#but even if deltarune DOESN'T end up being part of how undertale came to be in-universe at least they can all be happy there y'know?

[acerikus]

I think about this statement from Toby a lot and it always makes me smile. No matter what happens at the end of deltarune it's fine. As long as we were kind to them in undertale, they'll stay that way. They'll stay happy.

[amaranthineoceans]

Everything Weird About Deltarune!

Spoiler Warning for Undertale and Both Chapters of Deltarune! Really! I Literally Go Through Everything I Can Remember About Them!

This is a long post so get comfortable. Also note that my brain doesn't process thoughts into words very well so some of these might not be worded in the best way. :)

Deltarune. The first teaser chapter was released on October 31, 2018, and it came out of nowhere. We've all gone through this, but I'll try and go through every single painstaking detail I can remember. Feel free to reblog and add/correct things.

The weirdness begins right off the bat. The title is an anagram of UNDERTALE. We all know Toby likes to use anagrams when he wants to indirectly tell us when things are related, so it's no surprise that when you go to download DELTARUNE, it warns you that the game is designed for people who have played UNDERTALE. You think, "Cool, so it's a sequel? Or maybe a prequel? A different perspective of UNDERTALE perhaps?" You were wrong; so terribly, terribly wrong! I'll elaborate on this later.

Before you download the application, the terms of service that you must agree to beforehand reads simply and plainly, "You accept everything that will happen from now on." This detail was kinda brushed off in the beginning, because, hey, it's Toby Fox. He does weird stuff all the time. But even in the first chapter, it's apparent that the concept of choice, or more accurately, the lack of it, is a very present theme in the game. I would like to remind you that Toby has announced that there will be one ending in the game. One. I'll elaborate on this later.

The program (as in, what the game is called in your files) is named SURVEY PROGRAM. Why not just call it Deltarune like it is when you download chapter two?

The game launches you, without a title screen, without any setting adjustment options, straight into a reference to the theme of the entire franchise: the lack of choice. A strange formless voice guides you through "making a vessel", with what we know now as a fountain in the background. You have the option to make some very disturbing choices in this character creator, such as making its favorite flavor "pain" or expressing your feelings about it with options such as "fear" and "disgust." You name your "creation," tell the formless voice your name (which is different from your vessel's name) and watch as said formless voice muses over your name at an agonizing pace. It thanks you for your time and tells you that your wonderful creation, (cue music cutout and background removal) will now be discarded. "No one can choose who they are in this world." The screen slowly turns white as the voice says, "Your... name... is..."

It gets weirder. The next scene appears from the whiteness and showcases Toriel calling "Kris" out of bed. Kris' area of the room is very bare in contrast to the other side, which we later discover is Asriel's.

It's Toriel. Why is Toriel here?

Kris is kind of an anagram of Frisk (the protagonist of UNDERTALE) but without the F. I highly doubt this is a coincidence.

Speaking with Noelle is the only reason you can proceed (see what i did there?) while finding a partner in the classroom. This means you can't go through the 1st chapter without knowing who she is. Is it because of the Snowgrave route?

Ralsei is just suspicious to me. There's no way he was just waiting in that castle his whole life alone without some mental toil. So either he's insane or he wasn't alone the whole time. What happened? Is it related to how he can close his eyes and see what Susie is going through when she's apart from the party? Was he just watching everything? Is he related to the formless voice?

Susie's icon is the only one without color in the Dark World.

Jevil's fight is more difficult than Sans'.

Your actions have little consequence in the first chapter. If you choose to go genocide, the only difference in the ending is being run out of the kingdom, and this doesn't carry over to the next chapter. Again, lack of choice, people.

If at the end of chapter one, you walk around town, it's mentioned (notably by Noelle) that you're usually not this talkative. If you go to the hospital and speak with the receptionist, they mention that you used to play the piano in the corner. If you decide to attempt to play the said piano, an out-of-key bash can be heard and the receptionist comments on how you used to play beautifully. If you try this in chapter two, the result is the same. All this is confirmation that Kris is acting noticeably weird.

When you leave the Dark World and walk around town, you can find Sans. He "pretends" to recognize you, and if you tell him you recognize him, he tells you it's funny, considering that you two have never met before. He winks. I'm pretty sure he knows that the player is there.

The mention of Papyrus in both games, but the purposeful lack of him. Like he's avoiding you.

If you go upstairs while inside Asgore's flower shop, there are flowers in glass cases resembling his SOUL collection in UNDERTALE. There's a red flower.

You can't enter the church.

The clock in the storage closet shows a different time than all the others in the school.

