The Inferno Theory: The Chara Theory to End All Chara Theories
Here we are! Nine years of Undertale. And seeing how Chara is heavily associated with the number 9 (AND THAT TOBY FOX FINALLY TALKED ABOUT THEM), I can't think of a better way to celebrate the occasion than by dedicating this 5000-word-long theory about them? Y'all remember when people used to make long-ass theories about Chara? Yeah, they're coming back with a vengeance! To say I have a colossal hyperfixation is a massive understatement. No character in all of fiction has had a bigger impact on my life than this little rose-cheeked, cocoa-addicted freak. I’ve been a Chara fan for as long as I’ve been an Undertale fan, and you can bet that my understanding of them has changed a lot since. And now I have the pleasure of sharing said understandings with y’all!
Once upon a time, there was an aroace autistic who, like most of y’all, had a very unhealthy obsession with Undertale. And unlike most of you, he thought the Genocide Route was really fun. Most fans talk about how unhappy they felt killing everyone, but for me, I felt like a polar bear at a baby harp seal convention. I got a disturbing level of happiness out of turning everyone to dust. Hell, the only unhappiness I felt was when I couldn’t turn Monster Kid to dust.
Oh well, at least I got a good consolation prize!
I was one sadistic son of a gun, and so I was even more delighted to find out I had a secret admirer/partner-in-crime and that they joined in on the fun because I was such a goshdarn inspiration to them. Not wishing to disappoint my self-appointed partner, I erased the world without a second thought, eagerly awaiting what we might get to do together.
So you can guess I was pretty taken aback when, instead of a warm welcome, they started lecturing me about how I couldn’t accept the world’s destruction and that I was the one fully responsible for it (even though they were eager to take credit for it earlier). I didn’t think much of it at first. Initially, I just thought that they were just irritated that I was undoing what we had worked so hard to accomplish.
But as this game taught me time after time, you should never trust your first impressions. Those first impressions would crumble to dust when they said this.
To say I was completely baffled is an understatement. Why the hell would this prepubescent genocidal maniac be so obsessed over whether or not I think I’m above consequences? So obsessed to the point they would tell me to go to hell if I told them no? It was at that moment I realized there was something more to this character than meets the eye. But for a long time, I couldn’t seem to figure out what that something was. And it didn’t seem like anyone could figure that out either.
I’m very much a veteran of the fan wars that have emerged surrounding Chara. In fact, one might even say I am a deserter of sorts, as I am a former member of the Chara Defence Squad, Offense Squad, and Neutralist Squad. But I’m not gonna be a stuck-up and say everyone’s a canon-ignoring idiot except for me and that I’m the only one who knows what Toby Fox intended Chara to be. Even though I ended up with a very different take than yours (and will certainly argue why it’s the best), I owe you all your discussions a huge debt, and I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t gotten invested in your interpretations, to begin with. Not to mention that, contrary to what some may argue, you’ve made some valid points to complement them.
And while the debate that resulted from Chara’s ambiguous morality has led to a lot of controversy and even toxicity, it has also been a source of some FANTASTIC CONTENT. Like seriously, would we have gotten those badass renditions of Stronger Than You if no one thought Chara was an awful person? Would we have gotten Man on the Internet’s beautiful rendition of Star if no one thought Chara was a good person (turned awful)?
It would be utter hypocrisy for me to ask of you to approach me and my arguments (or anyone who accepts them) with understanding and good faith only to then not do the same to anyone who doesn’t agree with me. In this theory, I will definitely argue why some points made about Chara are flawed; points that you might hold yourself. But that doesn’t automatically mean that you (or your takes) are intellectually or morally inferior to mine. And besides, I’m not Toby Fox.
So with that said, why did I eventually came to disagree with pretty much everyone about Chara? Because, one way or another, I couldn’t find a take that clicked with me personally as I felt there were various inconsistencies and issues holding them back. I looked at YouTube videos, subreddits, Tumblr essays, Twitter threads, and even forums on the Steam Community. But I couldn’t really find what I thought were satisfactory answers to the questions I had about Chara’s motivations, role in the game, and relationship with the player.
And then, one day, I found those answers. It all happened when I asked myself: “What if Chara didn’t turn against me… because they were always against me from the start?!”
I don’t mean that Chara only saw you as a means to an end. I mean that YOU were the end. What if Chara didn’t use you so they could screw over the monsters but they used the monsters so they could screw over YOU.
