Frisk

Frisk

Character Information

Also known as

• The Human

• Human (Papyrus, Undyne, Asgore, Sans)

• My child (Toriel)

• kid / buddy / pal (Sans)

• Punk / Brat (Undyne)

• Dude / Friend (Monster Kid)

First Appearance

Ruins (Outside thereof)

Battle Information

You’re not actually <Name>, are you?

<Name>’s been gone for a long time.

...

Um... what...

What IS your name?

...

"Frisk?"

That’s...

A nice name.

Asriel Dreemurr

Frisk is the playable character and main protagonist of Undertale. After Frisk falls into the Underground, they embark on a journey to return to the surface. Frisk is the last of the eight humans to fall into the Underground after traveling to Mount Ebott. Frisk is not the "fallen human" whom the player names at the beginning of the game. Frisk's name is only revealed in the True Pacifist Route.

Profile

Appearance

Frisk is a yellow-skinned human child who wears a blue long-sleeved shirt with purple colored stripes, blue pants (often depicted as shorts in the official Undertale merch), and brown shoes. They have medium-length straight brown hair, short and choppy bangs, and a blank expression. Though Frisk does not show much expression in the overworld, NPCs often describe Frisk's expressions.^[1] Just like the first human, they have no stated gender and are solely referred to as "they" throughout the game.^[2]

Personality

Frisk's personality is usually ambiguous, allowing the player to project any personality onto Frisk. However, the narration that describes Frisk's actions occasionally changes depending on their LOVE. Frisk speaks to NPCs throughout the game, especially when ACTing in encounters, but the exact dialogue is shown only when the game gives multiple dialogue options. NPCs' dialogue boxes display "..." to show that the NPC is listening to Frisk,^[3] and some NPCs respond to questions that Frisk asks.^[4]

Depending on their actions, players can interpret Frisk as merciful and kind or merciless and violent. Some NPCs emphasize Frisk's kindness, understanding, and grace in the epilogue.^[5] Frisk is obedient and only disallows player input when they follow someone else's instructions, such as when Sans tells them to hide behind the conveniently-shaped lamp.

Abilities

Frisk's determination grants the power to SAVE,^[6] heal at SAVE Points, and respawn at SAVE Points after death. This power emerged when Frisk first awoke in the Ruins. Frisk can reload the SAVE file to repeat events that occur after it, but NPCs' memories are not completely erased unless a True Reset occurs. After the True Pacifist ending, Flowey's dialogue implies that Frisk is not the being who is manipulating SAVE files.

Frisk is the only character who is ever shown using items or gaining EXP.

Main Story

Neutral Route

Flowey attempts to kill Frisk after he pretends to offer honest advice.^[7] Toriel intervenes, hits Flowey with fire magic, and serves as a guide to the Ruins. At the end of a long room, Toriel asks Frisk to wait for her to return and states that she has errands to do. To be safe, Toriel gives Frisk a cell phone to call her with.

Frisk travels through the remaining puzzles in the Ruins and eventually arrives at Toriel's home. They ask Toriel "how to exit the RUINS," which prompts Toriel to destroy the Ruins's exit. Toriel then battles Frisk because she wants them to prove that they can survive outside of the Ruins.^[8]

Then, Frisk meets Sans and Papyrus in Snowdin Forest. The brothers set up traps and puzzles in an attempt to capture Frisk. After passing through Snowdin, Papyrus battles Frisk.

Undyne, the head of the Royal Guard, pursues Frisk throughout Waterfall. Monster Kid often saves Frisk from Undyne by accident because they are so excited to see Undyne in action.^[9] After a chase scene, Undyne destroys a bridge that Frisk is standing on, and Frisk falls into the Garbage Dump. Before they get up, they recall a memory from the first human.^[10] In the garbage dump, Mad Dummy battles Frisk after accusing them of mistreating their cousin, Dummy, in the Ruins. At the end of Waterfall, Undyne battles Frisk after she gives an abridged monologue atop a crag.

After entering Hotland, Frisk enters a lab and meets Alphys and Mettaton. Alphys tells Frisk that she is not a bad guy,^[11] and Mettaton interrupts them with a quiz show. Alphys gives Frisk an upgraded cell phone after the quiz show concludes. She guides Frisk through Hotland and the CORE, helping them solve puzzles and evade Mettaton. Before his battle at the end of the CORE, Mettaton reveals that Alphys had created all of the traps in Hotland in an attempt to endear herself to Frisk.^[12] He then transforms into Mettaton EX and battles Frisk.

While passing through New Home, the capital of the Underground, Frisk learns the story of Asgore and Toriel's children from passing monsters. Then, Sans judges Frisk in the Last Corridor and explains the meaning of LOVE and EXP. He also emphasizes Frisk's importance in the fate of the world.^[13]

Escape

The battle against Asgore, in which Frisk is initially unable to offer him mercy.

Frisk enters the Throne Room and finds Asgore, who tries to make small talk, only to realize their fated confrontation. The two walk to the Barrier and Asgore gives Frisk one last opportunity to leave before fighting.

Just before the fight, Asgore shows the six collected human SOULs, preparing the containment process after the battle. Right before the fight starts, Asgore destroys the MERCY button with his trident, making it impossible to spare or flee. However, at the fight's conclusion, Frisk can explicitly choose whether to spare or kill Asgore. Regardless of the choice made, Flowey appears, destroys Asgore's SOUL and takes the human SOULs. The game then abruptly closes, or restarts from the fake "humans and monsters" intro on the console versions.

After reopening the game, Frisk finds that Flowey has saved his own game over the SAVE file, having gained the power to do so with the stolen human SOULs. Loading Flowey's game, Frisk confronts a powered up Flowey and defiantly steps forward, entering an initially hopeless battle with him.

After Frisk calls for help several times, the stolen SOULs begin to revolt: first, they heal Frisk, and then they weaken Flowey, leaving him vulnerable to destruction. After Frisk reduces Flowey's HP to 0 and listens to his monologue, the SOULs remove his ability to SAVE or LOAD, and then finish him off. After this, there is an option to kill or spare a weakened Flowey before leaving the Underground, returning to the surface, and ending their journey.

Sans's phone call introduction in most neutral routes.

After leaving the Underground, Frisk receives a call from Sans, who leaves a message about what happened to the Underground after Asgore died. This varies based on what monsters were killed and what friendships were completed.

True Pacifist Route

To complete the True Pacifist Route, Frisk must have first completed the Neutral Route.

If Frisk has completed the Neutral Route without gaining any EXP or LV (i.e. without killing anyone), it is possible to backtrack in the existing SAVE file to complete any missing friendships, then achieve the True Pacifist ending.

If Frisk acquires any EXP or LV, they have to reset the game to reach the True Pacifist Ending.

Friendships

While Frisk befriends many of the monsters in the Underground, only the Undyne, Papyrus, and Alphys friendships are required to achieve the True Pacifist Ending.

Frisk gains Papyrus's friendship by visiting him at his home and hanging out or dating him.

If Frisk chooses to give Undyne some water after being pursued, Undyne can be befriended (if they have not gained any EXP beforehand). Otherwise, a reset is needed to achieve Undyne's trust and friendship. Frisk visits Undyne with Papyrus's help, and Undyne gets "revenge" by trying to befriend Frisk and become "besties", setting her house on fire in the process. She tries to fight Frisk to regain honor but realizes that Frisk is a "wimpy loser with a big heart" just like Asgore and decides to be friends.

Undyne, having been encouraged to send a love letter to Alphys, gives the letter to Frisk, who delivers it to Alphys. This results in a date sequence with Alphys in which she and Undyne realize their feelings for each other and Alphys begins to come to terms with her past mistakes.

After befriending Alphys, Papyrus recommends traveling to Alphys's lab. In the lab, there is a letter on the floor that, when picked up, reads a monologue and the instructions needed to proceed to learn "the truth." Walking through the bathroom door reveals an elevator which goes down to the True Lab after a malfunction.

Frisk proceeds to explore the True Lab and along the way learns of Alphys's failed experiments (amalgamates) with determination and also about the origin of Flowey. After exploring the True Lab and talking to Alphys, she gains the confidence to reveal the truth about her experiments to the rest of the Underground. While attempting to leave, Frisk receives a phone call in the elevator from an unknown voice. The elevator immediately and forcibly brings Frisk to New Home.

Barrier

Flowey restrains Frisk's friends before the final battle.

After returning to the throne room and confronting Asgore again, the pre-fight dialogue is interrupted by Toriel, who stops Asgore from fighting Frisk. Toriel is immediately followed by the other main characters who encourage everyone to get along. However, in a surprise twist, Papyrus reveals that it was "a tiny flower" who told him to bring everyone there.

Immediately after this reveal, Flowey appears, having again stolen the SOULs of the six other humans. He attempts to kill Frisk, but Undyne, Toriel, Alphys, Asgore, Sans, and Papyrus use their power to block Flowey's finishing blows. Directly after this, all of the Underground's monsters arrive to encourage Frisk in the fight against Flowey. However, Flowey reveals that this is what he wanted all along so that he could absorb the souls of all the monsters in the Underground along with the six human SOULs.

ASRIEL DREEMURR's intro right before the final battle.

Due to the immense power gained from the six human SOULs and all of the monster SOULs, Flowey can transform into his true form, and just before the fight begins it is revealed that he is actually Asriel Dreemurr.

During this fight, Frisk is invincible, and any hit that would normally result in death instead causes the heart to split, but reform back together. The first time this happens, it is accompanied by the text "but it refused." After stalling for long enough, Asriel transforms again. At this point, Frisk can feel the souls of Toriel, Asgore, Alphys, Undyne, Papyrus, and Sans within Asriel and the ACT button changes to SAVE to represent the act of freeing everyone's souls. This is accomplished by completing a short sequence of ACT options to restore the memory of each lost soul after selecting the said lost soul of a chosen character.

After saving each monster, Frisk realizes that there is still one more person to save. After choosing to save "someone else," Asriel's memories of the first human (who strongly resembled Frisk) begin to play in a slideshow style. It is then revealed this "someone else" is Asriel himself. After this, Asriel starts to feel the love the monsters feel for Frisk through the souls he has absorbed, and slowly loses the will to fight as he is overcome with his fear of dying alone.

After reverting to his child form, Asriel learns Frisk's name. He apologizes for hurting everybody, and Frisk can choose to forgive or not forgive Asriel. Regardless of the choice made, Asriel destroys the barrier using the power of all of the SOULs before releasing them. Knowing that he will turn back to a flower without the power of the SOULs to sustain him, Asriel says one last goodbye to Frisk before leaving. At this point, there is a choice to hug Asriel or do nothing.

Freedom

The start menu after the barrier has been broken.

After the scene with Asriel finishes, Frisk wakes up in front of Toriel, Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys and Asgore. While the monsters remember little about Flowey and nothing about his incarnation as Asriel, they do know Frisk's name. At this point, Frisk can backtrack through the Underground and talk to the other monsters, before returning to the surface.

If Frisk backtracks through the Ruins, they can find Asriel tending to the Golden Flowers. Asriel asks about Frisk's desire to travel up Mt. Ebott in the first place. Receiving no answer, Asriel lists off foolishness or fate as possible motives, but comes to the conclusion that "only you (Frisk) know the answer."

Photo shown if Frisk says that they have places to go.

After passing through the final door to the surface, Frisk leaves the Underground with their friends. Asgore offers Frisk the chance to be the monsters' ambassador to the humans. Most of the main monster cast then leave, except for Toriel, who asks about Frisk's plans. At this point, Frisk can choose to stay with Toriel or to go elsewhere.

After choosing to stay with Toriel, the ending scene shows Frisk sleeping in a bed, and Toriel bringing a slice of pie to Frisk's bedroom.

Otherwise, if Frisk has "places to go," Toriel ends their conversation with "Frisk. "See you around."" As Toriel leaves, Frisk turns north and does not watch her. The game ends with a group photo of the main monster cast with Frisk in the middle.

Genocide Route

For further information, see Chara.
Trivia

• The word "frisk" can mean several things:

  • To "frisk" means to skip or leap playfully, or to pat down on someone, looking for a hidden item.

  • "Frisk" is the Swedish and Norwegian word for "healthy," and the Danish word for "fresh."

  • "Frisky" means "playful and full of energy."

• Naming the fallen human "Frisk" initiates Hard Mode.

• When just tapping right, Frisk does not put their foot up. This is not true for the other directions.

• When holding up and down on the north wall of any room, Frisk will appear to flash quickly between their two north and south sprites.

  • When in the room overlooking the castle with the Monster Kid and going either left or right, Frisk will walk twice as fast.

• Frisk appears to be left-handed. Evidence includes:

  • Holding the umbrella and glass of water using their left hand.

  • The slicing attack animation curving to the right, implying that force was carried from the left to the right during the attack.

    • Most fatality battle sprites display steep slashes from top left to bottom right, a pattern not commonly made by someone who is right-handed.

• While Frisk is allergic to Temmie,^[15] this is not true of the other furry residents of the Underground.

• When hugging Asriel, stripes appear on Frisk's shirt sleeves.

• At the end of the True Pacifist Route, Napstablook was the only monster who did not know Frisk's name until they mention it.^[16]

• Out of all the humans that fell to the Underground, Frisk is the only human to survive the adventure.

• Frisk is only alluded to in Flowey's UNDERTALE Alarm Clock App dialogue, where one of his talksprites mimics their blank expression.

An earlier version of Frisk's sprite.

• In a joke thread on Starmen.net, Toby Fox posted early files from Undertale saying they were from an EarthBound hack called "UnderBound 2."^[17]

  • It was said that Frisk was a young androgynous child who was the step-cousin of "Squeezo" from the non-existent EarthBound hack, "UnderBound."

  • Frisk was also shown to have black outlines with black hair and shoes compared to the lighter brown seen in the final version of the game. The artbook reveals this was changed because the sprite did not show up on the game's dark backgrounds that well.

  • It was also mentioned that Frisk's love interest was a female Cuban cigar.^[18]

• Frisk's striped clothing is most likely a reference to the "Mother" franchise, which was Toby Fox's major inspiration for Undertale. The main protagonists of each installment also wore striped clothing.

References

1. ↑ you refused to hurt anyone. even when you ran away, you did it with a smile. - Sans

2. ↑ ... Oh no, how long has it been since I have talked to them...? Perhaps they have been calling the phone, and...? - Toriel

3. ↑ what? a codeword? can you speak a little louder? ... - Sans

4. ↑ Huh? WHY am I still doing this? - Flowey

5. ↑ While, Frisk... You're the type of friend I wish I always had. - Asriel

6. ↑ I thought I was the only one with that power. But... I can't SAVE anymore. Apparently YOUR desires for this world override MINE. - Flowey

7. ↑ What's LV stand for? Why, LOVE, of course! You want some LOVE, don't you? Don't worry, I'll share some with you! - Flowey

8. ↑ You want to leave so badly? Hmph. You are just like the others. There is only one solution to this. Prove yourself... Prove to me you are strong enough to survive. - Toriel

9. ↑ Undyne just... ...TOUCHED ME! I'm never washing my face ever again...! - Monster Kid

10. ↑ It sounds like it came from over here... Oh! You've fallen down, haven't you... Are you okay? Here, get up... <Name>, huh? That's a nice name. My name is- - Asriel

11. ↑ I'm Dr. Alphys. I'm ASGORE's royal scientist! B-b-but, ahhhh, I'm not one of the "bad guys"! - Alphys

12. ↑ SHE REACTIVATED PUZZLES. SHE DISABLED ELEVATORS. SHE ENLISTED ME TO TORMENT YOU. ALL SO SHE COULD SAVE YOU FROM DANGERS THAT DIDN'T EXIST. ALL SO YOU WOULD THINK SHE'S THE GREAT PERSON... THAT SHE'S NOT. - Mettaton

13. ↑ your actions here... will determine the fate of the entire world. - Sans

14. ↑ 00 - The Fool: Frisk - dogbomber on Tumblr, November 01, 2015.