If you go all the way south in town and into the woods, the music stops and you come across a rusty, double door is in a hill covered in crass. It's locked. If you go this way in chapter two, however, you watch a cutscene where you and susie happen to find Monster Kid from UNDERTALE (or someone resembling them) and an owl kid in front of the door. The owl kid is pressuring Monster Kid to (presumably) break inside, telling them that they don't want to be a wimp like Kris. Does this imply that Kris is connected to this strange door somehow?

The ending. You know what I'm talking about.

Did Kris actually rip out the SOUL (I say "the" because I'm not entirely sure it's Kris') and knife because they wanted to eat the pie? Did they only eat the pie because Toriel caught them?

Why did they look at the player? Are they sick of being controlled? Is that why they freaked out after the Spamton fight? (later)

Anyway, now we're at chapter two.

DELTARUNE Chapter Two was released on September 17th, 2021. 17. Entry Number 17. Sound familiar?

Asriel's part of the room is different from the last chapter. I don't think this means anything sinister, but I think it means Kris notices different things about the room as the story progresses. My theory is that it will become more sinister in each chapter.

Ralsei getting super excited to see Susie and Kris after a day. As in he has separation anxiety and it breaks my heart. not anything suspicious but it makes me sad so it's on the list.

Kris and Susie's rooms. Ralsei REALLY doesn't want them to leave. Seriously get this boy a therapist. Or a stuffed animal. SOMETHING.

Kris having to gather everything from the storage closet so that people appear in the Dark World????? Why??????????????? They had to do the same thing for the computer lab too.

The golden door. I don't trust it.

How/why the heck did Noelle and Berdley go into the Computer Lab Dark World? I don't see either of them just walking into pulsing void doors without Susie.

Apparently the knight has been gone for a bit and can corrupt people's minds? The king in the first chapter doesn't seem like he can be redeemed but Queen just seems,,, not bad, but a little crazy. I wonder what happened.

Then again, name ONE person in this franchise without trauma.

Spamton.

Horror doesn't bother me. Spamton? Spamton bothers me.

SPAMTON. ENOUGH SAID.

A Kromer is a type of hat invented in the '70s. Nobody named Mike is associated with it, that I can find.

SPAMPTON. HOW DO I EVEN DESCRIBE IT.

HIS SONG IS THE ONLY ONE WITH WORDS.

The way he asks Kris is they want to be a heart on a chain their whole life. Like, dude, no wonder they were screaming after the fight.

WHERE DID THE YELLOW HEART COME FROM. YELLOW MEANS JUSTICE. WHY DOES JUSTICE APPLY.

Kris screaming after the fight and the player not being able to hear it. Don't you dare tell me that's just how the game is designed. There are sound effects characters make throughout the game. None that I can think of apply to Kris, apart from when they rip their soul out.

Ralsei brushing off the Spamton fight. Either that's his coping mechanism or he was trying to shut Susie and Kris up to protect them from... something. I'll touch on that in a minute.

According to Queen, DETERMINATION is a key factor in creating a fountain.

Also according to Queen, Kris, Noelle, and Susie all have DETERMINATION SOULS.

Ralsei freaking out about Berdley making a fountain implies that he may also have DETERMINATION. Why I'm bringing all this up will make sense soon.

How was Noelle able to cast Snowgrave... a spell that she, according to her, didn't know?

The Snowgrave route is so twisted.

You manipulate Noelle into killing Berdley and then, when you get back to the computer lab and investigate his corpse, the text box says that he doesn't seem to be awake. As if you're in denial?

Burgerpants recognizes you. Not Kris. As in the player.

The ending. I don't think I need to describe it. Kris is very methodical without the SOUL. (I say "the" because, again, I'm not 100% convinced it's theirs.) I'm saying this about how they left clues that someone broke into the This proves that they are NOT a mindless, vengeful husk.

HOW DID THEY MAKE THE FOUNTAIN WITHOUT THE SOUL INSIDE OF THEM. DID THEY FEED THE SOUL TO IT AFTERWARDS? IS THAT WHAT THAT WAS?

Another point I would like to make is my theory that Ralsei knows much more than he would have us believe. I might put this into a different post because I have yet to gather my points into a coherent bullet point list, so keep an eye out for that.

Anyway apart from Toriel and Susie being VERY heavy sleepers, I think I've gone through everything. I have a few theories.

1. Kris is possessed by the player and figured out that they could make a fountain from Queen and related to Spamton freaking out about freedom. They then decided to make a fountain going by the logic that "this would tick the player off." This is one of my top theories that assumes that the SOUL is theirs.

And 2. Kris is possessed by both the player and the knight. I think the formless voice at the very beginning of the game is the knight, and they somehow needed the player to possess someone with DETERMINATION. If so, then why Kris? We know from Queen that Noelle and Susie, and maybe even Berdley also have DETERMINATION. The most plausible thing I can think of is the fact that human souls are stronger than monster ones.

