History VisualNovel / TheRoyalTrap

* VictoriousChildhoodFriend: Oscar, should you pick his route. Otherwise he becomes the UnluckyChildhoodFriend.

''The Royal Trap'' is an English VisualNovel / OtomeGame developed by Creator/HanakoGames. It features an unusually active heroine and a twist on traditional gender roles. In this world, men rule, but women inherit. Property is passed to daughters and from them to the control of their husbands. That means, the next king is whoever the princess chooses as her husband... so any man with an eye for power has to catch the interest of the lady who controls it.

* OmniscientMoralityLicense: Once all of the misunderstandings are cleared up, Callum and Cassidy's parents are presented as pretty good people who did what they had to do out of love for the realm and their children. This despite pulling a [[spoiler: GenderBender gambit on Caspian/Cassidy (a very young child who wasn't in any position to consent), and using Dolores in said gambit before abandoning her at an orphanage.]] Their mother offers the justification that [[spoiler: Caspian was already showing signs of considering himself a girl, but this is a flimsy justification at best, as there are many children who show signs of gender variance but don't turn out to be {{transgender}}.]] That said, they ''do'' express regret about their actions and seem to have genuinely acted out of love for Cassidy, so it's more a case of the story skimming over some UnfortunateImplications than outright turning villains into heroes.

* [[spoiler: GenderBender]]: [[spoiler: 'Princess' Cassidy was originally ''Prince'' Caspian, the youngest son of the Gwellinor royal family. However, the Wisdom could bear no more children after him, which was a problem as the family had no daughters to ensure succession. Desperate to maintain their hold on power, it was decided that a princess would be ''made'' instead. Caspian was separated from his siblings, under the guise of him dying from illness, so that he could be RaisedAsTheOppositeGender, and was given potions which stunted his growth in order to give him some of the physical features of a woman, such as a petite figure and a high voice. And thus, Princess Cassidy was born.]]

* PrincessesPreferPink: Everything about Cassidy is practically drowning in pink, from her clothes to her room. What better way to reinforce the idea of a ultra feminine PrincessClassic? [[spoiler: Her parents wanted to be ''very'' sure she saw herself as a girl.]]
* [[spoiler:RaisedAsTheOppositeGender]]: [[spoiler: Prince Caspian, AKA Princess Cassidy. See GenderBender for a more detailed explanation.]]

** The lyrics of the opening theme are packed with this. In particular, pay VERY close attention to the mention of a 'facade' when [[spoiler:Cassidy]] is introduced.

* BishieSparkle: Prince Gaston

* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Oscar/Madeleine.

* DoubleMeaningTitle: [[spoiler: The trap set by royalty, and the [[GildedCage trap of being royalty]]

* DoubleMeaningTitle

* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: Madeleine can give one to [[spoiler:Oscar]], when it seems like he's going to pull a YouShallNotPass on [[spoiler:the peasants raiding the castle]] so the others can escape.

* TheDreaded: Nazagi has this reputation with the palace staff, partly because he is NotGoodWithPeople, partly because he looks rather intimidating and partly because he's a farmakeist.

* ForTheMoney: [[spoiler:Dolores's]] ambition for most of the game, mainly because her lifetime goal is to be self sufficient on her own lands Her first attempt to earn coin is [[spoiler:ransoming Cassidy off to Callum]] and then, when that fails and she learns of the royal family's [[spoiler:debt of honor]] to her, she sticks around hoping they'll give her some sort of reward due to that.

* FairytaleWeddingDress: Cassidy wears one when she gets married to [[spoiler:Gaston]], while Madeleine wears one when she weds [[spoiler:Callum.]] In both cases its justified, since they're royal weddings. Madeleine's dress when she marries [[spoiler:Oscar]] is a toned down, SimpleYetOpulent affair.

** Gaston gets very upset when Madeleine brings up the topic of wigs with him. While at first this may seem like he's panicking about being found with a Cassidy wig, later on in his route it's revealed that [[spoiler:that wonderful head of hair of his is fake; his is completely bald.]]

* Wutai: Prince Nazagi's homeland.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In Oscar's route, his and Cassidy's decision to publicly reveal that she was targeted by an assassin is very definitely this. While it does help to [[spoiler: free Madeleine]], it also sparks widespread panic among the castle residents, causes the guards to go on a witchhunt to find any more conspirators which leads to the death of an innocent maid, and eventually leads to [[spoiler:the castle being stormed by pheasants]].

* GoshDangItToHeck: The game gives just gems like 'corkhead', 'for ''soils'' sake' and 'you motherless son'.

** The lyrics of the opening theme is packed with this. In particular, pay VERY close attention to the mention of a 'facade' when it introduces [[spoiler:Cassidy]].

* DeadpanSnarker: Dolores is the most common offender, but Madeliene, Callum and Nazagi do get in on the action occasionally.

** When Cassidy is first introduced, Madeliene mentions that it is rather hard to tell a noblewoman's exact age. [[spoiler:This is a rather good thing for Cassidy, as no one will notice that she's a few years than she's supposed to be.]]
** Gaston gets very upset when Madeliene brings up the topic of wigs with him. While at first this may seem like he's panicking about being found with a Cassidy wig, later on in his route it's revealed that [[spoiler:that wonderful head of hair of his is fake; his is completely bald.]]
** When she's [[spoiler:disguised as Cassidy]], Madeliene notices that Nazagi takes an awful long time to kiss her hand. After you play his route, you realize that [[spoiler:this alludes to his rather bad eyesight.]]

* TheMatchmaker: It's Madeleine's ''job'' to be this for Oscar, though she only succeeds in pairing him with Cassidy during the epilogue of [[spoiler:Callum's]] good end. In Gaston's route, she becomes this for [[spoiler:Cassidy and Gaston]] instead.

** When she's [[spoiler:disguised as Cassidy]], Madeliene notices that Nazagi takes an awful long time to kiss her hand. after you play his route, you realize that [[spoiler:this is a hint about his rather bad eyesight.]]