(Major Spoilers) Undertale and the 12 Jungian Archetypes
This post is the reason I created this blog. Here goes.
Wants to belong | Empathetic | May lose self
The game makes it pretty clear that Frisk is Frisk on the pacifist route. They, when allowed to be themselves by the Player, interact in a kind, open-minded and compassionate way with the monsters. The route ends with a choice between staying and going - it’s made clear that Frisk belongs in both worlds and could be happy in both. Their merciful actions are obviously empathetic and while they’re not necessarily a literal orphan, they are separated from their original home. But they aren’t in total control, and can lose themselves to what you demand.
Wants to help others | Fears ingratitude | Compassionate
Mama Goat wants nothing but to take care of you, raise you to be happy and safe, look after you and stop you getting hurt. What she fears, of course, is you not appreciating what she can offer you, and leaving her and her safety net to put yourself in danger - or worse, killing her on your way out. She still loves you, and forgives you, and tries to understand. Despite everything, she won’t hurt you, and if you manage to die in the fight against her, she’s horrified.
Wants to be happy | Optimistic/faithful | May be naive
Papyrus believes in you no matter what route you’re on. Papyrus is kind to you even if you’re a soulless murderer pretending at humanity. He won’t hurt you: it’s possible to die when fighting Toriel, if you try - not Papyrus. Papyrus is the only monster in the game who is literally incapable of killing you. If you kill Papyrus, you are 100% guilty and the game does not let you forget it. He’ll encourage you to be a better person even after you’ve beheaded him.
Seeks enjoyment | Cheerful, funny | Frivolous
Sans is a complex character and this is perhaps a little reductive, but ultimately I think Sans depends on his life being light work. He hates acting; he hates responsibility; he hates having to step in when everything’s about to end, because he’s the only one left. His comedian personality might be a front, and I do think you can interpret him as depressed, but I think it’s also a coping mechanism. His love of puns and bad jokes is undeniable and he obviously has fun with his bro. For whatever reason, he doesn’t want things to be serious.
Wants to prove self | Courageous, competent | May be arrogant/restless
This is unambiguous. The game refers to Undyne as a heroine several times. She’s the one who goes ‘SCREW IT!’ before starting a fight; she can’t help herself. And obviously she’s courageous and competent. She can suplex boulders. She does, just because she can, because she’s powerful and she wants to show it. And as Undyne the Undying…well, she just won’t give in. She’s literally filled with determination.
Seeks relationships | Fears rejection | Passionate, committed
Passion and commitment are the most obvious: Alphys’s love of science and anime are so powerful she pretty much can’t help herself. The DVD you find in the dump has 'desperate’ claw marks, after all. Her love of anime is such that people have even read it as a special interest and sign of autism, which I think is pretty convincing. Beyond that, the whole MO of Alphys on a non-Genocide route is to make herself needed so that you like her, and she takes terrible actions if she feels like she’s lost what she craved. And finally, naturally, she has three crushes (and seemingly a platonic one on Frisk), and falls in love.
Wants to achieve vision | Fears failure | May develop bad solutions
Goat Dad, Rabbit King. He’s not a bad guy but he has a goal and he’s striving to reach it, and he’s doing something he hates for its sake because his drive and self-sacrifice is that strong. The solution is a bad one, and several endings show the monster population can be happy in the Underground, but he’s doing what he thinks is best to reach the aim that pushes him on.
Seeks enlightenment | Wise/intelligent | May never act
Oh Napstablook. They lie on the floor and feel like garbage, but see the galaxy. They pull the blind down on the apocalypse and it’s probably the best thing to do in that situation. Napstablook is smart enough to evade a Genocidal player, but spends too much of their time feeling worthless to do anything.
Wants fulfilment | Fears being stifled | True to self
I don’t think any character is as unabashedly themselves as Mettaton. Leaving home to pursue his dreams, he cut off his previous connections. He wanted a corporeal form, he got one. He wanted limbs, he got them. He’s larger than life and chasing his dream of fame and admiration. Even his anti-human programming comes second to his celebrity career, as shown multiple times - it’s impossible to fail at any of his TV shows, and you can spare him by boosting his ratings. Mettaton’s got his dream and nobody’s gonna stop him.
Wants power | Fears chaos | Controlling
As Flowey says to Chara on the Genocide route, he has a plan - to absorb the souls and gain power. He wants his SAVE and RESET back - he doesn’t like not being in control. He manipulates the timelines for his own fun, kills people from boredom, whispers to Papyrus in his sleep just because he likes messing with people. And of course when things start going wrong for him, he’s the first to flip the hell out and throw everything he has at Frisk/the player. Without Toriel’s intervention he would’ve killed Frisk before they’d even gotten to their feet after falling.
Revolutionary | Radical, convicted | May be disruptive/corrupted
Chara is the reason everything happened, changing the entire monster population and setting the backstory of the game in motion from their first, potentially deliberate, fall. Single-minded massacre is obviously a radical drive, and extremely disruptive not just to the monster world, but also to Frisk. Chara is at war with all of existence. Finally, sympathetic interpretations suggest the Player is still ultimately responsible for the genocide and for allowing Chara to take over Frisk, meaning Chara could potentially be corrupted as well.
You, the Player: The Magician
Visionary | Fears intentions turning bad | May be manipulative
Players go into Undertale with an intention, certainly after their first playthrough anyway. They have designs, and unless you’re one of those players who plays the Pacifist route to the end and never returns, that intention you go in with involves deviating from the sole ending of the game where Frisk is Frisk and Frisk alone - so, manipulative. And of course there are so many resources out there devoted to escaping the consequences of a Genocide run and players’ struggle against the guilt of resetting a happy ending, we fear our designs coming back to haunt us.
jacobvanloon
areudirty
andulkaphoto
origamiaround