I do think that the popular theory (about the one that suggests that the Dark Word is nothing but a figment of a child's imagination, and the events that occur in said Dark World are simply children playing with toys) has been thoroughly dashed due to Berdley's murder in the genocide route of the second chapter. Unless he's not dead. Regardless, how the events (or lack thereof) that occur in the second chapter play through the next will be interesting, especially considering Toby's announcement about how there will be one ending to the game. So either Berdley isn't dead, or he will be.

Aaaand I think that's it! Sorry for the long post; let me know your thoughts and if I missed anything!

[the-unrelated-theorist]

It's commonly acknowledged that "Undertale" and "Deltarune" are both anagrams of the word "unrelated" (as well as anagrams of each other). Toby almost certainly did this on purpose. But it's still unclear whether he's trolling us like the troll he's proven himself to be time and again, or whether there really is some connection between the two games besides just some of the music and character designs and names.

So for the time being, I'm going with the theory that there is some connection between the worlds of Deltarune and Undertale, and this overarching theory will naturally color any and all theories included in this blog.

And then, when Chapter 7 is finally released- which I predict will be the year 2193- I and anyone who agreed with this nutty theory can all have a good, hearty laugh at our own stupidity.

Fuhuhuhu! Geh ha ha ha! Tee-hee! heh.

Disclaimer: I like the idea that theory-crafting should be about having fun and throwing ideas out at random. There is no one "right" theory, not until Toby decides to confirm it or deny it. Remember that a lot of us thought it was Chara at the end of Chapter 1. And most of us thought Azzy had the official controller and Kris had the knock-off controller until we saw Toriel's school computer in Chapter 2. (I feel pretty sure Toby added that little detail SPECIFICALLY because we all got it wrong, and apparently it's a very IMPORTANT detail about Kris' character and their place within the family and even the town in general, and we needed to be set straight). So while I do have some pet theories that color my overall viewpoints on both games, I'm not afraid to consider and post alternate or even wildly contradictory theories. It's just for fun, after all.

Below is a glossary of some of my tags, partly so followers know what kinds of posts to expect, and partly so I can remember my own tags.

#theory and #headcanon - are just that

if "theory" or "headcanon" have "my" in front of it, some part of it is something i came up with independently of other people

#analysis - an in-depth analysis of characters or situations, whether or not a theory or headcanon is involved

#possible inspirations - cataloguing things that seem so coincidentally similar to elements of UTDR that they could conceivably have influenced UTDR. For instance, we all know that Toby quotes both Earthbound and Homestuck a lot, but there appear to be a lot of Zelda and His Dark Materials references, too, which I intend to make note of once I get around to it.

#deltarune.com secret links and #spamton sweepstakes - I don't know if these links will exist forever or be removed eventually, so I tag references to things like holidaygirl1225's blog and any of the links from the UT 7th Anniversary and Spamton Sweepstakes with one of these two so people know where they come from.

#redacted content - any cut/deleted content, whether it be Entry No. 17, the "cut on your face" poem, the sprite of Susie bleeding, etc.

#toby fox is a genius - anything that especially shows off how very, very clever Toby is in crafting these two stories.

#unrelated - whenever an apparent connection between the two games presents itself. Some posts may be tagged with both #undertale and #deltarune and not #unrelated, if the post isn't about pointing out a connection.

I also try to tag posts from well-known YouTubers and other content creators with the creator's username. For instance, I have quite a few videos from halfbreadchaos and kesMadjick.

A few personal theories that I try not to cling to too strongly, but I do like them and do tag them:

Papyrus is the Knight

Papyrus is the Egg Man

Spamton is a cat (which is pretty well confirmed by Noelle's Cat Petterz post)

Susie is a dragon (I feel like this is so obvious that it doesn't even need confirmation, but it hasn't been directly stated in-game, so it's technically still just a theory)

sans is a Darkner

Papyrus is a Darkner

sans and Papyrus aren't biological brothers (I actually hate this one, but tbf, there is just enough evidence against them being brothers that I have to take it into consideration)

that wasn't Chara (uh, this one's gonna take a loooooooooong theory post to explain, but I do have a couple of teasers in my queue, only because other people have touched on this theory, as well)

the entity/the red-eyed entity (referring to whatever it is that possesses Kris at the end of Chapter 1- this entity will get mentioned a lot in conjunction with the "that wasn't Chara" theory)

Dessriel

[weia-yo]

hey it's undertale theory time!

this is heavily thanks to @drundertalescum for giving me brain food with the idea that when toriel mentions how asgore could've crossed the barrier with one soul she wasn't talking about the first of the 6 humans he killed, she was talking about Chara. here's the massive stream of thought that came from that.

what this theory centers around is actually not specifically that, but a question i've had for the 5 years i've been in this fandom, which is Why asgore and toriel decided to have asriel when they did? as we all know boss monsters only age when they have a child, so asgore and toriel having asriel meant that they were going to die sometime after asriel grew up. but why Then? why 1000-ish years after monsters were sealed underground and not any point before or after?