15. ↑ But you're allergic! - Temmie's Check Text

16. ↑ uh......... also...... this is awkward... but | what's.... your name | everyone seems to know it now, except me..... | seems like i've been missing out lately | i was just sitting at home listening to tunes | there was a flash of light outside my window | i saw the snails on the farm disappear | then i heard a knock at the door | the flash of light wanted to come in... i closed the blinds... | now everyone knows your name except for me | "frisk..." ok, i wont forget it - Napstablook

17. ↑ Toby Fox (4 February 2013). "UnderBound" Archived on 15 December 2015.

18. ↑ "The main character’s love interest is actually a female Cuban cigar" - Toby Fox. February 4, 2013. Starmen.Net Archived on 15 December 2015.

Flowey

VIEW SOURCE

Flowey

• Normal

• Hurt

• Fatal (Neutral)

• Fatal (Genocide)

• Overworld

• Overworld (Dead)

Character Information

Also known as

FLOWERY (Papyrus)

First Appearance

Ruins

Relationships

• Alphys (creator)

• Asriel (former self)

• The First Human (adopted sibling)

Leitmotif

Flowey

Battle Information

Howdy!

I'm FLOWEY.

FLOWEY the FLOWER!

Flowey introducing himself.

Flowey (/ˈflaʊi/)^[1] is the first major character that the protagonist encounters in Undertale. Flowey serves as the main antagonist for the Neutral and True Pacifist routes, and can be considered a deuteragonist for the Genocide Route. He provides an introduction to the mechanics of encounters by sharing "friendliness pellets," which are actually harmful bullets, revealing his philosophy of "KILL or BE KILLED".

Profile

Appearance

Flowey mimicking the protagonist.

Flowey has the appearance of a conscious golden flower. His structure has a white androecium, six yellow petals, and a light-green stem. Flowey can contort his face to show various expressions and can mimic the faces and voices of other characters. He mimics Toriel and Asgore in some situations, as well as his old self at the end of the Genocide Route. He also mimics the protagonist's face before the Neutral Route's final battle.

Personality

I wonder... What happens when something without a SOUL gains the will to live?

Entry Number 8, Alphys, True Lab

Flowey winks at the protagonist just before sending some "friendliness pellets" their way.

Initially, Flowey operates under a facade of friendliness and politeness. He often greets the protagonist with southern slang, such as "Howdy!", calls himself "your best friend," and, like his father, appends polite words such as "gosh" and "golly" to the ends of his sentences. Whenever he drops this guise of friendliness, he often calls the protagonist an "idiot."

Flowey has a malevolent and cruel disposition, berating the protagonist for not following his "kill or be killed" philosophy. Despite this, he also criticizes the protagonist at the end of the Ruins if they killed any monsters.^[2] He is manipulative, devious, a cunning planner and subtle if the circumstances require it.^[3] He retains his memories between SAVEs because he used to be able to SAVE himself. He is also shown to be extremely cowardly, as he kills his former father to appease the protagonist in a vain attempt to save his own life in the Genocide Route's conclusion.

The main reason for Flowey's spiteful and maniacal behavior is due to his physical inability to care for people. As a soulless flower, he is neither human nor monster. Because he has no soul, he is unable to feel compassion, love, or any purely positive emotion towards people, and can only seek enjoyment from an intricate and disturbing curiosity that stems from his ability to "reshape the world" by his determination.

Main Story

Ruins Start

Flowey showing his true colors before attempting to kill the protagonist.

Flowey introduces the concept of the Bullet Board and calls his bullets "friendliness pellets."

• If the protagonist dodges three times, his friendly act slips and he hypocritically snaps at the protagonist for leeching off of him.

  • The background music lowers by one semitone each time the bullets are dodged, before slowing, lowering the pitch, and stopping entirely.

  • Before his third attack, Flowey questions the protagonist's mental capacity^[4] and bellows in frustration "RUN. INTO. THE. BULLETS!!!" before quickly looking directly at his text and changing the "BULLETS!!!" in the speech bubble to "friendliness pellets."

If the protagonist runs into his bullets, he announces his central philosophy.^[5] Regardless of whether the protagonist dodged Flowey's bullets or not, he then attempts to kill the protagonist with an unavoidable ring of bullets, but Toriel intervenes and saves the protagonist.

If the protagonist killed Flowey on a previous Neutral Route (or if they aborted the Genocide Route, even if they spared him), he does not interact with them again until the protagonist reaches New Home again. If the protagonist spared him, he appears in the beginning of the Ruins again and advises them on what to do. If the protagonist gained EXP, he reminds them not to kill anyone.^[6] If the protagonist gained no EXP, he reminds them to befriend everyone.^[7] Resetting the game before completing a Neutral Route causes him to repeat his "tutorial" after assuming that the protagonist is pretending not to know who he is.^[8] Resetting again causes Flowey to become annoyed and question if the protagonist has anything better to do.

If the protagonist resets a Genocide Route at any point after exiting the Ruins and before the route's completion, Flowey says "Really, <Name>? Well, do what you will. I'll be waiting for you!" before leaving.^[9]

Ruins End

At the exit to the Ruins, Flowey judges the protagonist's actions up to that point. Flowey does not appear to judge the protagonist if he was killed in a previous Neutral Route or if the protagonist aborted the Genocide Route in a previous playthrough.

If The Protagonist Spared Toriel

[If they have earned EXP]

• Clever. Verrrryyy clever.

• You think you're really smart, don't you?

• In this world, it's kill or be killed.

• So you were able to play by your own rules.

• You spared the life of a single person.

• Froggit, Whimsun. Vegetoid, Loox. Migosp, Moldsmal.

• Think about those names.

• Do you think any of those monsters have families?

• Do you think any of them have friends?

• Each one could have been someone else's Toriel.

• Selfish brat.

• Somebody is dead because of you.

[If they have not earned EXP]

• Clever. Verrrryyy clever.

• You think you're really smart, don't you?

• In this world, it's kill or be killed.

• So you were able to play by your own rules.

• You spared the life of a single person.

• Hee hee hee...

• I bet you feel really great.

• You didn't kill anybody this time.

• But what will you do if you meet a relentless killer?

• You'll die and you'll die and you'll die.

• Until you tire of trying.

• What will you do then?

• Will you kill out of frustration?

• Or will you give up entirely on this world...

• ... and let ME inherit the power to control it?

• I am the prince of this world's future.

• Don't worry, my little monarch, my plan isn't regicide.

• This is SO much more interesting.

[If the protagonist killed Toriel before]

• Clever. Verrrryyy clever.

• You think you're really smart, don't you?

• In this world, it's kill or be killed.

• So you were able to play by your own rules.

• You spared the life of a single person.

• Hee hee hee...

• But don't act so cocky.

• I know what you did.

• You murdered her.

• And then you went back, because you regretted it.

• Ha ha ha ha...

• You naive idiot.

• Do you think you are the only one with that power?

• The power to reshape the world...

• Purely by your own determination.

• The ability to play God!

• The ability to "SAVE."

• I thought I was the only one with that power. But...

• I can't SAVE anymore.

• Apparently YOUR desires for this world override MINE.

• Well well.

• Enjoy that power while you can.

• I'll be watching.

If The Protagonist Killed Toriel

[First time]

• I hope you like your choice.

• After all, it's not as if you can go back and change fate.

• In this world, it's kill or be killed.

• That old hag thought she could break the rules.

• She tried so hard to save you humans.

• But when it came down to it...

• Hee hee...

• SHE COULDN'T EVEN SAVE HERSELF.

• WHAT AN IDIOT!!

[Second time]

• Heheheheh.

• You just can't get enough, can you!?

• ...

• How many more times will you kill her?

• Ha ha ha ha ha...

• You disgusting animal.

• You didn't even TRY to spare her.

[Subsequent times]

• Wow, you really can't get enough.

• You kind of remind me of myself.

[If Toriel was spared before]

• Wow, you're utterly repulsive.

• You spared her life...

• Then you decided that just wasn't interesting enough for you.

• So you murdered her just to see what would happen.

• You killed her out of boredom.

  • Truly disgusting... [If Flowey has already mentioned SAVING before; this is his last line]

• Hee hee...

• You naive idiot.

• Do you think you are the only one with that power?

• The power to reshape the world...

• Purely by your own determination.

• The ability to play God!

• The ability to "SAVE."

• I thought I was the only one with that power. But...

• I can't SAVE anymore.

• Apparently YOUR desires for this world override MINE.

• Well well.

• Enjoy that power while you can.

• I'll be watching.

If Genocide Route Requirements Are Met

Flowey appears even if he was killed in a previous Neutral Route.

• Hahaha...

• You're not really human, are you?

• No. You're empty inside. Just like me. In fact...

• You're <Name>, right?

• We're still inseperable, after all these years...

• Listen. I have a plan to become all powerful.

• Even more powerful than you and your stolen soul.

• Let's destroy everything in this wretched world.

• Everyone, everything in these worthless memories...

• Let's turn 'em all to dust.

An audio clip then plays of Flowey exclaiming "Hmm... That's a wonderful idea!"

If Toriel Has Not Been Fought

• Error

Flowey's sound is heard repeatedly and dialogue box cannot be closed by "Z", effectively softlocking the game^[10]

Neutral Route

If you let me live... I'll come back. I'll kill you. I'll kill everyone. I'll kill everyone you love.

Flowey, if spared after his boss battle.

After the Ruins, Flowey follows the protagonist from a distance throughout their adventure. If the protagonist backtracks in some areas, they can briefly find Flowey burrowing back into the ground at the edge of the screen.^[11]

Flowey's message on an Echo Flower if Toriel was killed.

Flowey also leaves a message on an Echo Flower in the vertical room before the bridge in Waterfall that changes if the protagonist spared or killed Toriel.^[12][13]

Flowey absorbs the human SOULs.

If the protagonist decides to kill Asgore, Flowey appears and destroys Asgore's SOUL. If the protagonist spares Asgore, Flowey appears and kills Asgore himself. Either way, he absorbs the six bottled human SOULs and transforms into Photoshop Flowey. Then, the game crashes and Flowey's battle begins after opening the game again.

After he is defeated, the protagonist has the chance to spare or kill Flowey. Flowey requires the protagonist to offer him mercy multiple times before he flees, unsure why the protagonist is being nice to him.^[14]

If the protagonist loads or finishes another Neutral Route, Flowey absorbs the six bottled human SOULs again, but does not become Photoshop Flowey as he knows that the six SOULs would rebel again.^[15] Instead, the protagonist is able to exit the room and receive Sans's Neutral Route phone call.

Well. You DID do what I told you. I guess it's up to me to get you a REAL happy ending.

Flowey

Flowey's reaction if spared.

If spared after his battle, Flowey gives advice to the protagonist on what to do during subsequent Neutral Routes.^[16] If the protagonist gained EXP before his battle, he asks the protagonist to prove his philosophy wrong, as he thinks it may be meaningless.^[17] Flowey also offers unique dialogue if the protagonist only killed Asgore and tells the protagonist that they wasted everyone's time.^[18] If the protagonist earned no EXP, yet they have not met all the requirements for the True Pacifist Route, he mentions that the protagonist should get closer to one of the main characters, depending on who they previously befriended.^[19]

The protagonist can then recover their previous SAVE file and follow his advice.

The protagonist killing Flowey at the end of the Genocide Route

If the protagonist kills Flowey, he recognizes that the protagonist can kill^[20] before becoming "just a regular flower."

If he was killed after his battle, Flowey does not leave a message for the protagonist after the credits close, and, after a reset, does not appear until after the resolution of Asgore's battle. Flowey then berates the protagonist for thinking that killing him solved anything. He explains that he was brought back when the protagonist loaded their SAVE file and that they still cannot achieve their happy ending.^[21]

If the protagonist aborts the Genocide Route, Flowey becomes upset with them.^[22] However, he then proclaims that the protagonist just wanted to see everything in the Underground and will eventually return to their malicious ways.^[23]

True Pacifist Route

For further information, see Asriel Dreemurr#True Pacifist Route.

Genocide Route

For further information, see Asriel Dreemurr#Genocide Route.

Quotes

Pre-Battle

First playthrough

• Howdy!

• I'm FLOWEY.

• FLOWEY the FLOWER!

• Hmmm...

• You're new to the UNDERGROUND, aren'tcha?

• Golly, you must be so confused.

• Someone ought to teach you how things work around here!

• I guess little old me will have to do.

• Ready?

• Here we go!

Repeat playthrough

• Howdy!

• I'm FLOWEY.

• FLOWEY the FLOWER!

• Hee hee hee...

• Why'd you make me introduce myself?

• It's rude to act like you don't know who I am.

• Someone ought to teach you proper manners.

• I guess little old me will have to do.

• Ready?

• Here we go!

Subsequent playthroughs

• Don't you have anything better to do?

Resetting after an aborted Genocide Route

• Really, <Name>?

• Well, do what you will.

• I'll be waiting for you!

Resetting after sparing Flowey in a Neutral Route with EXP

• Hey. Remember.

• DON'T kill anyone.

• ...

• I can't believe this is a REAL thing I have to remind you.

• Hee hee hee...

• Good luck!

Resetting after sparing Flowey in a Neutral Route without EXP

• Remember...

• THIS time, you've GOT to become friends with everyone.

• OK?

• If you DON'T, you'll be miserable FOREVER.

• And we wouldn't want THAT, would we?

• No... We just want you to be happy, right?

• Good luck.

First fight

• See that heart? That's your SOUL, the very culmination of your being!

• Your SOUL starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV.

• What's LV stand for? Why, LOVE of course!

• You want some LOVE, don't you?

• Don't worry, I'll share some with you!

• Down here, LOVE is shared through...

• Little white... "friendliness pellets."

• Are you ready?

• Move around! Get as many as you can!

If Protagonist avoids bullets once

• Hey buddy, you missed them.

• Let's try again, okay?

If Protagonist avoids bullets a second time

• Is this a joke? Are you braindead? RUN. INTO. THE. BULLETS!!!

(Flowey looks at the text box and changes the "BULLETS!!!" to "friendliness pellets.")

If Protagonist avoids bullets a third time

• You know what's going on here, don't you?

• You just wanted to see me suffer.

• Die.

If Protagonist runs into bullets

• You idiot.

• In this world, it's kill or BE killed.

• Why would ANYONE pass up an opportunity like this!?

• Die.

In Battle

Attacks

For an in-battle description, see Photoshop Flowey/In Battle.

As a flower, Flowey uses only three attacks: a five-bullet spread that slightly home in on the protagonist's SOUL, a large ring of bullets which surround the SOUL and cannot be dodged and a vertical row of bullets which come from the side of the Bullet Board, from outside it. This attack is only used before his battle as Asriel Dreemurr. He can speed up the spread although the limits of his attacks and speed are unknown. Getting hit by his five-bullet spread in his first encounter deals 19 damage per bullet whereas the unavoidable ring attack heals 19 HP regardless of whether it hits the protagonist. Before his battle as Asriel Dreemurr, the bullets deal 7 damage until 6 HP where it is 5.

Relationships

For further information, see Asriel Dreemurr#Relationships.

Trivia

• Flowey and Mettaton represent the two characters with voice clips; Flowey says "That's a wonderful idea!" at the end of the Ruins on a Genocide Route, plus two unused audio clips.