You probably think I’m insane, don’t you? And you’re right! I AM INSANE! AND SO IS THIS WHOLE DAMN THEORY!!! But somehow, someway, it just works!! And I’ll show you why and how!!!
What you are about to read is the culmination of six years of reading and critiquing Chara takes and theories of every kind and quality, whether it be Judgement Boy’s Who is the Real Villain of Undertale to Wandydoodles’ Oblivion Theory. Six years of examining the arguments and counterarguments of Chara defenders, offenders, and neutralists alike. Six years of looking in every corner of the UTDR fandom. From the tranquil lands of Quora. To the dark recesses of Reddit. To the intellectual wastelands of Twitter. To the fiery hellsite of Tumblr. So, without further ado, get ready for some of the most pure, unadulterated, high-octane, universe-collapsing neurodivergence you’ve ever seen in your life!!!!!
Part 1: The demonic heritage of the "demon who comes when people call its name".
Have you ever had one of those moments where you’ve asked yourself, “What the actual hell is this guy talking about?” I bet you’re having that moment right now. Everything about their character post-death, including their motives, their methods, and their relationship with you, is perfectly reflected in one of their most famous (or rather infamous) lines:
When most people hear the word demon, the first thing that comes to mind is a being made of pure evil whose only purpose in life is to destroy all things good in the world. Right?
Well, yes, but actually, no. It’s a little more complicated than that. To argue that Chara is a demon because they’re simply “an evil little twerp that enjoys being evil” doesn’t do them or their role in Undertale justice (although that hasn’t stopped people from trying to argue that). To understand why calling themselves a demon is EXTREMELY important, we need to dive into the wonderful (and totally not controversial) world of religious beliefs!
In ancient and modern religions, demons are a little more complex than just ethereal jackasses with a vendetta against virtue and righteousness. Though they vary from faith to faith, most demons have a specific set of qualities and tropes that make them integral to whatever faith they’re in. You also see these demonic qualities in fiction that’s derived or inspired by religions, and since Undertale’s lore and worldbuilding have a heavy emphasis on the spiritual and divine, you can see them in Chara. Since Undertale is a game of “Western” origin, you can definitely see they share qualities that are all too familiar with devils of “Western” religions. In classic devil fashion, they target those with weak integrities or suspect morals; they tempt you with the promise of fulfilling your desires at your and everyone else’s expense; they’re able to control your body as you grow their power through your sins, and hell, they even do the thing where they make a deal for your soul. Also...
But though it's evident that Chara encourages you to do “evil,” THEY THEMSELVES are not responsible for it. Yes, Chara encouraged you to kill, but YOU are the one who acted on those encouragements. In fact, YOU are the one who encouraged THEM to help you out! They walked down the dark path with you, but you didn’t really give them anywhere else they could walk. You had all the power and every chance to turn back and no reason to keep walking. And yet you persisted.
But that does beg the question, why did you walk it at all? What could possibly inspire you to give all of these characters happiness, satisfaction, and peace and then rip it all away? Because you decided that giving everyone the most satisfying ending was not satisfying enough for you. Because there was more that you could experience for yourself, even if it meant making everyone else experience something absolutely horrific. It wasn’t enough for you to fill the glass only halfway. You needed to fill it to the brim. You wanted to reach the absolute. Even if doing the Genocide Run was a bad experience for you, you CANNOT deny it was a fulfilling one. And Chara knows it, too. It ain’t exactly a coincidence that fulfillment and fullness are recurring motifs in Chara’s character.
Like all demons, Chara is able to tempt the wicked and sinful by targeting our greatest weaknesses and deficiencies. It’s no different from how Succubi and Incubi target those who succumb to the sin of lust. That’s why you won’t go after my aroace ass anytime soon. But I digress.
But Chara doesn't just tempt us by exploiting our need to fill the glass to the brim but also because of how they exploit the satisfaction we get from watching it fill up, that is to say, the satisfaction that comes from trying to achieve fulfillment.
We humans are addicted to progression as much as we are to completion, and in an RPG like Undertale, the satisfaction of progression comes in the form of NUMBERS. Not just the numbers that flash on the screen when you battle enemies but also the ones that go up when you finish said enemies off, whether it be your hit points, experience points, and so on. And Undertale isn’t any ordinary RPG; it’s one where its RPG elements are interwoven into the fabric of the game’s universe. Because of that, Chara is able to use these elements in their world to influence those outside of it.
