict of interests is between belief in higher powers (Green) and individuality (Black). There’s some developments that are leading to a switch in each direction, but for now they’re this.

Scipio from Khemia is primarily Blue, but his eugenicist beliefs and reactions to trauma are leading him into Sultai colours.

Tally: 2 white, 2 blue, 4 black, 3 red, 3 green

Dawn Chorus

Arvo is pretty Blue/Red, his primary motivations being about understanding his mind and following his artistic pursuits.

Tally: 2 white, 3 blue, 4 black, 4 red, 3 green.

Minotaur Hotel

The player character pretty much can be of any alignment depending on the degrees and whereas he picks the normal or ruthless routes.

Tally: 3 white, 4 blue, 5 black, 5 red, 4 green

Lands of Fire

Kubbadang is mono-Black, his motivations being fundamentally selfish.

Tally: 3 white, 4 blue, 6 black, 5 red, 4 green

Fueled by Insanity

“Jeffrey” is mono-Red, being driven by pretty much any and all impulses.

Tally: 3 white, 4 blue, 6 black, 6 red, 4 green

Password

Dave is primarily White, being driven to protect his friends and depending on choices chooses to become a cop.

Tally: 4 white, 4 blue, 6 black, 6 red, 4 green

I.C.O.

Judah is primarily Black, motivated to ascend through the ranks and benefit himself and his family.

Tally: 4 white, 4 blue, 7 black, 6 red, 4 green

Socially Awkward

Jayce is mostly Red/Green, just acting on his impulses and instincts.

Tally: 4 white, 4 blue, 7 black, 7 red, 5 green

Lyre

Ritcher is primarily White, being mostly concerned about ensuring diplomacy among the kingdoms.

Tally: 5 white, 4 blue, 7 black, 7 red, 5 green

Eden’s Reach

Adrian is mono-Red, being an artist dragged into a revolution.

Tally: 5 white, 4 blue, 7 black, 8 red, 5 green

Pervader

Reamus is pretty Green/White, first trying to find his place in the world and then looking after his companions, all the while being fairly passive.

Tally: 6 white, 4 blue, 7 black, 8 red, 6 green

Psychic Connections

Mason is pretty Blue/Red, mostly trying to understand what’s going on while also being fairly passionate and resentful.

Tally: 6 white, 5 blue, 7 black, 9 red, 6 green

In Case of Emergency

Kieran’s personality is primarily Green, being rather passive and fatalistic but also understanding. Depending on options he can become Green/Red (“Alpha Chad”), Green/White (“Male Feminist”) or Green/Blue (“King of Nerds”).

Tally: 7 white, 6 blue, 7 black, 10 red, 7 green

London’s Aesop

Ethan is Red/White, being pretty self-indulgent but more than willing to act for the greater good.

Tally: 8 white, 6 blue, 7 black, 11 red, 7 green

Brave Paradise

Emilio is a horndog that goes with the flow. Ergo, primarily Red/Green.

Tally: 8 white, 6 blue, 7 black, 12 red, 8 green

Violet Memoir

Wallace is a pretty shy dude seeking for agency and a new purpose in life. White/Blue/Black.

Tally: 9 white, 7 blue, 8 black, 12 red, 8 green

Far Beyond the World

“Caelan” is mostly trying to find his sense of self and agency, which is pretty Black. He is also very impulsive and emotional, which is Red.

Tally: 9 white, 7 blue, 9 black, 13 red, 8 green

Shelter

The is essentially a dog fetish, which includes being both a horn dog for dogs as well as apreciating their sense of community. Ergo, Red/White.

Tally: 10 white, 7 blue, 9 black, 14 red, 8 green

Results

Red by far is the dominant color, followed by white, black, green and blue.

The dominance of Red was expected because most not only are most writers passionate and artistic but the games themselves are mostly romance games, so the charaters, self-insert or otherwise, tend to be driven by their emotions.

I expected Black to similarly be very prevalent since many of these protagonists tend to either be flat out self-centered or are dealing with agency and personal identity. I was also expecting blue to be common since many of us VN writers are nerds, and Green and White to be less common due to being “normie” colors.

While I was right about Green and to some extent Black, I was completely wrong about White and Blue. Turns out a lot of nerds are more into selfless and heroic protagonists (though note that some examples like Sam and the humanities ruthless route on Minotaur Hotel embody White’s more negative traits like fanaticism) than they are partial to knowledge.

Boros VN protagonist deck, anyone?