  • This phrase is a higher-pitched clip of an old McDonald's commercial originating from the 1960s.^[24]

  • There are other clips within the commercial which also match voice and sound clips within the game. Examples are times 2:47 and 3:05, where Photoshop Flowey's "hurt" sounds originate.^[25]

• Flowey's laugh is not a new asset and can be recognized in other media. It was originally a Warner Bros. sound effect mostly used in Pink Panther cartoons and has appeared in titles such as the PlayStation title Tomba!^[26] and the Homestuck soundtrack The Lordling, also by Toby Fox.

• If the player attempts to name the fallen child "Flowey," the screen reads "I already CHOSE that name" and prevents the name from being used.

• Flowey shares the same color palette as his former self Asriel: white, green, yellow, and black.

• In Hard Mode, Flowey appears alongside the Annoying Dog after the protagonist finishes Toriel's boss fight.

• In a joke thread on Starmen.Net, when Undertale was called "UnderBound 2," it was revealed that Flowey was planned to be the reincarnation of "Face," who was the protagonist of the non-existent EarthBound hack, UnderGround.^[27]

  • The artbook mentions that Flowey was partially inspired by Face from the "NES Godzilla Creepypasta" written by Cosbydaf.

• Flowey's character might be inspired by flowers from EarthBound, which Toby did include in one of his hacks.

A screenshot of talking flowers from Toby Fox's Halloween Hack. These flowers are seen in Earthbound.

• Flowey has the most battle sprites of any character; he has dozens of expressions that he uses in the battle room.

• In the Japanese translation, Flowey uses "boku" and refers to a person with "kimi" alongside his past self Asriel.^[28]

• When Flowey surrounds the protagonist with a circle of friendliness pellets during his initial encounter, he commands them to "Die." This is noticeably written in a font that is a no-spacing variant of the Korean typeface Gulim Che in bold, making him, Sans, Papyrus, and W. D. Gaster the only characters with the ability to speak in a typeface different from 8bitoperator JVE, the standard typeface of Undertale.

  • It should be noted that Flowey still usually speaks in 8bitoperator; he only speaks in this font once.

• Despite his insistence that he can't feel love or compassion without a SOUL, Flowey's words when opening the game for the first time after a True Pacifist run, as well as his words and actions from the Undertale Alarm Clock app, imply that he does have some capacity to care about other people. In the former, he pleads the player to not reset everything again and let everyone stay happy. In the latter, he finds Toriel passed out after a party and leaves her a glass of water, mirroring an earlier instance where he moved her to bed and left her a glass of water after seeing her collapsed in the Ruins.^[29][30] This implies that it was not simply the events of the True Pacifist route that caused this compassion.

• The fallen human's name does not appear in the first encounter with Flowey nor his monologues in New Home on the Genocide Route. This trait is shared with the various monsters in New Home on a Neutral Route.

References

1. ↑ personal pronunciation for some undertale characters (dont care if u say diff) - Toby Fox (@tobyfox) on Twitter, September 20, 2015. Archived on April 08, 2016.

2. ↑ Each one could have been someone else's Toriel. Selfish brat. Somebody is dead because of you. - Flowey

3. ↑ LET'S JUST SAY... A TINY FLOWER HELPED ME. - Papyrus explains how he knew to call other monsters to New Home

4. ↑ Is this a joke? Are you braindead? - Flowey

5. ↑ In this world, it's kill or BE killed. - Flowey

6. ↑ “Hey. Remember. DON’T kill anyone. ... I can’t believe this is a REAL thing I have to remind you. Hee hee hee... Good luck!” - Flowey

7. ↑ Remember... THIS time, you've GOT to become friends with everyone. OK? If you DON'T, you'll be miserable FOREVER. - Flowey

8. ↑ Howdy! I'm FLOWEY. FLOWEY the FLOWER! Hee hee hee... Why'd you make me introduce myself? It's rude to act like you don't know who I am. Someone ought to teach you proper manners. I guess little old me will have to do. - Flowey

9. ↑ Resetting a LV 20 SAVE before encountering Asgore - YouTube

10. ↑ Meeting Flowey before Toriel Fight *Error - YouTube

11. ↑ Undertale - Flowey following the Player - YouTube

12. ↑ Toriel's voice: Where am I...? It's so cold here... And so dark... Someone help me... Anyone... please... Help me...
    Flowey's voice:... But nobody came.
    - Flowey's Echo Flower message if Toriel was killed.

13. ↑ Toriel's voice: Where oh where could that child be...? I've been looking all over for them...
    Flowey's voice: ... Hee hee hee. THAT'S not true. She'll find another kid, and instantly forget about you. You'll NEVER see her again.
    - Flowey's Echo Flower message if Toriel was spared.

14. ↑ ...why are you being... ...so nice to me? I can't understand. I can't understand! I just can't understand... - Flowey

15. ↑ Hee hee hee. Don't worry. I know there's no REAL point in fighting you. The human souls would probably just revolt again. - Flowey

16. ↑ Say. What if I told you... I knew some way to get you a better ending? - Flowey

17. ↑ Hey. Since you defeated me. I've been thinking. Is killing things really necessary? I... I honestly don't know anymore. I have a request for you. Prove to me... Prove to me you are strong enough to survive. Get here from the beginning. Without killing a single thing... ...and I won't kill the king. ...and, maybe... Then you'll have your so-called "happy ending." So, what will it be? Will you prove yourself? Or will I get to watch you suffer...? Either way, I'm interested!!! Hee hee hee... - Flowey

18. ↑ So you went the whole way through without killing... And then you decided to kill ASGORE? What the hell is WRONG with you? You COMPLETELY missed the point. Are you trolling me? Because. No. You are only trolling yourself. What a waste of everybody's time. - Flowey

19. ↑ Are you friends with all of them yet? Maybe you should go back and... "hang" with them. The power of friendship... That always saves the day, right? - Flowey

20. ↑ I knew you had it in you! - Flowey

21. ↑ Hee hee hee. Did you REALLY think killing me would make a DIFFERENCE? No. Every time you load your SAVE, I'll come back. And every time you try to get a happy ending... I'll be there to tear it away! Ha ha ha!!! - Flowey

22. ↑ We were on our way to REAL victory... Why'd you have to SCREW IT UP? - Flowey

23. ↑ Well, I'll let you mess around. I know you'll come back eventually. And when that time comes... I'll be waiting for you. - Flowey

24. ↑ Thats A Wonderful Idea Clip [Undertale SFX Source] - YouTube

25. ↑ McDonald's Commercials 1960's Collection - YouTube

26. ↑ Let it Haunt Your Nightmares - YouTube

27. ↑ Toby Fox (4 February 2013). "UnderBound" Archived on 15 December 2015.

28. ↑ flowey uses ‘boku’, and even when he’s omega flowey and calls himself a god, he drops the ’-sama’ from the proper term for god ‘kami-sama’
    he’ll also occasionally mispronounce things and refers to frisk (when saying ‘you’) as ‘kimi’, even after dropping the facade of being nice
    - mortalityplays on Tumblr, August 23, 2017.

29. ↑ Er? Why, yes. There was a time in the RUINS when... I had... fallen asleep on the floor. ... How did you know that? ... - Toriel, Undertale Alarm Clock dialogue

30. ↑ A long time ago, I knew someone that always filled up their glass, so the liquid was just peeking over the brim. It was the most efficient way to fill it, they said. Regardless of how thirsty they were. Because of that, my son started doing it too, and... There were a lot of spills in the house. ... In the RUINS that time... The glass was full, just like that. And, recently when I woke up after the party, The glass next to me was, too. - Toriel, Undertale Alarm Clock dialogue

Toriel

VIEW SOURCE

Toriel

• Normal

• Battle

• Hurt

• Fatal (Neutral)

• Fatal (Genocide)

• Shocked

• Overworld

Knows best for you.

Character Information

Also known as

• Tori (Asgore, Alphys, Sans)

• old lady (Sans)

• ASGORE'S CLONE (Papyrus)

• Queen (Monsters)

First Appearance

Ruins

Relationships

• Asgore Dreemurr (ex-husband)

• Asriel Dreemurr (son)

• The First Human (adopted child)

• Sans (friend)

Leitmotif

Toriel

Battle Information

I am TORIEL, caretaker of the RUINS.

Toriel introducing herself.

Toriel is the second character the protagonist encounters in Undertale. She saves the protagonist from Flowey and guides them through the Ruins.

Contents

Profile

Appearance

Toriel with her reading glasses, seen on the title screen if the protagonist spares her.

Toriel is a Boss Monster whose head resembles a white-furred Nubian Goat, structured with floppy ears and tiny horns. She has a pair of visible fangs and long eyelashes, and her irises have a dark red tint. She has an anthropomorphic body, with paws at the end of her limbs. She wears a long purple robe with white sleeves and the Delta Rune on the chest. Toriel can also be seen with reading glasses, one instance being in her house when reading a book on snail facts.

Personality

Toriel is a kind monster that acts as a protective mother figure for the protagonist. She employs tough love on the protagonist as well as Asgore. She cares for children and was excited to become a mother.^[1]

She enjoys cooking and bakes butterscotch-cinnamon pie as well as her favorite, snail pie.

Toriel has a playful side, as shown by her love of puns and bad jokes, and she even keeps a journal of puns.^[2]

Toriel is said to be intelligent^[3] and dreams of becoming a teacher. She has already prepared a curriculum for the protagonist by the time they reach her home in the Ruins.^[4] In the True Pacifist Ending Credits, she stands outside a school and, in the Family Ending of the Neutral Route, she starts her own.

Main Story

Before the events of Undertale, she was married to King Asgore and had a son, Asriel. When the first human fell into the Underground, she adopted them as their child. When the deaths of their two children pushed Asgore to declare war on humanity, Toriel became disgusted by his actions. She left him, retrieved the first human's body so she could give them a proper burial,^[5] and remained in the Ruins.

Toriel often checks the entrance to the Ruins to tend to the bed of Golden Flowers^[6] and aid those who fall into the Underground.^[7] It is implied that she had cared for the previous six fallen humans in the same way she cares for the protagonist before their eventual depart.^[8][9] Sometime after that, Toriel and Sans became friends over knock-knock jokes they shared at the Ruins's exit door. One day, she requested that he promises to protect humans that exit through the door.^[10]

Neutral Route

Toriel guides the protagonist through the Ruins.

At the beginning of the game, Toriel saves the protagonist from Flowey, healing any damage done by him. After introducing herself, she guides them through the first few rooms of the Ruins. She encourages the protagonist to deal with monster encounters by talking to them, as opposed to acting violently.

She gives the protagonist a cell phone to keep in contact with one another, as she needs to run some errands further into the Ruins. She tells them to stay where they are, only to be disobeyed. She calls the protagonist frequently as the protagonist goes through the Ruins, and is about to call them again when she finds the protagonist at the entrance to her home.

She introduces the protagonist to their room and plans to raise them as her own. After the protagonist asks her about leaving the Ruins, Toriel abruptly leaves; the protagonist follows.

As she goes toward the exit of the Ruins, she explains that she plans to destroy the exit to prevent the protagonist from leaving, as all other humans who left had been killed.^[11]

Toriel hugging the protagonist.

At the end of the Ruins, Toriel tells the protagonist to prove that they are strong enough to survive and fights them in a test of strength. She can be killed or spared; if spared, Toriel allows them to leave, but advises them to never return and hugs them briefly.^[12]

For information on her ending, see Neutral Route#Toriel Ending Tree.

True Pacifist Route

Toriel reappears just as Asgore and the protagonist prepare to fight, interrupting it with her fire magic, much like she does with Flowey at the start of the game. She explains the motive of her arrival was the realization that the protagonist would have to take a life to leave and that she had been trying to prevent such a thing from the beginning.

As the protagonist's friends come, she introduces herself to them and recognizes Sans's voice immediately. She tells the protagonist that while they may have to stay Underground with all their friends, they will live a happy life regardless.

Flowey then appears. Having absorbed the human SOULs, he binds Toriel and company with vines. When Flowey tries to kill the protagonist, Toriel is the first monster to intervene, using her fire magic to block Flowey's bullets. Her SOUL, along with every other monsters', is eventually absorbed by Flowey, allowing him to become Asriel.

During the protagonist's battle with Asriel, Toriel appears as one of the Lost Souls. However, she is eventually saved along with the others by the protagonist when they help them regain their memories of their recent experiences with them.

Epilogue

After the fight against Asriel concludes, she learns the protagonist's name, "Frisk." She tells them that they are free to go through the Underground to talk to more of their friends. Meanwhile, Alphys upgrades Toriel's phone, allowing her to send text messages.

Toriel standing outside the school.

Frisk leaves the Underground with Toriel and their other friends. As the others leave Frisk to begin their lives on the Surface, Toriel asks Frisk what they will do now.^[13]

• If Frisk decides to stay with Toriel, she says that none of this would have happened if they remained with her at the beginning of the game and that it was for the best that they decided to leave the Ruins.^[14] She then promises to take care of Frisk for as long as they need.^[15] Like in the Ruins, Toriel takes Frisk's hand as they walk offscreen together. After the credits, Toriel brings a slice of pie to Frisk's room.

• If Frisk says that they "have places to go," Toriel says that she will see them later.^[16] After the credits, Frisk and their monster friends are shown together in a sepia photograph.

In the credits sequence, Toriel welcomes Monster Kid to a school that she opened and teaches at. The school door is adorned with the Delta Rune without the triangles that represented the monsters trapped Underground.^[17]

In Battle

For an in-battle description, see Toriel/In Battle.

Relationships

The Protagonist

Toriel cares for humans who fall into the Ruins and the protagonist is no exception. She tries to keep the protagonist in the Ruins, as Asgore killed the other humans who left her care. If the protagonist spares her, she lets them leave the Ruins, but not before giving them a parting hug.

Toriel's reaction if the protagonist kills her after she is spared thirteen times.

If the protagonist kills her during a Neutral Route, she uses the last of her strength to give them a warning about what lies ahead and calls the protagonist "my child" before she turns to dust.^[18] If the protagonist kills her when she stops attacking, she says that the protagonist is no different from the monsters outside the Ruins and laughs hysterically before she dies.^[19] In the Genocide Route, she realizes that by keeping the protagonist in the Ruins, she was protecting not the protagonist, but the rest of the monsters in the Underground.^[20] The death sprite for Toriel is the same in a Genocide Route and on a Neutral Route if the protagonist kills her after she is spared thirteen times.

If the protagonist calls Toriel "mom," it surprises her, and she states that if it makes them happy, then she heartily approves of it.

Calling Toriel on her phone in the Ruins and flirting with her makes her assume the protagonist is joking, if they do it again she is unsure what to make of it.^[21] If they flirt with her after calling her "mother," she becomes uncomfortable and calls the protagonist an "interesting" child. She also mentions this in the epilogue.^[22]

If the game is reset, Toriel says that talking to the protagonist is like "meeting an old friend for the first time" and also says that she feels this way about most fallen humans.^[23]

Asgore

Asgore is Toriel's ex-husband. They were once extremely close, winning first place in the '98 Nose Nuzzle competition^[24] and were open about their affection for one another.^[25] During their marriage, Toriel's nicknames for Asgore included "Fluffybuns"^[26] and "Gorey."^[27]

Toriel left Asgore and New Home after he declared war on humanity.^[28] After they are reunited on the True Pacifist Route, Toriel criticizes his plan for freeing monsters^[29] but still believes that he deserves mercy, even though he is "terrible."^[30] When Asgore asks if they can be reconciled or at least be friends, Toriel declines. While she appears to be civil with Asgore when she speaks to him about the future of the Underground in the aftermath of the fight against Asriel, once they are on the surface and everyone else has left, Asgore wonders whether he should leave too, and Toriel glares at him, prompting him to leave her and Frisk alone. However, in the ending credits, she does not mind his presence while trimming the bushes, hinting a developing tolerance or gradual forgiveness.