But Chara does not just influence us through the numbers that increase but also the ones that decrease. That’s why the first thing they do when we reach Snowdin is give us a tally.
It’s not just there to measure progress. It’s also there to incentivize us to keep progressing. It gives us a small dose of satisfaction that’s enough to distract us from the mundanity and misery of the murder run, like a loading bar on a loading screen. And just like with loading screens, the farther it progresses, the harder it gets to turn away. Why would you want all the lives you’ve taken and the stats you’ve gained to amount to nothing? Why would you want to hit reset and go through those brutal fights with Sans and Undyne again? You can’t empty out the glass, not when you’re that much closer to filling it to the brim. Speaking of Sans and Undyne, it’s quite interesting that even though they barely know you, they know exactly why you won’t take your foot off the pedal, so to speak.
But that’s not the only thing driving you, isn’t it? Chara knows that there was something else that was spurning you along. Something more powerful and more dangerous than your addiction to progression and completion: PRIDE.
Perhaps the real reason you kept giving in to sin until it was far too late was because you didn’t think it would be too late. You didn’t hold back because you thought you would be able to go back. You thought you could just absolve your sins with the press of a button like you did in countless worlds before. You thought you could dive in, touch the bottom, and come back out of the water. But what were you getting into? How deep would you have gone? And would you have gone in if you knew you couldn’t possibly return? You know you wouldn’t. And Chara knows it, too. That brings us back to the dialogue I showed you at the beginning of this theory. The one said changed everything I knew about this character, and I firmly believe that this is the MOST important line of dialogue in the entire franchise.
PART 2: THE PART WHERE I (PRETEND TO) DESTROY 9 YEARS OF ESTABLISHED FANON!
When I say that that little blurb about being above consequences is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL, I do not say that lightly. It isn’t just important to Chara's character, but the game of Undertale as a whole! Anyone who’s serious about Chara’s character should never take this for granted because Chara sure as hell does not.
It’s not just our refusal to accept the world’s destruction that’s a huge-ass deal to Chara; it’s the arrogance and complacency that accompanies it, rooted in the position and privileges we have as the player. It matters to them so much that they’re willing to completely forgo bartering for our soul (which they say they want) if we don’t admit that we have that belief!
And yet, despite Chara taking this subject so seriously, the people who are analyzing their character ironically don’t. Generally speaking, most people simply brush this line off as nothing more than something they do to help them on their quest to achieve their goals. So, with that said, let’s talk about what those supposed goals actually are.
In all my years of reading and assessing countless Chara theories and interpretations, I’ve discovered that everyone actually agrees on what Chara's goals are. They just can’t agree on why they want them. Said goals are A) reach the absolute, B) max out their numbers/power, C) erase the world, and/or D) eradicate all monsters. But what if it’s actually the other way around? What if those things were the means to an end rather than the ends themselves?
What if the true goal of the “demon who comes when people call its name” was just like that of the demons of old: not to be your partner in crime, but to torment and punish you for your crimes? To make you face CONSEQUENCES!
I’m not making this argument simply because it makes Chara look more badass (though I think it totally does, lol). I firmly believe that Undertale’s post-Genocide content is written so that Chara’s character can only make sense if that was Chara’s goal from start to finish. Because if Chara’s endgame was any of those four I mentioned earlier, their character kinda falls apart because they're awfully inconsistent about fulfilling them. And those inconsistencies are evident in the Second Geno Ending.
Discrepancy 1) They say they will “appear time and time again” to help us “eradicate the enemy and become strong,” and yet they call us perverted for eradicating everyone time and time again.
You can argue that they didn’t want us to recreate the world in the first place and just move on to another world, but if so, why let us come back at all? And if it’s to get our soul, why do they keep around this world after we have it? This leads us to...
Discrepancy 2) They tell us to ERASE the world and move on to the next, and yet they allow us to restore it without a hitch after we give them our SOUL, seeing how there’s no black void when we start the game again.
If Chara was powerless to stop us from coming back, this wouldn’t be such a big deal. But they CLEARLY DEMONSTRATE that they’re able to stop the player from restoring the world, as seen in the first post-genocide ending. And yet they don’t use this power after the first time the world is erased (WHICH YOU WOULD THINK THEY WOULD WANT TO USE SINCE THEY WANT TO ERASE THE WORLD AND MOVE ON TO ANOTHER)! Seeing how the world is back again without us doing anything makes the restoration of the world like something that Chara CHOSE ON THEIR OWN VOLITION. And what makes this all the more damning is...