(part 1: the prophecy)

what we know is that at the time the monsters all lived in Home aka what's now the Ruins, sealed behind a door that can't be opened from the outside. this was to protect themselves from any possible human who decided to cross the barrier and kill them all. we also know about the deltarune prophecy, that the Angel, the one who has seen the surface, will make the underground go empty. we Also only know of three monsters who were mentioned to have seen the surface; asgore, toriel, and gerson.

And Another Thing, gerson mentions that lately people have started seeing the prophecy as being about an angel of death who will kill them all. but the thing is, the dude's Old. he's literally older than monsterkind's time underground. "Lately" to him could very easily be within the last few hundred years.

what i'm getting at is, i think the belief was that asgore, toriel, or gerson (or all three) were going to be the angel who would free them, but sometime during their stay in the ruins that belief shifted to the angel being a human who would go into the ruins and kill them all.

what i think happened was, gerson began to age. he's not immortal like asgore and toriel, he wouldn't live forever. i imagine when that realization hit asgore and toriel they had a long talk about the future. if the angel really was about a human who would kill them all, then asgore and toriel staying alive on the basis that maybe they were the angel who would free monsters was just giving them false hope.

they weren't going to do anything drastic, but taking away their own immortality, while giving monsterkind a new ruler without any expectation of freeing them, would mark a new era. for almost a thousand years they had hope that they would be free, but maybe it was better to just accept that this is their permanent home now and make the best of it. yes the prophecy likely said a human was going to kill them all but humans had left them alone for all this time and possibly forgotten all about them, they were behind a door that couldn't even be opened from the outside, staying in Home meant they were safe from humanity.

and then chara fell and everything went upside down.

(part 2: One Soul)

people have theorized that chara and asriel's friendship is the entire reason monsters lost their fear, left the ruins and went to live in the rest of the underground in the first place and i think that's most likely true, but what if before then asgore and toriel had a discussion? after all chara was a child but so was asriel, so was every child living underground, doomed to die without ever seeing the sun. chara was a human with a human soul. would killing chara be worth a chance at freedom?

we don't know if they had that conversation but we know the result; Absolutely Not. it's not worth it. it's not worth it to kill an innocent child for their freedom.

but i think they still saw within chara a chance for monsterkind to live on the surface. after all, toriel and asgore were aging, and when they died their soul would remain long enough for a human to take it and leave the barrier. i think they were hoping this would allow for chara to leave and find souls outside to bring back and break the barrier while a now fully-grown asriel would be able to lead the monsters on the surface to coexist with humanity, using his friendship with chara as an example to all.

of course this didn't end up happening because everything went wrong. monsterkind's hopes for freedom and an era of peace on the surface were all dashed, the prince of monsters was killed by the humans of chara's village, all the wounds from the monster-human war that were thought healed were torn open.

both asgore and toriel were understandably traumatized by this and both their reactions were completely understandable; asgore saw this as evidence that peace with humans was impossible and declared war, toriel saw asgore and monsterkind turning their backs on her children's legacy and decided to leave them behind. but it's what happened afterwards where i think they lost their way.

asgore lost his way because he decided to give monsterkind false hope. you walk through the underground and hear monsters talking about their lives; they're not happy. there are so many problems in the underground and it seems like few people are working to fix them; any time the problems are brought up they're either laughed off or amended with a "but it's ok because soon we will be free".

toriel also lost her way, by looking at the scenario where the humans went to asgore and fought him, which could only end in either of them dying, and choosing to not intervene.

the pacifist ending results in, among other things, toriel realizing (likely after facing frisk and finding their determination to not kill her) that she was wrong and that she couldn't let this fight happen.

i used to think this bit of the game was the one part i disliked, bc it didn't make sense for me for toriel to lecture asgore for not taking the first soul that dropped, but it never occurred to me until drundertalescum pointed it out that she very likely was talking about Chara.

toriel came here after realizing it wasn't worth it to let asgore die even if it meant the human could go free. and she reminds asgore what he seemed to have forgot, that it wasn't worth sacrificing anyone for their freedom. it wasn't worth it when the child in question was chara, it's not worth it when the child in question is frisk. and it's especially not worth it when asgore clearly doesn't want to hurt anyone, when he doesn't really want freedom, and is only doing this for a thin veneer of hope for monsterkind.

and asgore, who in the neutral run decides it would be better for him to die and for the human to take his soul, realizes that she's right. that it wasn't right to sacrifice anyone for their freedom, that it wasn't right to keep monsters barely going with this empty tragic "hope", and that it wasn't right to give up his own life even if it meant freeing frisk and through them potentially monsterkind as well.