Flowey

Toriel calls Flowey a "terrible creature"^[31] right after preventing him from killing the protagonist. She is unaware that Flowey is her son, Asriel.

Sans

Sans and Toriel do not meet in person until the end of a True Pacifist Route and the Family and Exiled Queen endings, where they both have become good friends. They started their friendship by telling jokes to each other through the door between the Ruins and Snowdin.^[32] One day, Toriel entrusted Sans with protecting any human that left the Ruins.^[10] They continue to bond in the epilogue and text each other as Frisk backtracks through the Underground.

Gallery

Toriel in a Steam trading card.

Toriel glaring at a hostile Froggit.

Froggit leaves, Toriel glares even harder.

Toriel still confused by the strange outcome of the boring dummy fight.

Toriel's expressions in the Hard Mode Ending.

Toriel forcing the protagonist to fight her.

Toriel's shocked sprite, seen if she kills the protagonist.

A side to side comparison of Toriel committing suicide (unused sprite, left) and Toriel being killed (right). The only difference is the mouths.

Toriel Little Buddy sold on Fangamer.

Toriel plush sold on Fangamer.

Toriel's official tarot card as Major Arcana III, "The Empress."

Artwork from Undertale's 5th anniversary.

Trivia

• Toriel's name is similar to that of the Watcher angel "Turiel" (More commonly known as "Yomiel") in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Furthermore, Toriel herself is described as the "watcher" and "caretaker" of the Ruins.

• Toriel's name is a play on the word "tu-torial," as she teaches the protagonist about how the game works.

• When attempting to name the fallen human "Toriel," the response is: "I think you should think of your own name, my child," and prevents the name from being used.

• Toriel is the only character that has a blinking animation in the dialogue box.

• Toriel's dialogue completely excludes the use of contractions, hence her more idiosyncratic phrases, such as "is it not" instead of "isn't it", giving her speech patterns a more "ancient" tone. This trait is absent from both her appearances in the Alarm Clock App and Deltarune.

Toriel's initial reaction to the protagonist boring the Dummy.

• If the protagonist bores the Dummy during their encounter, Toriel stares in disbelief and confusion and starts thinking in a confused manner before moving to the next room without comment.

• Toriel has a sock drawer despite never wearing socks in-game.

  • The narrator's reaction to Toriel's sock drawer^[33] and Sans's sock pile^[34] is similar.

• Toriel and Photoshop Flowey are the only characters whose battle sprites have colored eyes throughout their battles.

• Toriel and Undyne are the only bosses that the protagonist can flee from in battle.

• Attempting to open the menu by pressing C after fleeing her battle makes the menu disappear instantly, leaving the room does not reproduce the error.

• If Toriel was killed and the protagonist resets to the point before her battle, Toriel remarks that the protagonist looks like they "have seen a ghost"^[35] and asks if the protagonist knows something she does not, before saying that is impossible.^[36]

• If the protagonist spares Toriel, she can be found by the flowerbed where the protagonist initially awoke after falling into the underground. If the protagonist backtracks to talk to her, she tells them "Do not worry about me. Someone has to take care of these flowers."

  • Asriel also says this when backtracking to the same location after completing a True Pacifist Route.

• The player cannot call Toriel once they exit the Ruins even if she was spared. While most players may assume that Toriel intentionally refuses to answer the protagonist's calls outside of the Ruins, she is actually unable to answer due to the Annoying Dog having stolen her phone.

  • Calling her with the Annoying Dog in the inventory causes ringing in the protagonist's inventory, implying that it stole and ate her phone.

• Toriel once wore a flower-patterned muu-muu; other monsters complimented her by saying "nice muu-muu," but she assumed everyone was calling her a cow and never wore it again.^[37]

• Despite Toriel's motherly nature, she is not above swearing.^[38]

  • Toby Fox stated in a deleted tweet that it is possible for Toriel to have said the "F-word."^[39]

  • An example of this is in the Undertale Alarm Clock app. According to Papyrus, Toriel started acting weird due to drinking too much eggnog. This included singing holiday songs and replacing all of the words with swears.^[40]

• According to Sans, at some point after the events of the game, Toriel drank three glasses of wine and threw pizza at him like frisbees.^[41]

  • Toby Fox has clarified on his Tumblr that these pizzas were meant to be miniature Lunchables pizzas and not regular, full-size pizzas, but he doesn't really mind either way because he finds the concept of Toriel throwing full-size pizzas at Sans to be funny.^[42]

See Also

• Toriel article on the Deltarune Wiki.

References

1. ↑ You sure are excited to have this child. - Asgore, Tape 1, True Lab

2. ↑ You read the passage... 'Why did the skeleton want a friend?' 'Because she was feeling BONELY...' - Toriel, journal in Toriel's House

3. ↑ Since everyone knew she was really the brains behind the throne... - Gerson

4. ↑ I've also prepared a curriculum for your education. This may come as a surprise to you... But I have always wanted to be a teacher. ...actually, perhaps that isn't very surprising. - Toriel

5. ↑ She must have taken you when she left. And decided to give you a proper burial, rather than... Hanging out in the basement forever. - Flowey

6. ↑ Do not worry about me. Someone has to take care of these flowers. - Toriel

7. ↑ I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down. - Toriel

8. ↑ Every human that falls down here meets the same fate. I have seen it again and again. They come. They leave. They die. - Toriel

9. ↑ Pathetic, is it not? I cannot save even a single child. - Toriel

10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} one day, though, i noticed she wasn't laughing very much. i asked her what was up. then she told me something strange. "if a human ever comes through this door... "... could you please, please promise something?" "watch over them, and protect them, will you not?" - Sans

11. ↑ You naive child... If you leave the RUINS... They... ASGORE... Will kill you. I am only protecting you, do you understand? - Toriel

12. ↑ If you truly wish to leave the RUINS... I will not stop you. However, when you leave... Please do not come back. I hope you understand. - Toriel

13. ↑ You came from this world, right...? So you must have a place to return to, do you not? What will you do now? - Toriel

14. ↑ Frisk... You really are a funny child. If you had said that earlier, none of this would have happened. It is a good thing you took so long to change your mind. - Toriel

15. ↑ Well... I suppose. If you really do not have any other place to go... I will do my best to take care of you, for as long as you need. - Toriel

16. ↑ ...I see. Well, I hope that I am not keeping you. 'See you around.' - Toriel

17. ↑ All we know is that the triangles symbolize us monsters below, and the winged circle above symbolizes... Somethin' else. - Gerson

18. ↑ You are stronger than I thought... Listen to me, small one... If you go beyond this door, Keep walking as far as you can. Eventually you will reach an exit. ....... ASGORE... Do not let ASGORE take your soul. His plan cannot be allowed to succeed. ...... Be good, won't you? My child. - Toriel

19. ↑ You... ...at my most vulnerable moment... To think I was worried you wouldn't fit in out there... Eheheheh!!! You really are no different than them! - Toriel

20. ↑ Y... you... really hate me that much? Now I see who I was protecting by keeping you here. Not you... But them! - Toriel

21. ↑ I do not know if this is pathetic, or endearing. - Toriel

22. ↑ Sans, did I tell you about the time Frisk flirted with me...? And then asked to call me "mother?" - Toriel

23. ↑ When humans fall down here, strangely... I... I often feel like I already know them. Truthfully, when I first saw you, I felt... ... like I was seeing an old friend for the first time. - Toriel

24. ↑ "(It's a trophy.) (Number 1 Nose-Nuzzle Champs '98!)" - Narrator, trophy in Asgore's Home

25. ↑ Those two were really insufferable together... Nuzzling noses, bein' all cute n' cuddly in public... Embarrassing their children... They were so sweet it made me SICK. Thank god those days are over! - Gerson

26. ↑ After finishing her update, she moved to pass the microphone to the king. However, she didn't realize the microphone was still in her hands when she said: "Your turn, Fluffybuns." The audience burst into laughter. - Gerson

27. ↑ Psssst. Gorey, wake up. - Toriel, Tape 1, True Lab

28. ↑ Then, I would destroy humanity... And let monsters rule the surface, in peace. Soon, the people's hopes returned. My wife, however, became disgusted with my actions. She left this place, never to be seen again. - Asgore

29. ↑ You pathetic whelp. If you really wanted to free our kind... You could have gone through the barrier after you got ONE SOUL... - Toriel

30. ↑ As terrible as ASGORE is... He deserves mercy, too. - Toriel

31. ↑ What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent, youth... - Toriel

32. ↑ but she told me to come by again, and so i did. then i did again. and again. it's a thing now. telling bad jokes through the door. it rules. - Sans

33. ↑ You peek inside... Scandalous! It's TORIEL's sock drawer. - Narrator

34. ↑ (It's Sans's dirty sock pile.) (Sc... scandalous...?) - Narrator

35. ↑ ... wait. ... why are you looking at me like that? Like you have seen a ghost. - Toriel

36. ↑ Do you know something that I do not? No... That is impossible. - Toriel

37. ↑ Actually, that reminds me. Toriel once wore a flower-patterned muu-muu... Folks kept saying "nice muu-muu" to her, but she kept thinking they were calling her a cow. So she never wore it again. - Gerson

38. ↑ Who the hell is Sans? ... Who the HECK is Sans? - Toriel, epilogue

39. ↑ It's entirely possible she's said the f-word before. There's no knowing. It's one of life's greatest mysteries. - @FwugRadiation on Twitter, November 10, 2015. Archived on November 12, 2015.

40. ↑ AS THE NIGHT PROGRESSED, MS. TORIEL GOT VERY ROWDY. I THINK SHE HAD TOO MUCH EGGNOG. SHE STARTED DRAWING HAIR ON MY BROTHER'S HEAD WITH A MARKER... AND SINGING HOLIDAY SONGS VERY LOUD. BUT, REPLACING THE LYRICS WITH CURSED WORDS. - Papyrus, Undertale Alarm Clock dialogue

41. ↑ yeah, and you looked great after you drank three glasses of wine... and started throwing the pizzas at me like frisbees. - undertaleqa on Tumblr, September 15, 2016.

42. ↑ The pizzas that Toriel threw were supposed to be Lunchables pizzas, not full size pizzas. However, it’s really funny seeing her throw full size pizzas, so I don’t mind at all. - fwugradiation on Tumblr, April 10, 2017.

Asgore Dreemurr

For the music track of the same name, see ASGORE.

Asgore Dreemurr

• Normal

• Battle

• Hurt

• Fatal

• Overworld

Character Information

Also known as

• King Fluffybuns (Toriel, Gerson)

• KING FLUFFYBOY (Papyrus)

• Mr. Dreamy (Alphys)

• Gorey (Toriel, Alphys)

• ASGORE (Toriel, Undyne)

• (Possible Mention) Hairy Guy (Napstablook)

• King Dad (Chara or Asriel)

• Mr. Dad Guy (Chara or Asriel)

• Dreemurr (Toriel)

First Appearance

New Home

Relationships

• Toriel (ex-wife)

• Asriel (son)

• The First Human (adopted child)

• Dr. Alphys (hired royal scientist)

• Undyne (friend/pupil)

• W. D. Gaster (former royal scientist)

Leitmotif

Asgore

Battle Information

Human...

It was nice to meet you.

Goodbye.

Asgore before he fights the protagonist.

Asgore Dreemurr (/ˈæzɡɔːr ˈdɹiːmər/ AZ-gore DREE-mər)^[1] is the ruler of the Underground and its denizens, monsters. He is the ex-husband of Toriel, father of Asriel Dreemurr, adoptive father of the first human, and the penultimate boss of the Neutral Route. While not evil or malicious, he serves as one of the main antagonists, planning to kill seven humans and use their SOULs to break the barrier which traps the monsters in the Underground.

Profile

Appearance

Asgore is a Boss Monster with an intimidating stature. He has broad shoulders, a golden-blond mane, two large curved horns, and a beard. He wears a suit of armor, a purple cape with golden pauldrons, and a small crown on top of his head. The weapon he uses in battle is a long, red trident adorned with a flower. Asgore is shown to be the largest main character in the entire game. Towards the end of the game, Asgore appears to be more fat with a large gut rather than the broad-chested Herculean build he portrays: albeit he keeps his wide bulky appearance, his tall stature and especially his overall muscular limbs. This trick of appearance where Asgore seems more fit than he actually is likely fits into a common trope of fat characters sucking in their guts as an effort to look more intimidating, Asgore doing something similar by encasing himself in tight likely uncomfortable armor. However, after the True Pacifist Route he wears what looks to be a far more comfortable Hawaiian T-shirt which is pink in color and has white flowers alongside a simple pair of blue jeans. His arms are also shown to have stripes of yellow fur on top of them seemingly replicating the look of body hair.

Personality

Asgore is a kind and often quiet yet upbeat monster that enjoys gardening, Golden Flower Tea,^[2] and Toriel's Butterscotch Pie. Like his son, he speaks in southern slang (most notably "howdy" and "golly"). Before his battle, he offers the protagonist many opportunities to explore the Underground and is reluctant to fight them at all; he even suggests that Toriel, the protagonist and himself live as a family if the protagonist spares him.^[3]

As evidence of his role as a powerful leader, most characters in the game refer to him in ALL CAPS and sometimes in red text,^[4] yellow text,^[5] or a combination of both.^[6] Monsters in the Underground look to Asgore for hope, and his plan to collect seven human SOULs is one of the few things that keep them going. However, Asgore does not want to kill anybody^[7] and feels so guilty that he offers the protagonist his SOUL to "leave this cursed place."^[8] Though he is miserable because he has killed humans, he feels that it is his duty to his people to battle the protagonist.^[9]

Asgore lives in the past and wants nothing more than to see his wife and child again, even though they have been gone for a long time.^[10] He reiterates the same phrase in his journal every day, perhaps in denial that life has changed since Asriel's demise.

Monsters also note that he is bad at naming places, with the names being quite literal (such as naming the monster's first home in the Underground "Home", and naming their new home "New Home"). Gerson suggests this may be because Asgore is not the most intellectual monster, with the smarter member of the royal family as well as the one which was actually running the city being Toriel.^[11]

Main Story

King Asgore and Queen Toriel ruled the Underground for millennia after humans sealed the monsters Underground upon their defeat during the war. Toriel and Asgore later had a son, Asriel, and adopted the first human to fall into the Ruins.

The tragedy of his children's deaths led Asgore to declare war on humanity in a fit of anger. He swore to kill any human that fell into the Underground and planned to use their SOULs to break the barrier and destroy all humans. Toriel, disgusted with him, left New Home and returned to the Ruins.

Before the protagonist fell into the Underground, six more humans fell, and Asgore saved their SOULs for future use.

Neutral Route

Asgore revealing the six human SOULs before his battle.

I so badly want to say, "would you like a cup of tea?"

But...

You know how it is.

Asgore

Asgore greets the protagonist when they arrive in the Throne Room, where he was watering flowers, visibly taken aback by their arrival. He comforts them as he brings them to the barrier, giving them several opportunities to turn back if they have anything left to do before the fight. Asgore does not mind the delay, admitting that he is not ready either.

Before fighting, Asgore tells the protagonist that it was nice knowing them. He then draws his trident and destroys the MERCY button. Fighting Asgore is the only way to progress to the ending.