Discrepancy 3) They tell us they’re down bad for increasing our ATK, DEF, EXP, and LV to the max and erasing the world and everyone in it, and yet they TELL US TO DEVIATE FROM THE ONLY ROUTE THAT ACCOMPLISHES THAT (which, as stated before, they call us perverse for doing it again).
So, let me get something straight. You tell us you want to ”eradicate the enemy” and “ erase this pointless world,” and yet not only are you allowing us to undo all of that, you want us to do something INSTEAD OF THAT??? It’s funny how you lecture us about how we cannot accept the world’s destruction BECAUSE, APPARENTLY, YOU WON’T EITHER!!!!! Also, before I forget...
Discrepancy 4)
WHAT KIND OF MISANTHROPE DEDICATES THEIR WHOLE LIFE TO WIPING OUT HUMANITY, GETS GIFT-WRAPPED A CHANCE TO DO THAT, AND THEN JUST PASSES IT UP?!?!?!
On behalf of misanthropes everywhere, I am DEEPLY disappointed in you!
So it doesn’t matter if you believe Chara is always evil, good, or detached from morality entirely. Because Chara has the same goal across all versions, they all succumb to the same inconsistencies!
Funny how most people see them as this embodiment of the addictive nature of levelling up and consuming everything in a piece of media and all that jazz WHEN THEY SEEM TO CASUALLY GIVE UP ON IT!!!!!!
And if you argue they want a Soulless Pacifist Run when they suggest “another path,” then ask yourself, what does that give them that a Genocide Run doesn’t? Keep in mind, aside from a scribbled-out photograph, we don’t see how many monsters or humans they killed besides the main characters or how much power and stats they gained from it. And it’s not like we see them erase the world afterward since only the genocide run has that infamous wall of red 9s. Not to mention, the genocide run is the most secure way of accomplishing their goals since they have the backing of the player. Not only that, but it’s also the safest and most efficient way to erase everyone and increase stats to the fullest, and we all know how Chara feels about efficiency.
So Chara has no reason to pick the Soulless pacifist ending over the Genocide Run if they want to achieve their end of increasing numbers and consuming the world… unless those things were a means to an end rather than ends themselves.
Indeed it is coming together! That’s the other reason their statement, “You think you’re above consequences,” is so damn important! They’re not telling us why we sinned, but it reveals they intend to make us suffer for those sins, and how.
That’s why Chara is seemingly so inconsistent about erasing the world. Because it was never about the world. It was all about YOU.
[SIDE NOTE: I’m sure many of you will point out that if Chara wanted us to get a Soulless ending in this world, then why would they encourage us to “move on to the next?” I don’t think this is too big an issue for two reasons. First, this line is meant to emphasize that, like all demons, Chara is inescapable and that no matter what world you go to (within their own universe), Chara will always follow you now that you’ve unleashed them. Second, because their goal concerns us and not the world they’re a part of, their character avoids the aforementioned inconsistencies that hamper the other Chara theories much more severely, in my opinion.]
Part 3: Contrapasso
Now I’m sure some of y’all might think that Chara doesn’t need to yearn for our torment to achieve the impact of the Soulless ending and that just because Chara is a demon doesn’t automatically mean they need to screw us over. You are right in that not everyone who makes a Faustian Bargain needs to have malicious intentions toward the people they’re taking advantage of (Kuybey from Madoka Magica is a great example of that). But Chara does need it! Not only does it make their character more narratively cohesive, but also makes their character more thematically impactful. And it’s more in tune with their demonic nature for them to want to torment us.
Because demons represent something more terrifying than evil itself. They represent the terrible price of embracing it, a price that all evildoers fear more than anything, and that all demons want seek to inflict upon us. Like most demons, Chara isn’t encouraging us to sin to fill the emptiness in our soul (or even their own). They did it to perpetuate that torturously empty and unfulfilled state for all eternity, a state which even themselves now endure.
