Nate's character arc in Santa Lucia
(Spoilers for Nate's route in Santa Lucia)
Nate has one of the wildest, most unusual character arcs I've read in a visual novel. I wouldn't quite call it character assassination exactly, but it completely recontextualizes who he is, and not in a good way.
For context: Nate is one of the three romance routes in Santa Lucia, a fellow member of Ben's mentorship group under Chris. The Visual Novel Database describes him as "ambitious, bookworm, cheerful, flamboyant, outgoing, romantic." A bubbly, peppy theater kid.
Then his abusive mother shows up unannounced to his play, he runs offstage, stares in a mirror, and we get his internal dialogue: "Pretending to be this happy, peppy little [f-slur] day in and day out is driving me insane."
From there, he fully pivots into a gloomy goth persona, going by Nathan, and dropping the bubbly act entirely.
I have 5 major problems with Nate that I don't think can be undone:
He lied about his sexual experience.
Nate claimed he'd hooked up with plenty of guys and could handle Ben. That was untrue. It's not the most unforgivable lie in the world, but it's a rough foundation for a relationship.
He lied about his entire personality.
He tells Ben, "This guy you're in love with? It's not me! It's your ex-boyfriend Eric! It always has been! You've just been projecting him onto me! And being the asshole I am, I was more than happy to take on that role for you...But you have to face reality now. None of this was real. I was just method acting." Later, he shows up as full goth. He says, "Sorry to disappoint, but bubbly and outgoing 'Nate' isn't here." Even if this turns out to be a trauma-fueled breakdown rather than a literal truth, the claim has been made. You can't unhear it.
The relationship is based on lies.
Nate tells Ben they can't break up because "we were never together in the first place!" It brings up the question, does Ben even want to be with this person? It brings up the question that if Nathan isn’t Nate, should Ben even want to get back together with him. Even if this is revealed to be a breakdown, it throws the whole relationship into question.
He's been rude to people who have nothing to do with any of this.
Chris asks if he can talk to 'Nathan' about something, Nathan just says, "Nah, I'm good" and walks out. Giving the cold shoulder or being avoidant toward Ben is one thing, but making things awkward for their friends is just not something easily forgiven. Being outright dismissive and rude to people like Chris just makes him come across as unnecessarily unpleasant to the friend group. It creates awkwardness that extends beyond his personal crisis.
He's uncommunicative.
Nate immediately believes his mother’s lie that Ben invited her (despite it making zero sense), has a meltdown, and shuts down instead of talking to his boyfriend. Even if the trauma is understandable, the total lack of communication makes you wonder if this is healthy. If every major misunderstanding turns into an identity crisis and total shutdown, it raises the question of whether this relationship is even sustainable.