Much like with Toriel, attacking Asgore when he is at low HP deals significantly greater damage. However, he survives the attack with a small amount of health remaining and kneels in defeat, talking to the protagonist about his declaration of war against humanity, admitting that he only wanted to give the monsters hope by continuing the war, and asking them to take his SOUL to escape the Underground.

The protagonist is given the choice of killing Asgore by selecting the FIGHT button or sparing him by choosing the partially repaired MERCY button.

• If the protagonist chooses FIGHT, Asgore dies with a sorrowful smile. Before the protagonist can take his SOUL and pass through the barrier, Flowey shatters Asgore's SOUL, and congratulates the protagonist for affirming his "kill-or-be-killed" philosophy.

• If the protagonist chooses MERCY, Asgore is surprised that the protagonist would sacrifice their freedom for the sake of keeping hope alive in the Underground, and offers to care for the protagonist as his own child. Flowey ambushes Asgore, destroying his body and SOUL in succession, then mocking the protagonist for being unwilling to accept his "kill-or-be-killed" philosophy.

  • If the protagonist has already completed the Neutral Route beforehand, and in that playthrough had killed Flowey (or followed Flowey's offer to spare Asgore by gaining no EXP), and chooses to spare Asgore again; Asgore begins to mention that he would care for the protagonist, but stops himself, realizing that his SOUL holds the key to getting the protagonist through the barrier. After telling the protagonist that it was what his son, Asriel Dreemurr, would have wanted, he sacrifices himself to give the protagonist his SOUL, hoping that they find some way to free the monsters from the surface. Asgore then fades to dust, his SOUL remaining for a moment, only to be destroyed by Flowey, who mocks the protagonist for thinking that killing him would have made a difference since he would return to kill Asgore anyway.

• If the protagonist aborted the Genocide Route, Flowey refers to the protagonist by the name of the first human before telling them that this is a "kill-or-be-killed" world.

Either way, Flowey steals the six human SOULs that Asgore reveals before the fight and closes the game. The protagonist leaves the Underground after defeating him.

Asgore's death has a grave impact on the monsters, the outcome of which is further shaped through the protagonist's actions in-game.

True Pacifist Route

Human, for the future of humans and monsters...!

You have to stay determined...!

Asgore

Much like how she stopped Flowey in the beginning, Toriel interrupts the fight with Asgore, stating how awful it is that he could seek to hurt an innocent creature such as the protagonist. She then explains that she intervened to prevent both Asgore and the protagonist from killing each other. While Asgore is ecstatic to see Toriel again, he is saddened when she chastises him for his plan to collect human SOULs, arguing that he could have gone through the Barrier after collecting one SOUL, but instead chose to wait and hope another human never came, which he solemnly agrees with. After that, Undyne, Alphys, Papyrus, and Sans arrive and begin conversing, until Flowey appears.

During the fight against Asriel, Asgore appears as one of the Lost Souls alongside Toriel. After the fight, he is then seen in the epilogue, where he is first available for a conversation along with the other main characters, and later asks the protagonist if they would become the ambassador for monsters to humanity on the surface. Asgore also appears during the True Pacifist Ending Credits, trimming a hedge to the shape of Papyrus's face in front of Toriel's new school.

Genocide Route

Now, now.

There's no need to fight.

Why not settle this...

Over a nice cup of tea?

Asgore

When the protagonist reaches the throne room, Asgore, who was told by Flowey about their arrival, does not recognize the protagonist as a human, asking them what kind of monster they are. The protagonist forcefully initiates combat and depletes his entire HP bar with a single blow. Flowey then returns to land the final hit and destroys his SOUL.

In Battle

For an in-battle description, see Asgore Dreemurr/In Battle.

Relationships

Toriel

Toriel is Asgore's ex-wife. Before they separated, they used to be "insufferable together, nuzzling noses, bein' all cute n' cuddly," as described by Gerson. The two ultimately fell apart after the deaths of their children and Asgore's declaration of war on humanity.

After Toriel's departure, it seems that Asgore greatly missed her presence. A "Room under renovations" sign is put on her room door in Asgore's Home, and multiple crumpled up pie recipes imply that Asgore attempted to recreate the way her pies tasted, though he could never truly replicate it. This is the inverse of Toriel continuously making her pie and only having low-maintenance plants in her home. This is further supported by his reaction to the protagonist eating Toriel's butterscotch-cinnamon pie during Asgore's battle. After being defeated, he tells the protagonist he just wants to see his wife and child again.

When Toriel interrupts the battle between Asgore and the protagonist, she chastises him for his plan to collect human SOULs and even turns him down when he asks her if they can be friends again, which makes him sorrowful. However, after the fight against Asriel, where their SOULs are saved as one, her aggression towards him seems to cool down.

In the True Pacifist Ending, Asgore can be seen trimming the bushes in front of Toriel's school.

Undyne

When Undyne was younger, she met Asgore in person and challenged him to fight. After Asgore defeated her by dodging all her blows, refusing to land his own, he offered to train her. When she finally knocked him down, Asgore was overjoyed, much to the surprise of Undyne. Asgore kept training Undyne until she became the captain of the Royal Guard.

Undyne has knowledge of Asgore's favorite type of tea, and the fact that he often gets marshmallows stuck in his beard when he drinks hot cocoa, implying that he often visits her home.

Asriel

Asriel was Asgore's biological son. Asgore loved him dearly, equally as much as he did the first human. Asriel's habit of using words such as "howdy" and "golly" likely came from his father, as did, potentially, his lack of naming skills, having dubbed his flower form "Flowey."

The First Human

The first human was Asgore's adoptive child, whom he loved just as much as Asriel. Asgore considered them to be "The future of humans and monsters," as is repeated in the Game Over text, the VHS tape of their death, and when sleeping on the bed in Toriel's Home. He may even have believed them to be the Angel of the prophecy, as he also states he thinks the protagonist is the Angel immediately after noting they and the first human have "The same feeling of hope in [their] eyes." In the Genocide Route, Flowey states that despite him trying "hundreds of ways" to get Asgore to show him the human SOULs, and never succeeding, "<Name>... I know he'll do it for YOU."

Trivia

An early silhouette of Asgore that can be seen at the end of the Undertale Kickstarter video.^[12]

• His first name is an anagram of the Latin word "Aegros," which can mean troublesome, anxious, sad, difficult, or reluctant. His last name is an anagram of "murderer" and a misspelling of "dreamer." His full name is also an anagram of "Sage or Murderer" or "Guarder Remorse" (which could be a reference to him guarding the monsters and feeling remorse for murdering human children). Also, Asgore is similar to the old Norse name Asgeirr, meaning "God Spear." This may be a reference to the large trident he wields in battle. "Asgore" is also an anagram of "a gorse". Gorse is a poisonous yellow flower similar to the flowers in his throne room.

• When attempting to name the fallen child "Asgore," the response becomes "You cannot." and prevents the name from being used.

• Asgore's voice can be heard in the Game Over screen, and when the protagonist goes back to sleep in Toriel's Home after sparing her, killing her, or going to sleep enough times. The lines seen here were spoken to the first human on their deathbed.

• Due to the fact that he is a boss monster, Asgore cannot age until his child has grown up to a few years younger in appearance and actual age than the parent. However, because Asgore's son, Asriel, is dead, Asgore cannot age.^[13]

• It is possible that Asgore is the Santa Claus of the Underground that leaves presents under the tree in Snowdin.^[14]

• Asgore has attempted to make the Underground safer on multiple occasions.^[15][16]

• Asgore's overworld sprite features a replica of the Delta Rune laid over his cape and connected to his pauldrons, but the replica is absent from his battle sprite.

• During Asgore's boss battle, he conceals his face by looking downward, showing his reluctance to fight. He is genuinely unable to force himself to look at the protagonist. His attacks are all over the place and only vaguely pointed in the protagonist's direction. Even when he backs out for the swipe attack, he is not actually looking at the protagonist.

• When saving the Lost Souls, the ACTs for Asgore's SOUL are references to the boss battle in the Neutral Route (Mercy, Stare, Talk) which never took place in that timeline.

• Asgore has an UNDERTALE alarm clock app dialogue page. The dialogue reaffirms Asgore's interest in Santa Claus, and Papyrus's friendship with Flowey. Notably, Asgore also mentions his unseen, close friendship with Undertale's parallel of Rudy. While Rudolph Holiday had passed away prior to the game, Asgore expresses happiness that Rudy's daughters are able to see the surface.

See Also

• Asgore Dreemurr article on the Deltarune

References

1. ↑ personal pronunciation for some undertale characters (dont care if u say diff) - Toby Fox (@tobyfox) on Twitter, September 20, 2015. Archived on April 08, 2016.

2. ↑ Golden flower tea... That's ASGORE's favorite kind. - Undyne

3. ↑ Human... I promise you... For as long as you remain here... My wife and I will take care of you as best we can. - Asgore

4. ↑ You naive child... If you leave the RUINS... They... ASGORE... Will kill you. - Toriel

5. ↑ TO REACH THE EXIT, YOU WILL HAVE TO PASS... THROUGH THE KING'S CASTLE. THE KING OF ALL MONSTERS... HE IS... ... WELL... HE'S A BIG FUZZY PUSHOVER!!! - Papyrus

6. ↑ With the power of seven human souls, our king... King ASGORE Dreemurr... ...will become a god. - Undyne

7. ↑ I do not want power. I do not want to hurt anyone. - Asgore

8. ↑ This war has gone on long enough. You have the power... Take my soul, and leave this cursed place. - Asgore

9. ↑ I just wanted everyone to have hope... - Asgore

10. ↑ I just want to see my wife. I just want to see my child. - Asgore

11. ↑ Since everyone knew she was really the brains behind the throne... - Gerson

12. ↑ UnderTale by Toby Fox — Kickstarter

13. ↑ We call 'em Boss Monsters. When they have an offspring, the SOUL power of the parents flows into the child... Causing the child to grow as the parents age. But ASGORE doesn't have a child. So he's been stuck at the same age... And probably will be forever. - Gerson

14. ↑ It's a bureau. There's a Santa Claus outfit inside. - Bureau in Asgore's room.

15. ↑ EACH AREA HAS TO HAVE A PRECARIOUS BRIDGE. IT'S MANDATED BY THE GOVERNMENT. OF COURSE, KING FLUFFYBOY WANTS TO UNMANDATE IT SAFER. WHY!!? WON'T HE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!? - Papyrus

16. ↑ THE KING RELEASED A MANDATE ON PUZZLES RECENTLY. HE THINKS SPIKES ARE INEFFECTIVE AND HAZARDOUS TO KIDS. BUT I THINK HE'S WRONG!!! KIDS LOVE DEADLY SPIKES!!! - Papyrus

Alphys

For the track named after this character, see Alphys (Soundtrack).

Alphys

• Normal

• Date

• Overworld

Character Information

Also known as

Alphy^[1][2]

Alphs

First Appearance

Hotland (Lab)

Relationships

• Undyne (love interest)

• Mettaton (invention/friend)

• Flowey (creation)

• Asgore (boss/previous love interest)

• Sans (friend)

• W. D. Gaster (predecessor)

Leitmotif

Alphys

Ummm...

H-h-hiya!

I'm Dr. Alphys.

I'm ASGORE's royal scientist!

Alphys

Dr. Alphys (/ˈælfiːz/ AL-feez)^[3] is a female, reptilian monster that lives in the lab in western Hotland. She is the incumbent Royal Scientist, a position she was awarded by Asgore after the disappearance of her predecessor.

Profile

Appearance

Alphys is a yellow, reptilian monster of similar height to the protagonist. Her posture is somewhat hunched over. She has yellow scales, claws, and protruding teeth (which seem to vary between two and four depending which way she faces). Her feet have three toes while there are three fingers and a thumb on each of her hands. Her "hair" is designed into points facing the back of her head. She normally wears round glasses and a white lab coat. Her glasses do not cover her eyelashes. However, she wears a polka dot dress on her date with the protagonist.

Personality

Alphys is a nerdy, shy recluse with a fondness for human anime and manga. She has crushes on multiple characters (some mild^[4][5], others more serious^[6]), but struggles to communicate her feelings.

Alphys is filled with guilt and insecurities about herself and her accomplishments. After she accidentally created the Amalgamates while experimenting with determination, she told nobody^[7] and became deeply depressed and remorseful.^[8]

Main Story

Before the events of Undertale, Undyne meets Alphys in the Garbage Dump and they become friends.^[9] Alphys accidentally creates the Amalgamates through experimenting with Determination in hopes of saving monsters that have fallen down. The protagonist is able to encounter them in the True Lab later in the game.

Neutral Route

The protagonist's first encounter with Alphys

Actually, wait, I have an idea

Let's be friends on UnderNet!

Alphys

Alphys initially meets the protagonist in her lab. She explains that she has watched the protagonist throughout their journey using hidden cameras^[10] and adds that she wants to help guide the protagonist through Hotland.^[11]

Alphys explains that a robot she created, Mettaton, wants to kill the protagonist.^[12] Mettaton then bursts through the wall and forces the protagonist into a quiz show; Alphys helps the protagonist by signing the letter of the correct answer with her hands. Mettaton catches on after Alphys excitedly answers a question about her favorite video game,^[13] and Mettaton embarrasses Alphys by asking the protagonist who they think Alphys has a crush on.

After Mettaton's quiz finishes and he flies away, Alphys offers her phone number to the protagonist. She notices that their cell phone is old and quickly upgrades it with features including texting, a key chain, links to two Dimensional Boxes, and access to the UnderNet.^[14] Alphys explains these upgrades and rushes into her lab's "bathroom."

As the protagonist progresses through Hotland, Alphys frequently updates her UnderNet status.^[15] She calls to help the protagonist with puzzles^[16] but dislikes to give them the solutions outright.^[17] Alphys stops posting status updates when she realizes that the protagonist has been reading them the whole time.^[18]

Mettaton antagonizes the protagonist in several deathtraps, but Alphys informs the protagonist of a phone upgrade to aid them in every situation.^[19] If the protagonist fails any of Mettaton's challenges, Alphys blames herself,^[20] and Mettaton helps her out by letting the protagonist go.^[21] Alternatively, Alphys takes some credit if the protagonist succeeds.^[22]

Alphys attempts to guide the protagonist through the CORE but struggles doing so because of the CORE's ever-changing layout.^[23] If the protagonist follows her instructions, they often encounter hostile monsters. If the protagonist does not follow her directions, she worries about their trust in her.^[24]

At the end of the CORE, Mettaton reveals that Alphys inserted herself into the protagonist's journey by creating obstacles for them to overcome together.^[25] While she is locked outside, Alphys instructs the protagonist to turn Mettaton around and flip his switch, making him vulnerable.^[26] After the fight, Alphys unlocks the door and looks at Mettaton's body. If the protagonist spared Mettaton, Alphys is relieved that he just ran out of battery power.^[27] If the protagonist killed Mettaton, Alphys pauses and slowly reassures them not to worry.^[28] She stays with Mettaton's body as the protagonist progresses into the next room.

Alphys catches up with the protagonist before they take the elevator to New Home. She admits that she lied to the protagonist,^[29] and that the protagonist will have to kill Asgore to pass through the barrier.^[30] She then leaves.

True Pacifist Route

Undyne tosses Alphys into a trash can during the date

NGAHHHH!!! NGAHHH!!!!

I'M UNDYNE AND I'M PILING ON THE SMOOCHES!!!

Alphys roleplaying as Undyne

After the protagonist delivers Undyne's Letter to Alphys, Alphys reluctantly goes on a date with the protagonist because she thinks that they wrote the letter.^[31] She changes into a dress and takes the protagonist to the Garbage Dump for their date.