Now, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve talked a lot about the themes of fulfillment and emptiness, and it’s for a good reason since those themes are heavily featured in Undertale. I mean, how could it not? Because concepts of demons, hell, and sins (which are explicitly mentioned in the game) are deeply intertwined with the concept of emptiness. The theologian Thomas Aquinas once defined evil as not a presence but as an absence (of that which is good). Darkness is the absence of light; war is the absence of peace; bigotry is the absence of tolerance; pride is the absence of humility, etc. You see this reflected in not just Christian theology but also fiction as a whole, as a lot of villains are motivated by a desire to obtain something that they believe can’t be without. Whether it be wealth, status, recognition, power, the death of an individual, or even just sadistic pleasure.
Since demons are beings that are inseparable from evil itself, the life of a demon is forever cursed by unceasing and unbearable emptiness. Hell, the word damnation originated from the Latin word damnum, which literally means loss! They’re not exactly partying in hell while your immortal soul is being slow-roasted for eternity. They’re burning in that lake of fire and brimstone along with you! They can’t end their damnation, not because they don’t want to but because they simply can’t. They’re fated to be bereft of the satisfaction or fulfillment found in Heaven or Earth, a fate that is worse than death in every sense of the word, especially since they can’t experience death anymore. Because of that, a demon embodies what is perhaps the most terrifying form of evil of all: not one rooted in a desire to rid the emptiness and unfulfillment within themselves, but a desire to inflict them upon others. Because as a wise philosopher once said:
We see this horrific state of mutually assured suffering everywhere across fiction. From goofy, lighthearted tokusatsu's...
...to nightmarish sci-fi dystopias...
...to a little indie game made 9 years ago.
Oh yeah. Don’t think I was gonna talk about emptiness without mentioning everyone’s favourite homicidal fauna-turned-flora, especially not with lines like this.
Take one to know one! And it can’t be a coincidence that the game emphasizes the theme of emptiness when giving the spotlight to the three characters that have committed the most “evil”: Flowey/Asriel, Chara, and YOU.
Quite the unholy trinity going on here, eh? It truly is fascinating how the emptiness led us to work with each other to exterminate all monsters. And it’s also interesting how the unique kind of emptiness we have eventually led us to work against each other. Whether it be Flowey wishing to preserve his sentimentality for his long-gone sibling, us players wanting to maintain our (perverted) sentimentality for the world of Undertale, or Chara weaponizing these sentimentalities to exact their misanthropic hatred.
Remember how I said that Chara was a lousy misanthrope because they keep letting us bring back the humans they wanted annihilated when they were alive? That does make them a lousy misanthrope… unless their misanthropy found a higher priority target: YOU!!!!!
Chara’s desire to torment us didn’t come out of thin air. The same hatred that drove them to wipe out the humans of their world years ago is the same hatred that’s driving them to get at the humans of our world, even if it means destroying those who once embraced them. And now, that hatred is more potent and destructive than ever before, so much so that it’s no wonder Toriel was able to feel it when she endured that fatal blow after the Geno Run began.
Do you think witnessing what soullessness did to sweet little Asriel wasn’t already terrifying and tragic enough? Just try to imagine what it could‘ve done to a vengeful, traumatized, chocolate-addicted problem child so consumed by hatred that they poisoned themselves just for a chance to wipe out their own kind. All of that hatred of humanity is still alive and well, and now it has no humanity to hold it back.
And what could be a more fitting target for a MISANTHROPE that calls themselves a DEMON… than a HUMAN that wants to play GOD?
After all, the only thing demons love more than tormenting mortals is warring with Gods.
Why else do you think that Chara winks right at you if we make Frisk stay with Toriel? Because that’s who the Soulless Ending was meant for. It’s when they’re finally able to unleash all that animosity and hatred that’s been lurking behind that smile ever since we killed everyone in the Ruins. It’s the moment that they’ve been patiently waiting for because they knew that’s when it would hit you the hardest.
And what makes the Soulless Pacifist Ending very special compared to other “bad endings” isn’t simply because they destroy those we pretend to care about (may I remind you that you did do the genocide run, after all). But they destroy something much more valuable to us as the players: OUR OMNIPOTENCE. Chara doesn’t destroy people for the sake of destroying them. But because in doing so they destroy our arrogant belief that nothing could possibly challenge the invisibility and invulnerability we players take for granted.
It's all too human that those with the most power are the least willing to lose it (or even take responsibility for it). And in a world where we should have absolute power, we thought there would be no consequences for abusing it. So what could be a more fitting and frightful punishment than having to actually face them? Missing out on the best ending in a video game is one thing. But to forever lose the power to achieve it ever again?! Now that’s terrifying!
