#All of this is my opinion and I don't fault the UTY team for deciding their decision

[gwainchain]

My take on Starlo's portrayal in the Genocide Route.

Disclaimer:

These ideas are my own interpretation of the characters, not because they’re better, but primarily what I would’ve loved to see in the story of Undertale Yellow.

These interpretations and ideas of mine are completely wild and may not fit the story the UTY team was trying to tell.

I have the benefit of the doubt of a given year to think about these ideas for a certain part of the genocide route to think of these ideas. I have no right to say they could’ve done this when I have no idea what was going on with the UTY team as they had over 7 years to create this fangame, completely undermining the team's effort and that’s not what I’m here to do.

Starlo’s portion of the UTY’s genocide route always stuck out to me. Don’t get me wrong, seeing it for the first time made me genuinely sad, and the moment was amazing. Seeing Starlo turn to dust and Ceroba charging at Clover really hyped me up. The emotion and care in this cutscene were phenomenal. I wouldn’t change this for anything else and I don’t want it to. However, there is just something I would prefer that was shown in the fangame.

Background:

As we know, Starlo is a false sheriff. He has no authority and is just a simple farmer roleplaying to cheer Monsterkind up from the inevitable reality that they might be stuck in the Underground forever. Many people have pointed this out to me when the scene of Starlo shooting Clover with a BB gun is the main reason why he couldn’t go through with it. But to me… I was confused. I understand people’s point completely. The only thing I didn’t get is WHY Starlo was doing this if this was the case. Starlo, the monster who saw Ceroba for who she really is, knows that she lost both her husband and daughter, and is suffering from depression… was willing to throw his life away knowing he wasn’t going to win against Clover? And not just Ceroba, his family, his friends! Maybe there’s some context I’m missing. Maybe it was pride or fear, or maybe it was just ego. It just doesn’t make sense to me. Would he really do that to the people he loves and cares for? 

Proposition:

I’ve seen people propose the idea of a genocide fight for Starlo, but I don’t think that’s likely. I want to respect the UTY team’s idea of giving that right to Ceroba. So, I’m proposing an alternative. Instead of Starlo doing this with no stakes, let’s add stakes to this situation. Let’s assume that once Clover reaches the Wild East, the cutscene starts with Starlo telling his posse to help the rest of the townsfolks escape as he is left behind to deal with Clover. We are given insight that not everyone has evacuated this location, and Starlo is forced to confront Clover face to face. Knowing Starlo, he’s going to do what he does best: distract people, and in this scenario, distract Clover long enough for the people he cares about to escape their wrath with the “Dual” minigame. This way, it gives a reason for Starlo to stay behind. I say this because the point here isn’t Starlo winning or losing, but giving people time to avoid confrontation and suffer a terrible fate, even if it means giving up his own life. Maybe this is what the UTY team was implying when Ceroba came back to the Wild East, telling Starlo that everyone had evacuated

and things would play out as normal, and Ceroba fights Clover.

Of course, this situation doesn’t solve the point that Starlo could’ve just shot Clover. And of course, Undertale Yellow felt more story-driven than character-focused, and when characters were given time to be… characters, some were given more characterization than others. I just want to put more of the spotlight onto Starlo as many people were frustrated at his portrayal in the genocide route, me included. This idea may be too much or too out of character, and I can see why people may disagree with my points.

I simply wanted Starlo to be a hero in his own way, but still capture who he is deep down.