While there, the protagonist and Alphys roleplay to help Alphys open up to Undyne about her feelings.^[32] Undyne overhears them talking about her and approaches. Alphys confesses that she was trying to impress Undyne by making her hobbies sound more scientific,^[33] and Papyrus takes Alphys out for a lesson in self-confidence. Their training ends early and he sends her home.^[34]

True Lab

Alphys's note in front of the True Lab's entrance

Come on, guys.

It's time for everyone to go home.

Alphys, speaking to the Amalgamates

When the protagonist returns to the lab, a note from Alphys lays on the ground in front of the "bathroom." The note directs the protagonist to the True Lab's entrance to discover the truth, in case they do not hear from her again.^[35]

The protagonist learns about Alphys's Determination experiments in the True Lab via consoles on the walls that have her lab entries on them. She isolated determination from the six human SOULs and injected it into monsters who had "fallen down" in an attempt to extend the longevity of their SOULs after death. None of the monsters died, and they were well for a short time before they melted together.

Alphys's lab entries explain that monsters lack the physicality that humans have, and that this is why the monsters fused together; their bodies could not handle high concentrations of determination. She did not tell anyone about the Amalgamates and feared hurting everyone's feelings.^[36]

As the protagonist reaches the power generator, Amalgamates approach and trap them. Alphys stops the Amalgamates and explains that they were "sassy" because they were hungry.^[37] Alphys then tells the protagonist that she had a change of heart and will tell everyone about her failed experimentation.^[38]

She then leaves the lab and returns the Amalgamates to their families.

Alphys also joins Undyne in breaking up the fight between Asgore and the protagonist. Alphys is surprised to see two Boss Monsters,^[39] and comforts Asgore after Toriel rejects his bid of friendship.^[40] Mettaton prompts her and Undyne to kiss,^[41] but Toriel interrupts them from doing so.

Flowey ensnares Alphys along with the protagonist's other friends

Alphys questions how Papyrus knew to call everyone to New Home,^[42] and appears alarmed when Papyrus informs her that "a tiny flower helped [him]."

After Flowey ensnares the protagonist's friends, Alphys encourages the protagonist by stating her faith in them.^[43] Flowey absorbs her SOUL along with the SOULs of every monster in the Underground.

Alphys appears as a Lost Soul during Asriel Dreemurr's battle.

Epilogue

After Alphys regains consciousness, she remembers little about what happened. She tells Asgore and Toriel about her failed experimentation; Toriel fires her.^[44]

After the protagonist wakes up, she discusses her plans to watch anime when they leave for the Surface.^[45] She also helps explain what anime is to Asgore, and asks for Frisk's help in doing so.^[46] Alphys tries to show Asgore anime on her phone but accidentally shows him a picture of robots kissing.^[47]

On the Surface, Alphys joins Undyne, who leaves to check on Papyrus. In the True Pacifist Ending Credits, Alphys relaxes on the beach with Undyne, Lesser Dog, Greater Dog, the Nice Cream Guy, and Onionsan. Undyne kisses her on the cheek, and she faints.

Genocide Route

Alphys told me that she would watch me fight you...

And if anything went wrong, she would... evacuate everyone.

By now she’s called ASGORE and told him to absorb the 6 human SOULs.

And with that power...

This world will live on...!

Undyne the Undying’s last words

After Undyne calls her, Alphys evacuates monsters in Hotland to the True Lab.^[48] However, a few monsters remain, including Muffet and Burgerpants. She does not confront the protagonist directly.^[49]

Relationships

Mettaton

Before the events of Undertale, Mettaton (as a ghost) started a Human Fanclub. The only person who joined was Alphys,^[50] who showed Mettaton designs of a robot she wanted to build for him.

Alphys worries that Mettaton will leave her behind after she finishes his body.^[51] She cares deeply about Mettaton, and would not know what to do if he was gone.^[27]

Alphys disappears in Neutral Route endings where the protagonist killed either Mettaton or Undyne;^[52][53] it is hinted that she may have committed suicide.

Undyne

Alphys has a crush on Undyne, but Alphys fears Undyne finding out the truth if she confesses her feelings. Alphys tries to impress Undyne because she does not want Undyne to think that she is a nerdy loser.^[54] She also names variables after Undyne, writes her name in the margins of her notes, and writes fictions about them sharing a domestic life.^[55]

Alphys shares her love of human anime and manga with Undyne, though Alphys convinces Undyne that anime and manga are actual depictions of human history.^[56]

Together, they hang out at Alphys's lab, where Alphys makes "chilly pink stuff" for Undyne.^[57] Alphys also helped Undyne create some of Waterfall's puzzles.^[58]

On the True Pacifist Route, Alphys and Undyne begin dating, and, in the True Pacifist Ending Credits, Alphys faints after Undyne kisses her on the cheek.

The Protagonist

Guiding you has made me feel...

A lot better about myself.

So... thanks for letting me help you.

Alphys

Alphys admires and supports the protagonist as they travel through the Underground. She watches them via hidden cameras from the moment they leave the Ruins. She attempts to insert herself into the protagonist's journey by creating obstacles in Hotland, but Mettaton later reveals that this was just an attempt to make herself feel better.

She dates the protagonist because she believes that the protagonist wrote Undyne's love letter; Alphys later admits that she has no interest in actually dating the protagonist and was only pretending to go on a date to be nice.^[59]

If the protagonist aborts the Genocide Route in Hotland, however, Alphys holds no positive feelings for the protagonist and says that she should have killed them when she had the chance.^[60]

Asgore

Alphys works for Asgore as the Royal Scientist. She lies to Asgore about creating a SOUL and presents Mettaton as proof of her achievement in an attempt to impress Asgore.^[4]

She tries to do what Asgore asks of her, which leads to the failure of the determination experiments.

Alphys has a crush on Asgore and sometimes refers to him as "Mr. Dreamy." In the epilogue, Alphys comments that she has moved on from Asgore, and adds that she thinks Asgore and Toriel are a cute couple.^[61]

Toriel

Alphys did not know about Toriel until Alphys met her while interrupting Asgore's fight with the protagonist. Even though Toriel fires her as Royal Scientist, Alphys easily befriends Toriel. Alphys also finds her attractive.

When Toriel questions how anyone could flirt with her, Alphys laughs hysterically.^[62] This is a likely reference to the positive fan reception of Toriel after the demo. Alphys also expresses her love of the "Tori and Gorey" ship, adding that she may write a lot of fanfiction about it.^[63]

Bratty and Catty

Alphys used to live on their street.^[64] She was like a big sister to them^[65] and took them on trips to the Garbage Dump to find cool junk. They reveal that Alphys made Mettaton to impress Asgore,^[66] and add that no one has seen Alphys recently.^[67]

Alphys evacuates Bratty and Catty on the Genocide Route.^[68]

Gallery

Alphys's official tarot card as Major Arcana II, "The High Priestess".

The Anime Friends Button Set sold on Fangamer includes an Alphys pin.

Alphys's Little Buddy figurine sold on Fangamer.

Artwork from Undertale's 5th anniversary.

Trivia

• Alphys is an anagram of "shy pal"; this could be where her name came from.

  • It is also possible that Alphys's name was derived from the word "alpha," or the dominant leader of a group. This could allude to her role as the Royal Scientist.

• There is one instance where Undyne uses the possessive case of Alphys, possibly using the nickname "Alphy."^[1]

• When attempting to name the Fallen Human "Alphys," the response becomes "D-Don't do that." and prevents the name from being used. However, naming the fallen human "Alphy" gives a confused "Uh.... OK?" and is allowed.

• It is suggested that Alphys has bad handwriting, as evidenced by a few notes found in particular occasions, such as the note Papyrus leaves with instructions for Snowdin Forest's Multicolor Tile Puzzle. This is a reference to the bad handwriting of many doctors.

  • Illegible handwriting is also implied in the blueprints found in Sans's Workshop, suggesting that Alphys may have written these.

• Alphys's favorite anime, "Mew Mew: Kissy Cutie," may be a reference to Tokyo Mew Mew (also known as Mew Mew Power in North America), a typical magical girl romance anime.

  • Posters in Alphys's lab share design characteristics with Mew Mew Power.

• Before the protagonist enters the True Lab, there is a note in the trash can that reads "I KNOW WHAT YOU DID." Flowey may have written this note to push Alphys to reveal her secrets.

• Alphys is the only major monster in the game who the protagonist cannot fight and, therefore, kill.

  • Alphys's full combat capabilities are unknown. In the True Pacifist Route, she generates a wall of electricity to protect the protagonist's SOUL from Flowey's bullets. In the subsequent battle against Asriel Dreemurr, Alphys's Lost Soul uses some of Mettaton EX's attacks.

• On the True Pacifist Route, Alphys appears in her lab coat before Flowey attacks and absorbs everyone’s SOULs. However, as a Lost Soul, she appears in the dress she wore on her date with the protagonist.

• Alphys may know Sans; dialogue in the epilogue hints at this.^[69]

• In the epilogue, the game she is playing in the beach with Undyne is referred to in the sprites as a Gameboy.

• In the game's strings in the part where the answers to Mettaton's quiz of "who Dr. Alphys has a crush on," it says "LOOLLLL IF YOU CAME TO THIS PART OF THE CODE TO SEE WHO I HAVE A CRUSH ON YOURE OUT OF LUCK." This is a joke hidden in the game's code as Alphys's crush is clearly Undyne, and she is not mentioned in that section of the code.

• According to her Undertale Alarm Clock App page, Alphys has a habit of moving and talking in slow motion when exposed to cold.^[70]

• The artbook reveals that Alphys was originally meant to be male, but Toby Fox quickly grew to dislike that idea, so he changed Alphys to a female by simply adding eyelashes to her design.

See Also

• Alphys article on the Deltarune Wiki.

References

1. ↑

2. ^{Jump up to:}

3. ^{1.0 1.1} Anyways, now I'm working as Alphy's lab assistant. - Undyne in the Neutral Route Family Ending

4. ↑ Naming the Fallen Human Alphy gives the response "Uh.... OK?"

5. ↑ personal pronunciation for some undertale characters (dont care if u say diff) - Toby Fox (@tobyfox) on Twitter, September 20, 2015. Archived on April 08, 2016.

6. ↑

7. ^{Jump up to:}

8. ^{4.0 4.1} WHY WOULD SOMEONE OUTFIT AN AMUSEMENT ROBOT... WITH BRUTAL COMBAT CAPABILITIES? SIMPLE. TO IMPRESS MR. ASGORE DREEMURR, OF COURSE! OR AS ALPHYS CALLS HIM... "MR. DREAMY." - Mettaton

9. ↑ Hey, why didn't you tell me the queen was so cute? - Alphys

10. ↑ UNDYNE!!! I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANY LONGER!!! I'M MADLY IN LOVE WITH YOU!!! HOLD ME, UNDYNE!! HOLD ME!!! - Alphys

11. ↑ the families keep calling me to ask when everyone is coming home. what am i supposed to say? i don't even answer the phone anymore. - Alphys, True Lab ENTRY NUMBER 19

12. ↑ i spend all my time at the garbage dump now it's my element - Alphys, True Lab ENTRY NUMBER 21

13. ↑ That's where I met Alphys for the first time!! I was looking for cool swords, when I saw her... Uh, standing there, staring into the abyss. She looked pretty... Um... ... contemplative. - Undyne

14. ↑ Actually, since you stepped out of the RUINS, I've, um... ...been "observing" your journey through my console. Your fights... Your friendships... Everything! I was originally going to stop you, but... Watching someone on a screen really makes you root for them. - Alphys

15. ↑ S-so, ahhh, now I want to help you! Using my knowledge, I can easily guide you through Hotland! I know a way right to ASGORE's castle, no problem! - Alphys

16. ↑ Anti... anti-human combat features? Of c-course, when I saw you coming, I immediately decided... I have to remove those features! Unfortunately, I may have made a teensy mistake while doing so. And, um... Now he's an unstoppable killing machine with a thirst for human blood? - Alphys

17. ↑ OH! OH! I KNOW THIS ONE!!! IT'S SNAIL ICE CREAM!!!!!!!! IN THE FOURTH CHAPTER EVERYONE GOES TO THE BEACH!!! AND SHE BUYS ICE CREAM FOR ALL OF HER FRIENDS!!!! BUT IT'S SNAIL FLAVOR AND SHE'S THE ONLY ONE WHO WANTS IT!!!!!! - Alphys

18. ↑ It can do texting, items, it's got a key chain... I even signed you up for the underground's No. 1 social network! Now we're officially friends! Ehehehe! - Alphys

19. ↑ ALPHYS updated status. for now i gotta call up the human and guide them =^.^= - Alphys

20. ↑ This p-puzzle is kinda... um... timing- based. Y-you see those switches over there? Y-you'll have to press all three of them within 3 seconds. I'll t-try to help you with the rhythm! - Alphys

21. ↑ I don't really... Like giving away puzzle solutions. But if you need help, just call me, ok? - Alphys

22. ↑ Actually, wait, I have an idea! Let's be friends on UnderNet! Then you can just ping me when you need help! Wait, we're already friends, aren't we? I signed you up, didn't I? You've been reading my posts the whole time... Well! I hope! You agree with me! About Mew Mew 2! - Alphys

23. ↑ F-f-fortunately, I might have a plan! When I was upgrading your phone, I added a few... features. You see that huge button that says... "JETPACK"? - Alphys

24. ↑ N-no...! I must not have added enough fuel! D-darnit... I'm sorry... Even when it's something like this, I... I still...! I still... - Alphys

25. ↑ UNFORTUNATELY, THAT MEANS NO ONE IS WATCHING THIS RIGHT NOW. I'M NOT GOING TO DESTROY YOU WITHOUT A LIVE TELEVISION AUDIENCE!! LOOKS LIKE YOU'VE FOILED ME ONCE AGAIN, THANKS TO THE BRILLIANT DR. ALPHYS!!! - Mettaton

26. ↑ Wow! We... we did it!! We... we really did it!!! Great job out there, team! - Alphys

27. ↑ I work at the CORE. The inside is a maze made of swappable parts... That means we can shuffle the layout at will. - Charles

28. ↑ Why didn't you head to the right...? C-C'mon... Y-you trust me, d-don't you? - Alphys

29. ↑ SO SHE DECIDED TO INSERT HERSELF INTO YOUR STORY. SHE REACTIVATED PUZZLES. SHE DISABLED ELEVATORS. SHE ENLISTED ME TO TORMENT YOU. ALL SO SHE COULD SAVE YOU FROM DANGERS THAT DIDN’T EXIST. ALL SO YOU WOULD THINK SHE’S THE GREAT PERSON... THAT SHE’S NOT. AND NOW, IT’S TIME FOR HER FINEST HOUR. AT THIS VERY MOMENT, ALPHYS IS WAITING OUTSIDE THE ROOM. DURING OUR “BATTLE,” SHE WILL INTERRUPT. SHE WILL PRETEND TO “DEACTIVATE” ME, “SAVING” YOU ONE FINAL TIME. FINALLY. SHE’LL BE THE HEROINE OF YOUR ADVENTURE. YOU’LL REGARD HER SO HIGHLY SHE’LL EVEN BE ABLE TO CONVINCE YOU NOT TO LEAVE. - Mettaton

30. ↑ But, you know how Mettaton always faces f-f-forward? That's because there's a switch on his backside. S-s-so if y-y-you c-c-can turn him around... um... And, umm... press th-th-th-the switch... He'll be... um... He'll be... Vulnerable. - Alphys

31. ↑

32. ^{Jump up to:}

33. ^{27.0 27.1} ...thank GOD, it's just the batteries. Mettaton, if you were gone, I would have... I would have... ... - Alphys