Throughout myth, legend, and religion, sinners are often punished in a way befitting of the sin they’ve committed. In Greek Mythology, Tantalus was damned for trying to feed the Gods the flesh of his murdered son with eternal hunger and thirst despite being within arm’s reach of water and food. In Dante’s Inferno, those who succumb to wrath are forever doomed to fight each other in a river of mud. And since Undertale is no stranger to concepts such as hell, sins, and demons, you can damn well be sure that there’s going to be damnation fitting for the sins that drove you to complete the genocide run.
You completed the Genocide Run because you believed ending their lives would be fulfilling. Now, you can no longer get any fulfillment out of saving their lives.
I mean, where else can you get your precious fulfillment? Those paltry neutral endings? They only offer a fraction of what the pacifist ending offered. And the genocide ending has been drained of its satisfaction like the pacifist! Would you do all that tedious grinding and brutal boss fights just to hear your so-called “partner” lecture you again on perverted sentimentality and say you should choose another path, even though there’s nothing that they could offer? Of course not. In the end, you’re just like poor Tantalus agonizing in the pits of Tartarus, feeling the water vanish from his hands just before it touches his lips.
The ultimate triumph of Chara isn’t making you suffer a total defeat, but perhaps something much worse to you as a gamer: a pyrrhic victory. It’s like having a Twinkie that's been drained of the creamy center. Everything is still there except the thing you treasure most. You’re damned to play a challenge forever deprived of any and all fulfillment you once got from it, a satisfying journey that will always be doomed to reach a dissatisfying destination.
In the end, Chara leaves you with the world exactly as they described it the first time they met you face-to-face: POINTLESS.
You can have the world exactly as it was before (and the people within it). But in the end, Chara will always have the last laugh.
Figuratively and literally.
Welcome to hell!
Part 4: Why Consequences Matter
Woooooo!!! Man, that was quite the read, wasn’t it? And yeah, I wasn't kidding when I said this is going to be autistic as all hell! I don’t doubt you have a lot of thoughts in your mind, and then you’re gonna share them by the time you’re finished reading this post. Some of you might think this is the Chara theory to end Chara theories. Some of you believe that this is the worst thing that has happened to this fandom since Sebastian Wolff. Some of y’all, I’m whitewashing them because I argue they’re driven by a desire to punish the wicked by any means necessary. Some will think I’m demonizing them because I say that they’re, well, a demon.
[SIDE NOTE: Just so I don’t miscommunicate what I believe about Chara’s morality, here are some key points to take away from this theory. A) Chara sought to make you pay for the evil you committed. In fact, the idea that the Soulless Ending is Chara punishing our sins has been around for a while, especially by those who think Chara was “corrupted. B) However, in this theory, Chara's actions are all done with the intent of accomplishing that goal. This means that Chara was aware of what they were doing, they wanted to do it, and that THEY KNEW IT WAS EVIL. C) But you still have to remember that Chara is also A LITERAL CHILD. And D) They’re a child who endured a great deal of hardship (and possibly trauma), which made them so embittered and vengeful. Also, E) Remember that they’re also soulless, just like Asriel when he was Flowey.]
But I think most of you were gonna look at this interpretation of Chara and feel the same thing that I have about most of yours: a take that’s not without issues, but not without a fair bit of interesting points.
But regardless of what you think of this theory overall, there’s one thing I won’t leave up for debate: I deeply treasure Chara’s character. Not just because I think they’re fun, cool, or interesting but also because I firmly believe they’re invaluable Undertale. And yet, at the same time, I think they’re severely undervalued by the fandom. And who can blame them?
The characters of Undertale speak very little of Chara, and Chara speaks for themselves even less. But just like Johan Liebert from the anime Monster, even though they’re not seen too often, they still manage to exert a massive presence and impact within Undertale’s narrative. And that presence is made all the more impactful because they perfectly represent the themes of the narrative: and that theme is CONSEQUENCES, or more accurately, the CONSEQUENCES OF VIOLENCE.
From the violence that drove Chara to climb Mt Ebott to the violence their brother Asriel inflicted in hopes of being with them forever. From something as grand as a war between two civilizations to something as small as dismembering a snowman. Everywhere you look, you will see that violence (and its repercussions) haunts the story and characters of Undertale. But what makes Undertale stand out from other media that tackles this subject is that it’s not just an integral part of its narrative but also its metanarrative. The most ingenious way it does this is by giving meaning to the actions/mechanics that we take for granted, specifically monster encounters.
