Royal Road

A contestant is said to have "walked the royal road" (Korean: 로얄로드) when they win a tournament in their first-ever appearance. Someone who has achieved this feat is called a "Royal Roader". Players who win a tournament's inaugural edition is also classified a royal roader by definition.

The term originates from the Korean StarCraft professional gaming scene, where it refers to a rookie player who wins an OnGameNet Starleague (OSL)Liquipedia SC:BW in their first appearance. The "royal road" was coined as such because ancient Korean rulers used to walk on a road leading to the palace, which no one was allowed to look upon while the ruler is walking on the road. This makes the ruler "invisible" in a way, and its connection to the esports scene lies in the sense that rookie players are "unseen" until they become "royalty" - i.e. winning the tournament.

In the Korean-language Namuwiki website, the Royal Road term is commonly used in the context of saimoe tournaments. In fact, its corresponding page also lists examples of anime characters who have achieved the feat in notable anime character popularity contests, such as ISML and r/anime's Best Girl. The wiki also defines a related term called "Yellow Road", which refers to a contestant finishing second in their first tournament appearance. It is named after Korean StarCraft player YellOwLiquipedia SC:BW,

A similar term in Chinese is Yi NianjiMoegirl (一年级, lit. "a freshman"), which has the same meaning as the "royal road" (although the Moegirlpedia page only lists examples from 2channel's Saimoe.)

Not to be confused with the historical Persian highwayW of the same name.

General Participation
International Saimoe League Female:


 * Fate Testarossa (2008, 1st edition)
 * Mio Akiyama (2010)
 * Kotori Itsuka (2014)
 * Violet Evergarden (2019)
 * Elaina (2021)

Male:


 * Lelouch (2011 exhibitions, 1st male tournament)
 * Kirito (2012 exhibitions)
 * Rimuru Tempest (2019)
 * Miyuki Shirogane (2020, won the tournament undefeated)

r/anime Best Girl/Guy


 * Kurisu Makise (Best Girl 1)
 * Kaguya Shinomiya (Best Girl 7)
 * Lelouch (Best Guy 1)

Limited Participation
In the original Anime Saimoe Tournament and other related contests, participation was limited to anime released within the span of a single year (or in some cases, 9 months) just before the tournament's start date. As a result, these kinds of tournaments have a higher instance of "royal roaders" because many characters come from newly-released anime series.

Anime Saimoe Tournament (7/13)


 * Sakura Kinomoto (2002, 1st female edition)
 * Riku Harada (2003)
 * Rosemary Applefield (2004)
 * Nanoha Takamachi (2005)
 * Taiga Aisaka (2009)
 * Mami Tomoe (2011)
 * Toki Onjouji (2012)

Korea Best Moe Tournament (7/13)


 * Suiseiseki (2006, 1st female edition)
 * Hinagiku Katsura and Kyon (2007, 1st male edition)
 * Holo (2008)
 * Taiga Aisaka (2009)
 * Homura Akemi and Kanglim (Ghost Messenger) (2011)

Aniplus Character Tournament (7/9)


 * All winners are royal roaders, except  Mai Sakurajima (2019) and  Yukina Minato (2021)

Bilibili Moe Animated Character Popularity Awards (5/8)


 * Saber and Lelouch (2015, 1st edition)
 * Rem (2016)
 * Shielder and Dr. Roman (2017)