34. ↑ H... hey... D... don't worry about it... I can always... I can always build a different robot! - Alphys

35. ↑ W... Wait! I mean, um... I... I was just going to... ...um... Say goodbye, and... I can't take this anymore. I... I lied to you. - Alphys

36. ↑ If you want to go home... You'll have to take his soul. You'll have to kill ASGORE. - Alphys

37. ↑ Oh my god. Oh no. That's adorable... And I h-had no idea you, um, wrote that way! - Alphys

38. ↑ R... roleplay? ...That actually sounds kind of fun! - Alphys

39. ↑ I... I just wanted to impress you! I just wanted you to think I was smart and cool. - Alphys

40. ↑ ALPHYS AND I FINISHED OUR TRAINING EARLY. VERY EARLY. SO I SENT HER HOME. VERY HOME. - Papyrus

41. ↑ This isn't anyone else's problem but mine. But if you don't ever hear from me again... If you want to know “the truth.” Enter the door to the north of this note. You all at least deserve to know what I did. - Alphys's note

42. ↑ Every day I'm scared... Scared what will happen if people learn the truth on their own. They'll all get hurt because of me.. - Alphys

43. ↑ Sorry about that... They get kind of sassy when they don't get fed on time. - Alphys

44. ↑ Now, I've changed my mind about all this. I'm going to tell everyone what I've done. It's going to be hard. Being honest... Believing in myself... - Alphys

45. ↑ Uh, h-h-hi! (THERE'S TWO OF THEM???) - Alphys

46. ↑ Y-yeah, ASGORE!! Undyne's totally right about that fish thing! S-sometimes you've just got to, uh... S-stop going after furry boss monsters and, uh... J-just get to know a really cute fish...? - Alphys

47. ↑ OH MY GOD! WILL YOU TWO JUST SMOOCH ALREADY!? THE AUDIENCE IS DYING FOR SOME ROMANTIC ACTION!! - Mettaton

48. ↑ Papyrus... YOU called everyone here, right? Well, besides, uh, her. Uh, anyway... If I got here before you... How did you know how to call everybody? - Alphys

49. ↑ Technically, it's impossible for you to beat him... B-but... Somehow, I know you can do it!! - Alphys

50. ↑ I heard Dr. Alphys told the king and queen the awful things she'd done. The king felt so bad that he didn't know. He gave her a big hug. Then the queen fired her. Now we don't have a Royal Scientist anymore... - Politics Bear

51. ↑ No, I should be honest!! I'm gonna stay inside and watch anime like a total loser! - Alphys

52. ↑ (Oh My God?) (Frisk. Please.) (Help me explain what anime is to Asgore.) - Alphys

53. ↑ Asgore: “Golly. Were those two robots...”
    Undyne: “...kissing?”
    Asgore: “Boy! Technology sure is something, isn't it?”
    - Asgore and Undyne after Alphys shows Asgore her phone

54. ↑ But when Undyne called, with crazed desperation in her voice... I... I realized I had to do something. Even if it meant everybody would... Have to learn the truth about me. It's strange. You know? Even after all the bad things I did. People treated me like a hero. - Alphys, Neutral Route ending

55. ↑ DECIDING NOT TO FIGHT YOU. MY MY, SHE REALLY IS THE ONLY SMART ONE, ISN'T SHE? - Mettaton

56. ↑ Last week I posted that advertisement for my Human Fanclub. Today was our first meeting. Only one other person came. - Mettaton, diary entry in his house

57. ↑ now that mettaton's made it big, he never talks to me anymore. ...except to ask when i'm going to finish his body. but i'm afraid if i finish his body, he won't need me anymore... then we'll never be friends ever again. - Alphys, True Lab ENTRY NUMBER 11

58. ↑ SHE STILL BLAMES YOU... FOR THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ASGORE. AND ALPHYS' DISAPPEARANCE AS WELL. SHE'S NOT VERY HAPPY. SHE SAYS THINGS LIKE... "I COULDN'T PROTECT HER... IT'S HARD TO GET HER TO DO ANYTHING NOW. I EVEN SUGGESTED WE TRY TO GET REVENGE ON YOU. YOU KNOW, SO I COULD SEE YOU AGAIN. BUT SHE JUST LOOKED AT ME AND SAID... REVENGE WON'T BRING ANYBODY BACK. - Papyrus, Betrayed Undyne Ending with Mettaton dead

59. ↑ REALLY THOUGH. I REALIZED I WAS... NOT THE GREATEST TO HER. SO I WENT TO APOLOGIZE. AND, TO ASK HER TO HELP ME RULE. BUT I COULDN'T FIND HER. TRUST ME. I LOOKED. - Mettaton, Mettaton Neutral Route ending

60. ↑ I just wanted you to think I was smart and cool. That I wasn't some... nerdy loser. - Alphys

61. ↑ SHE SCRAWLS HER NAME IN THE MARGINS OF HER NOTES. SHE NAMES PROGRAMMING VARIABLES AFTER HER. SHE EVEN WRITES STORIES OF THEM TOGETHER... SHARING A DOMESTIC LIFE. - Mettaton Quiz Show

62. ↑ Alphys's history books made me think humans were cool... ...with their giant robots and flowery swordswomen. - Undyne

63. ↑ Now this chilly pink stuff that Alphys makes me... THAT rules!!! - Undyne

64. ↑ Alphys helped measure out the mud tiles for this puzzle. It was a lot of work, but we got to make sand castles after. We're a good team. She's great at building them... And I'm great at wrecking them!! - Undyne

65. ↑ I'm sorry. I j-just figured, y-you know... It'd be f-fun to go on like, a cute, kind of... Pretend date with you? T-to make you feel better? Well, it sounds even worse when I put it like that. - Alphys

66. ↑ You know. Just daydreaming here. But... I really should have killed you when I had the chance. - Alphys

67. ↑ Just think about how cute they must have been together. It's quickly becoming my number one ship of all time. Tori and Gorey... - Alphys

68. ↑ Ehehe... Ehehehe... AHA! AHAHAH! HA!! HA!!! Oh, Toriel. You have NO idea. - Alphys

69. ↑ A woman can dream though, right? And write fanfiction. A LOT of fanfiction. - Alphys

70. ↑ Oh my God. Alphys. She used to live on our street. - Bratty

71. ↑ Oh my god, ALPHYS. She was like a big sister. - Catty

72. ↑ Bratty: So, like, I'm pretty sure she...
    Catty: Made Mettaton to, like, totally impress him.
    Bratty: A robot with a SOUL...
    Catty: That's, like, SUPER relevant to his hobbies!
    - Bratty and Catty

73. ↑ Catty: But nobody's, like, seen anything from her yet.
    Bratty: Or... her at all...
    Catty: She must, like, just stay in her lab all day.
    Bratty: Like, live a little, girl.
    - Bratty and Catty

74. ↑ Alphys just came here and she's taking us... Someplace super duper safe! - Note at Bratty and Catty's store

75. ↑ WAIT, ALPHYS, I DIDN'T KNOW YOU KNEW SANS. - Papyrus

76. ↑ Umm, I'm not really a huge fan of winter. The days getting shorter is a huge let-down. Plus, wh-when I get cold, I tend to, um... Start moving and talking... in... slow motion... - Alphys, Undertale Alarm Clock App

Mettaton

VIEW SOURCE

Mettaton

• Normal

• EX

• EX Hurt

• NEO

• NEO Hurt

• Overworld

• Overworld EX

Character Information

Also known as

• HAPPSTABLOOK (Papyrus's headcanon name)

• Hapstablook (room name for his house within the game files)

• MTT (acronym, often used referring to his brand)

First Appearance

Hotland (Lab)

Relationships

• Napstablook (cousin)

• Mad Dummy / Mad Mew Mew (possible cousin)

• Dummy (possible cousin)

• Alphys (creator/friend)

• Burgerpants (employee)

Leitmotif

Metal Crusher, Showtime, Hotel, Oh!

Battle Information

I'M NOT GOING TO DESTROY YOU WITHOUT A LIVE TELEVISION AUDIENCE!!

Mettaton

Mettaton is a robot with a SOUL and was built by Alphys. Initially poised as an entertainment robot turned human killing robot, Mettaton is later revealed to have only acted as such so that Alphys could rescue the protagonist, feel important and become closer to them. Mettaton is the sole television star of the Underground.

Profile

Appearance

Initial Form

Mettaton making a "number 1" symbol

Mettaton originally appears as a gray, largely rectangular box with a 4x5 grid of rectangular lights at the top, similar to the mechanism in Snowdin Forest used for Papyrus's Tile Puzzle. The grid of lights can change colors between red, yellow, green, and blue, and Mettaton uses these color changes in place of facial expressions. He has four dials along the bottom of his body, and the bottom, he has a single leg which ends in a wheel. He has two segmented robotic arms which end in white gloves.

Mettaton EX

After having the switch on his back flipped in the Neutral or True Pacifist Route, Mettaton transforms into Mettaton EX; a new body he specially requested Alphys make for him. In this humanoid form, he has black hair with a long fringe that seems to cover his right eye, pale "skin" and visible metal segments below and above his left eye.

He has a pink chest piece, a narrow metallic waist with a box contraption, and black shoulder pads above his segmented arms, which end in gloves. The chest piece has what appear to be a speaker and some knob or gauge, while the waist has two parts that seem to act as a locking mechanism that holds his "heart-shaped core," as they both lose white pixels during his "heart-to-heart" attack. His long black-clad legs end in pink high-heeled boots.

Mettaton NEO

After being confronted by the protagonist on the Genocide Route, Mettaton transforms into Mettaton NEO, which resembles Mettaton EX, but has a more combat-oriented design, however Mettaton NEO can be killed by a single attack and has no attacks of his own.

His right forearm is replaced by what appears to be a cannon, pauldrons clad his shoulders, which are shaped like legs and are longer than his arms, and he has wings on his back. The soul on his waist points upwards in a more monster-like manner, and he has a heart shape engraved on his chest plate like Undyne the Undying, also mimicking the Delta Rune in the same ways. His hair on the right side is spiked out, revealing an entirely black segment of his face, with a sparkle or crosshair in place of his right eye.

Personality

Mettaton is a confident, charismatic, and charming TV host that loves drama, action, and violence. He lives for his ratings and adores performing. He supposedly strikes a pose when he does something wrong and makes time on his various shows to beat up "heel-turning villains." He shows a rather shallow appreciation for existence at times. He has a strong craving for attention and is very egotistical for the point of narcissism, such as boasting about the beauty of his true form. However, despite his seemingly narcissistic personality, he deeply cares about the seemingly positive impact his show has had on the inhabitants of the Underground. He has also shown soft spots for several characters, such as Alphys and Napstablook. He also appears to be among the fewer characters in the Underground that has no hate or prejudice against humans despite knowing about the monsters' history with them, since his initial attempts to kill the protagonist were just him playing along with Alphys's plan, and he outright tells the protagonist he has no desire to hurt humans and is far more interested in simply entertaining. While he did attempt to kill the protagonist, it was to prevent Asgore from taking their SOUL and be seen as a hero/savior to humankind, further emphasizing his lack of prejudice. On the flip side, he has also been noted to be a very demanding boss who is very unpleasant to work for, especially according to Burgerpants, who initially considered working for him a dream, but has since grown to strongly despise him.

Main Story

Neutral Route

When meeting Alphys in the Lab, the protagonist is warned about a machine that she had created a long time ago, Mettaton. Alphys describes it as a robot that was made to be a TV star but recently had anti-human combat features added as a way of making him more useful.

Mettaton with his arm up and displaying the letter M

Immediately after this warning, Mettaton bursts through the wall (noted to be only a few feet wide, indicating that he was lying in wait for the protagonist for some time) and forces the protagonist into a deadly quiz show.

Quiz Show

Mettaton "laughing." Note that his microphone is missing

Mettaton asks a series of multiple-choice questions that must be answered correctly within several seconds (the number says 30, but goes down approximately two numbers per second, giving only 15 seconds to answer). If incorrectly answered or not answered within the time limit, Mettaton fires an unavoidable electric shock that halves the protagonist's health. In spite of this, it is impossible to die during this quiz show. Alphys on the top right gives answers via hand motion; realizing this, Mettaton chooses to humiliate her by quizzing the protagonist on the identity of her unrequited love interest. Regardless of the protagonist's choice, Mettaton ultimately departs, concluding that the quiz show has lost all dramatic tension.

Cooking with a Killer Robot

As the protagonist journeys through Hotland, Mettaton entraps them in deadly pastiches of various media genres. First, he forces the protagonist to become his assistant in a cooking show where Mettaton is preparing a cake with a human SOUL as the main ingredient, and he attempts to kill the protagonist with a chainsaw to attain it. Alphys calls in as an interruption and suggests that some viewers may be vegan in an attempt to stop Mettaton from harvesting the protagonist's SOUL as an ingredient, so instead, Mettaton points towards a human SOUL-flavored substitute on top of a faraway cupboard.

Mettaton applauding the protagonist

However, the cupboard begins to shoot up from the ground rapidly, forcing the protagonist to use the jetpack feature previously installed on their phone by Alphys. They fly to the top and retrieve the substitute within a time limit set by Mettaton while he drops eggs, flour, and milk, all of which slow the protagonist's ascent.

• If the protagonist reaches the substitute within the time limit, Mettaton states, like all cooking shows, he had already baked the cake ahead of time before leaving.

• If they fail, Mettaton suddenly claims the show is on commercial break and refuses to kill them as there are currently no viewers.

Either way, he comments that he was foiled yet again by Alphys. Upon interacting with the substitute after this encounter, it shows the can was stuck to the table, so the protagonist would not have been able to get the substitute given the chance.

showCooking Show Quotes

MTT News

Secondly comes a breaking news segment, in which Mettaton asks the protagonist to report on one of the several items within a room ( a dog, a video game, a movie script, a basketball, a present, and a seemingly normal glass of water), which all turn out to be bombs hidden by Mettaton. Mettaton then scatters the bombs around the area, and the protagonist is forced to find and defuse all of them with one of Alphys's phone installments before a larger bomb in the center of the room goes off.

• If the protagonist defuses all the bombs in time, Mettaton declares that the bomb now explodes in two seconds instead of two minutes.

• If the protagonist has not disabled all the bombs until ten seconds before the big bomb explodes, the time slows substantially.

• If the protagonist has not disabled all the bombs before time expires, Mettaton states that the protagonist failed to disarm them all within three minutes. However, even factoring in the slower passage of time through the last ten "seconds" of play, the total amount of time given to defuse the bombs still amounts to under three minutes.

Regardless of whether the bombs were defused or not, Alphys hacks the big bomb and disables it.

showBomb Defusal Quotes

During the news segment, a ticker at the bottom of the screen reports the following news.

showNews Ticker Quotes

UNDERTALE the Musical

Mettaton in a dress during the musical segment

Thirdly and finally, Mettaton traps the protagonist within a musical, where Mettaton sings about a forbidden love between him, a monster; and the protagonist, a human. He mentions how sad it is that they must be sent to the dungeon, before opening a trapdoor underneath them into a room with a colored tile puzzle. Mettaton announces that the protagonist must pass the colored tile puzzle within a set time before a line of flame comes at them from the side and burns them to death.

• If the protagonist manages to complete the puzzle, Mettaton deactivates the flames "knowing" that Alphys would have done so.

• If the protagonist fails, the flames draw near, only for Alphys to disable them.

  • If the protagonist has stepped on a green tile, Mettaton reminds them that the tile signals a monster, which turns out to be Mettaton himself.