Our Lord and Saviour Toby Fox said it best:
Because the monsters of Undetale are treated as something more than just enemies to be killed, there are going to be consequences for choosing to kill them away. Some argue that it goes too far in how it admonishes you for killing even a single monster, even to the point of being preachy (I’m looking at you, ScottFalco, but that’s a response for another day).
That argument is deeply flawed because it fails to account for the fact that without these ramifications, the game’s themes would be rendered null and void. The last thing that a game with a narrative centred around the consequences of violence can afford to do is afford you the luxury of avoiding them. And that principle especially applies if you dare to choose nothing BUT violence.
If you were to bring them all back as if nothing happened, then your decision to commit genocide would be completely meaningless, which would totally disservice Undertale themes regarding violence. There needs to be consequences. LASTING CONSEQUENCES. Undertale can’t drive home its messages and them without lasting consequences. Undertale can’t deliver those consequences without Chara in the driver’s seat. And Chara’s character can only be at their most narratively cohesive and thematically impactful if seeking to make us suffer consequences was their intended destination.
Regardless of whatever detail about Chara you’re discussing or what side of the discussion you’re on, one thing is very clear: they’re absolutely essential to Undertale in the same way that Mephistopheles is essential to Faust, the Cenobites are essential to Hellraiser, and Kuybey is essential to Madoka Magica. And they’re the only ones with the means, motives, and deep-seated misanthropy to hold this whole damn game together.
Sans is right. We deserve to be burning in hell for what we did to those poor monsters. And I can't think of anyone more qualified to have us humans “burning in hell” than a self-proclaimed demon with a seething hatred of humanity.
And how fitting is it that the skeleton who judges our sins is followed by a human child who punishes us for them?
TRANS PEOPLE CONSIDERING SURGERY- READ THIS PLEASE GENUINELY I AM BEGGING YOU IT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE
If you are getting gender affirming surgery, especially if it’s your first major surgery, PLEASE be aware that you can become SEVERELY depressed afterwards ESPECIALLY if you have a history of depression or suicidal ideation.
Post op depression is a natural reaction to the crazy mix of hormones your body goes through after major surgery as well as the stress and anxiety of recovery. Think of it like an adrenaline crash, but dragged out longer.
For me it kicked in about 6 weeks after top surgery and the worst of it lasted until about 10 weeks post op. EVERYTHING felt IMPOSSIBLE. None of the skills I’d been practicing worked. I thought everything was going to be bad forever. I didn’t attempt, but I was in the hospital. If it wasn’t for my support system I probably would have attempted.
This is not regret, but it can feel like it. I remain happy about my results to this day (going on six years later).
This is not you failing to maintain your mental health, but it can make you feel like a failure.
Things are not hopeless, but through the haze of this depression they can feel hopeless.
It can be terrifyingly sudden or it can sneak up on you. I didn’t even realize what was going on until after the depression finally passed and my mental health went back to normal.
I am writing this post because nobody told me about this before my top surgery. I was caught completely off guard. For my subsequent surgeries being aware has made all the difference. Being able to treat those symptoms as an expected and normal part of the healing journey has made them far easier to deal with. Because even when my emotions go to dark places I *know* they will pass. I have been able to tell the bad thoughts to take a bad seat and focus on healing.
PLEASE have a plan in place for if this happens. I know that this topic is taboo because of how often our mental health is weaponized against us, but I desperately want every single person getting gender affirming surgery to be aware of, and have a plan for post operative depression.
in undertale, flowey cannot feel love or compassion because he does not have a soul. it is believed by monsters that their souls are comprised by their love, hope, and compassion. their souls are deeply attuned to their body, and do not survive after death. monsters' bodies are made out of magic. a monster's soul shatters after death and their body turns to dust. on the contrary, a human soul is the human's essence, housed in a physical body. it survives after death, as does their body, but is seemingly seperated from the body - thus why they could be perserved by asgore seperately from their bodies, which are in coffins visible in new home.
in undertale, the only monster we see bleed is sans. another monster asks the human if it hurts to be made up of blood. there is strong evidence that sans comes from deltarune - and the monsters we see in deltarune do bleed. "everyone bleeds, right?" susie says. monsters in the light world cannot use magic. this could be read as strong evidence that just as monsters work differently in deltarune, so could souls.
here are the direct quotes from the library books in the respective games regarding souls.
undertale:
Love, hope, compassion... This is what people say monster SOULs are made of.