  • If the protagonist has not stepped on a green tile, Mettaton repeatedly says "well" before acknowledging that the protagonist never stepped on a green tile, but still fights them.

Mettaton proceeds to engage the protagonist in battle after the tile puzzle. However, Alphys has one final installment on the phone she had given to the protagonist. This yellow button fires a projectile at Mettaton, which the protagonist can use in succession. Mettaton acts like he is defeated from such projectile and flees. If the protagonist does not activate yellow mode, Mettaton attacks with boxes until the protagonist has barely any health left.

showMulticolor Tile Puzzle Quotes

End of CORE Encounter

After the protagonist reaches the end of the CORE, they are once more confronted by Mettaton. This time, however, Mettaton reveals that he had re-arranged the CORE and hired monsters so as to attempt to kill the protagonist legitimately. He states that Alphys had set up an extensive plan to self-insert herself into the story because she liked the protagonist so much and wanted to feel important by helping them. All of the previous threats from Mettaton were entirely fake, and everything was acted out, and used by Alphys to ally herself further with the protagonist; Alphys plans to intervene in the fight between Mettaton and the protagonist by "deactivating" Mettaton and thus appearing heroic to them. This time, however, Mettaton has made plans to prevent Alphys's aid, so that he could have an actual battle against the protagonist, and locks the door to prevent Alphys from entering. He explains that he wants to take their SOUL so that he can leave the Underground and become a superstar on the Surface. This way, Asgore cannot destroy the Barrier and re-ignite the war between humans and monsters, which would take a toll on his views.

Mettaton EX

If you flipped my switch, that can only mean one thing.

You're desperate for the premiere of my new body.

How rude...

Lucky for you, I've been aching to show this off for a long time.

So... as thanks, I'll give you a handsome reward.

I'll make your last living moments...

ABSOLUTELY beautiful!

Mettaton after his transformation

Mettaton's overworld wreck sprite, if he's killed

Mettaton lacking his arms

Mettaton attacks the protagonist, but under the advice of Alphys, the protagonist tricks Mettaton into turning around so that they can flip the switch on his back to make him vulnerable. This switch transforms Mettaton into Mettaton EX and begins the true game show. By taking damage, using popular brand items, or using specific ACTs to raise the Ratings of the show to above 10 000 (or 12 000, if he still has legs), Mettaton stops the battle.

To his surprise, this is the highest-rated episode he has ever had and begins to take call-ins from viewers. Several callers, the first of which is Napstablook, convince Mettaton that he is highly valued in the Underground, and is the primary (perhaps only) source of entertainment that many of the inhabitants have. He is moved by their passion for the show and decides that he no longer wishes to leave the Underground, as well as explaining that the protagonist is strong enough to defeat Asgore. He then deactivates, limbless – whether his limbs fell off during the battle or not – as he runs out of battery power; his body can later be found in the Lab where he is undergoing repairs. Alphys then manages to unlock the door and assess Mettaton EX's state, being thankful that he was simply out of power. She acts very stressed at the thought of Mettaton being truly killed.

Mettaton's deactivated body after being spared

If Mettaton EX is killed, he reverts to his old Mettaton form in the world, though visibly severely damaged. Examining the wreck warrants the description "It's completely trashed."

Mystery Key

If the protagonist purchases the Mystery Key from Bratty and Catty, they can enter the house to the right of Napstablook's. The room is primarily pink, with a bed, a star-patterned pillow, star-patterned wallpaper, a pink TV, a window, and a star imprinted rug. Through a series of diaries, the house is shown to be owned by another ghost known as "Napstablook's cousin" within the game (though Papyrus states that his headcanon name for him was "Happstablook", and the room name of his house is room_water_hapstablook). After meeting Alphys, she designed a body for Mettaton to inhabit.

Using the Mystery Key during Mettaton EX's fight prompts him to pretend "it isn't there."

True Pacifist Route

Mettaton, as seen in the True Pacifist Ending Credits

In the True Lab, there is a log entry stating that Alphys fears that Mettaton may not talk to her anymore after receiving his new body due to his attachment to fame.

At the end of the game, when all of the Monsters encountered as bosses have united before Flowey intervenes, Mettaton EX shows his leg from the right side of the screen. He tells Alphys and Undyne that they should kiss already since the entire crowd wants it.

Epilogue

After defeating Asriel, if the protagonist returns to Waterfall before exiting New Home, Mettaton is seen standing outside his old house, having recruited Napstablook as his sound mixer and Shyren as his backup singer. During the credits, he is shown on tour, able to use his original box form in conjunction with his new body's legs.

showTrue Pacifist Ending Epilogue Quotes

Genocide Route

OH? HOW SASSY.

YOU'RE JUST ITCHING TO GET YOUR HANDS ON ME, AREN'T YOU?

WELL, T-O-O B-A-D!

THIS WORLD NEEDS STARS MORE THAN IT NEEDS CORPSES!

TOODLES!

Mettaton in the Lab on the Genocide Route

Mettaton shows up in Alphys's Lab and tells the protagonist that he will not battle them, knowing that he is no match for them. He shows up at the CORE and realizes that the protagonist means not only to kill monsters but all of humanity as well. Claiming his original functions as a human eradication robot were never fully removed, he transforms into Mettaton NEO. Despite all the buildup, he has no attacks, and the protagonist can destroy him in a single attack. Killing him sets the protagonist's EXP to 50 000, resulting in their LOVE reaching 19.

Contrary to popular belief, missing or inflicting low damage on Mettaton NEO does not fail a Genocide Route. Any attack deals between 900 000 and 999 999 damage, and a MISS simply causes the game to return to the battle screen.

The only way for Mettaton NEO to say that the protagonist was "holding back" is by failing to depopulate Hotland. Mettaton points out the protagonist's lack of killing intent, telling them that they are not "absolutely evil" before dying. This event aborts the Genocide Route and leads to the Alphys Ending of the Neutral Route.

In Battle

For an in-battle description, see Mettaton/In Battle.

Relationships

The Protagonist

Initially, Mettaton actively antagonized the protagonist under the assumption his human eradication functions along with directive errors gave him an intensified hate for humans and a need to murder them. This was proven to be an act, however, as Mettaton mentions loving humanity, but continued to go against the protagonist on his terms to take their SOUL and prevent a possible war by Asgore. After their battle, however, he was confident the protagonist was strong enough to avoid this themselves.

Alphys

Mettaton initially bonded over their common interest in the culture of humanity, and he is grateful of Alphys for making his physical body. Soon after he receives his initial body, he often belittles her and her interests. However, he owed Alphys enough to play along with her plan to act out the role of a malfunctioning robot before eventually going on his agenda with the protagonist. Despite this, in the ending where he is given the role as king, he mentions how he regrets being cruel to her before she went missing.

Napstablook

Before he got his body, he was Napstablook's cousin, helping them with the snail farm and living next-door to them. They seemed very close, to the point that Mettaton originally declared that he would never leave them behind and often called them Blooky (an alias he would keep). Although he had since left them for stardom, he obviously cared for his cousin, looked regretful when Napstablook called into the program to give gratitude for his show ever since he left. Once he had his permanent new body, he immediately recruited his cousin on his tour so they could stay together.

Trivia

• If "Metta", "Mett" (case insensitive) or "MTT" is typed for the fallen child's name, the response becomes "OOOOH!!! ARE YOU PROMOTING MY BRAND?" and allows the name to be used.

• The name "Mettaton" can be interpreted and decoded into various different forms:

  • "Mettaton" is similar in pronunciation and spelling to "Metatron," the highest angel in Judeo-Islamic lore, also known as the Voice of God and Recording Angel, whose name is transliterated into Greek as MTT. This could be a reference to Shin Megami Tensei's Metatron specifically, as both have metallic appearances, have similar poses, and are very powerful late-game bosses.

  • The name could also be a combination of "metal" and "automaton" or "zettaton."

  • "Mettaton" may be a portmanteau of "Meta" and "ton," as Mettaton offers many instances of meta-commentary on the structure of Undertale. Examples include referencing the viewer if one picks "Don't Know" for Alphys's crush question during the quiz show, his words turning into bombs in the news report, changing the window name during his musical segment, mentioning room numbers before his colored tile maze, discussing Toriel plushies in the epilogue and offering a newscast to the fourth wall while the protagonist is visible on-screen.

• Mettaton's designs show similarities to Undyne's forms.

  • Mettaton EX has shoulder pads similar to Undyne's, both of which are longer and spikier in the Genocide Route.

  • Both have one of their eyes covered in the Neutral and True Pacifist Routes (Undyne with her left eye covered, and Mettaton with his right). In the Genocide Route, these are revealed, showing Mettaton NEO's sparkling/crosshair eye and Undyne the Undying's empty socket that frequently emits a spear-shaped flash of light.

    • Notably, Mettaton NEO can be encountered in an aborted Genocide Route (Alphys Ending, Near Genocide) unlike Undyne the Undying.

  • Both of their forms on the Genocide Route feature hearts on their chest pieces.

  • Both of their battles on the Genocide Route feature the Battle Against a True Hero leitmotif.

  • Undyne holds a spear in her right hand, and Mettaton NEO has an arm cannon replacing his right hand.

• Mettaton's design is also similar to other characters not belonging to Undertale.

  • Mettaton's box form resembles the coin-operated robot Cooker from the Wallace and Gromit short "A Grand Day Out," as confirmed by the artbook.

  • Mettaton is at least partially inspired by Twitter user nerdbotmk2.^[1]

• Mettaton may be inspired by the character of TV Dinnah from the 2009 video game Little King's Story, another TV presenter boss fight who wants to cook the protagonist on a cooking show and gives them a life-or-death quiz. TV Dinnah also somewhat resembles Mettaton's box form. Little King's Story was directed and produced by Yoshiro Kimura, whom Toby Fox has praised in-person during an interview for creating games that inspired Undertale.^[2]

• In his box form, Mettaton's overworld sprite has five squares under the main screen, while his battle sprite only has 4.

• Out of every character in the game, Mettaton has the most songs associated with him at 14 songs (15 if CORE is counted).

• Along with Flowey, Mettaton is one of the only characters in the game to have a voice clip, exclaiming "Oh, yes!" when he transforms into Mettaton EX, and "Yeah!" when attacked in his Mettaton EX form or when the protagonist steps on a green tile in the Multicolor Tile Puzzle.

• The video game found during the MTT News scene is heavily implied to be Undertale. It is graphically similar to the Undertale box cover and uses the same sprite as the game behind Mysterious Door that was programmed by the dog. Mettaton states that his appearance doesn't occur until three-fourths of the way through the game and that the game is one where the player should check everything twice if checked twice (referencing the dialogue changing in the game if something is checked or spoken to twice.)

• Several unused sprites for Mettaton EX's head show his right eye, and what appears to be the machinery on his face.^[3]

• The answer choices to the question What are robots made out of? in his quiz show have several references.

  • "Hopes&Dreams" references the track "Hopes and Dreams," among other recurring mentions of this phrase.

  • "Snips&Snails" and "Sugar&Spice" are references to the nursery rhyme "What Are Little Boys Made Of?"

• Mettaton's box form is identical to the console that operates the colored tile maze in Snowdin Forest, and this machine may have been Mettaton himself; during his colored tile maze, Mettaton remarks that the protagonist has seen the puzzle "ABOUT A HUNDRED ROOMS AGO" and presumes that they remember the rules.

• During Mettaton's singing performance to the protagonist, the program window is renamed to "UNDERTALE the Musical."

  • The song and the scenario from the musical are a reference to the "Maria and Draco" opera from Final Fantasy VI.^[4]

• Mettaton EX recognizes answers for "sexy," "foxy," and "tantalizing" in his essay question, but since the X and Z keys cannot be inputted without holding CTRL, they are only possible inputs in the PlayStation and Nintendo Switch versions.^[5][6]

• Mettaton EX originally saved images of all the essays to the computer's hard drive. This feature was removed for being too buggy.^[7]

• According to the Undertale Kickstarter, there were originally plans for the protagonist to have a robot husband, which is presumed to be Mettaton.^[8] This feature ended up being cut out of the final version of the game for unknown reasons.^[9] Additional evidence that points to this event is an unused variation of the Start Menu that can be found in the game's files and explains why the full menu suddenly includes Mettaton and Napstablook.

• In Undertale v1.001, Mettaton's stats for his box form have been changed from "10 ATK 999 DEF" to "ATK 30 DEF 255." 255 is the maximum value of an unsigned 8-bit integer, and is often the maximum value possible for things in video games.

• The Mettaton EX fight, according to Toby, was the hardest one for him to design.^[10] There were many attack ideas for the Mettaton EX fight that were never used, such as more tiny Mettaton robots, and disco dancing robots that threw stars.^[11][12][13]

• Mettaton EX slightly resembles Bob Sparker and was inspired by the character.

• Based off of old official artwork by Temmie Chang it is likely that Mettaton was originally intended to have claw hands.^[14][15]

References

1. ↑ @NerdbotMk2 @fridayafternoon I won't lie if I said I wasn't thinking about you a lil when I put him in - @FwugRadiation on Twitter, September 22, 2015. Archived on November 07, 2015.

2. ↑ 『moon』は日本語版しかないので、僕の日本語がもっと上達するなり、英語版が出るなりしないと完全にはやり込めないんですが、 “勇者が悪役”ということや、 “モンスターは必ずしも悪者ではない”というゲームのコンセプト自体に感銘を受けました。 - 『UNDERTALE』トビー・フォックス×『東方』ZUN×Onion Games木村祥朗鼎談──自分が幸せでいられる道を進んだらこうなった──同人の魂、インディーの自由を大いに語る (October 19, 2018.) 電ファミニコゲーマー.

3. ↑ Sprites "spr_mettface_defeated_" 9 through 11. Imgur

4. ↑ Final Fantasy VI Adv: Oh, Maria - YouTube

5. ↑ Question about Mettaton's Essay - Reddit

6. ↑ Undertale - The Cutting Room Floor

7. ↑ Originally Mettaton actually saved images of all of your essays to the hard drive. But it was buggy so I removed it. - @FwugRadiation on Twitter, January 12, 2016. [deleted]

8. ↑ "Seriously, you can literally have a robot husband." – Toby Fox. June 24, 2013. Kickstarter.

9. ↑ "After 2.5 years... some critical features promised in the KS changed. Example: I said you could marry a robot. Actually, you can't marry a robot." – Toby Fox. June 30, 2015. Kickstarter.

10. ↑ I think the Mettaton battle was actually the hardest one for me to design. I made a lot of bullet objects/attack ideas I didn't use since the action is "shooting," the action of "aiming&shooting" had to be important. But shooting&aiming in shmups (like Touhou) is often not actually about "aim&fire!" but "hold down the shoot button and position yourself under the enemy" for the most part. - Toby Fox (@tobyfox) on Twitter, June 13, 2016.

11. ↑ I don't remember all the unused attacks but I wanted to have more tiny mettaton robots besides the umbrella ones that blow kisses - Toby Fox (@tobyfox) on Twitter, June 13, 2016.

12. ↑ There was a disco dancing one that threw stars but it wasn't fun. I think that's it. - Toby Fox (@tobyfox) on Twitter, June 13, 2016.

13. ↑ All of Mettaton EX's unused attacks restored (Undertale) - YouTube

14. ↑ hooray!! we reached 51k!! Thank you all so much for your contributions and interest!! - temmiechang on Tumblr, July 25, 2013.

15. ↑ (undertale spoilers!!!!) look at what @tuyoki made me 2 years ago for my birthday that i've been sitting on until now - @FwugRadiation on Twitter, October 11, 2015. [delete