But the absolute nature of "SOUL" is unknown.
After all, humans have proven their SOULs don't need these things to exist.
deltarune:
The SOUL has long been called many things.
The font of our compassion. The source of our will.
The container of our "life force."
But even now, the true function of it is unknown.
note how in undertale, a difference is emphasized regarding human souls and in monster souls, while in deltarune no such distinction is made in the books. this makes sense superficially. after all, in the deltarune verse there seemingly was no war between monsters and humans, and while kris can seem like an outsider due to being a human, no one in hometown hates them for it. so no need for a dig regarding how humans don't need compassion to exist. however, seeing as monsters bleed in one verse and not the other, perhaps monster souls and human souls are more similar in deltarune than it initially appeared.
in the undertale library, we learn more about monsters through the books - however, the normalnpc in deltarune blocks the majority of the relevant books in their "librarby". they even move back one only when it is relevant - the new book revealed was in regards to monster funeral practices, which only came into play in that section with the reveal of "dustner" gerson. almost like what's up there could contain more pertinent information regarding souls, information that is hidden to us, the player. though in deltarune, the public seems to be less informed regarding souls - the library book says enough about that, not to mention susie being bewildered upon seeing kris's soul for the first time - there's nothing to say there couldn't be more information about monsters amd humans and even souls that could be important up there. and of course, information regarding souls would be important to us, because we quite literally play as a soul playing as kris.
what else do we know about souls in deltarune? we know that our soul, or kris's soul depending on your interpretation, can seal fountains, while susie's monster soul seemingly can't. in the prophecy, kris is referred to as a cage with human soul and parts. we know that kris can remove their soul, but after extended periods of time become weak without it. the latter points to it being true that souls are the container of "life force". although human and monster souls are seemingly different in both verses, that does not mean there aren't similarities, after all.
so what does that mean when kris rips their soul out? they can still move around, albeit they become weak after awhile, but why? simple. kris's determination. just as flowey's determination kept him alive without a soul, kris's determination can keep them alive just long enough to do whatever they feel they must. kris wouldn't need to be injected with determination like flowey did. it's stated in undertale that human souls contain determination, and we could assume this is true in deltarune as well since we have no evidence to the contrary. and what's another synonym of determination? will. in deltarune, it is specifically stated that a soul is the source of their will.
but then, without it, how do they have any will at all? in undertale, it's stated that a human's soul is much, much stronger than a monster's, and human souls contain determination. but even in undertale, we see monsters have determination as well, just perhaps not as much as us, the human player. and i'm not talking about flowey. in the genocide route, undyne is brought back from the brink of death due to her own determination to defeat us and save as many people as she can. she becomes "undyne the undying". though in the end, we can defeat her with our own determination, it is clear proof that while it's not stated monster's souls are made up of it, monsters do at least have some determination in them. in deltarune, susie makes a fountain with her own will, aka her own determination, but cannot seal one - only our soul can do that and banish the dark, or only our will and determination can do that...
so our, or kris's soul, has a lot of determination in deltarune, although the word is never spoken. so perhaps even after removal, that determination lingers in kris's body. this has to be the case, because if kris had no determination, they'd simply die without the soul. the only other being we see exist without a soul in either deltarune and undertale is flowey, and that's only due to his determination.
which brings us back to my main point. what can flowey tell us about kris without the soul? flowey is compassionless, loveless. is it possible then that without a soul (because let's face it, kris isn't hiding a second soul inside their trenchcoat or something) kris also becomes compassionless? this would explain a lot. how kris can care about the fun gang with the soul, but can actively work against them without it. kris with the soul could be conflicted about their + the knight's plans due to their compassion and love for others - kris without a soul would not have this issue, only the determination to see their plans through. kris without a soul and kris with a soul are the same being, but two sides of the same coin. kris without a soul could do things kris with a soul would never consider, because their logic would take center stage and their compassion would fade. it probably doesn't help that us, the player, strongly influence their actions when they have the soul in. (i say strongly influence because kris CAN rebel against our control and downright refuse to do what we ask, ie biting their hand instead of saying "i'll never play again" in ch 4, though this may take more out of them else they'd do it more often.)
consider this narration from chapter 5 when you check the mirror in the dreemurr family home, right after kris stayed out all night without a soul, doing angel-knows-what:
Your eyes wander over the face in the mirror.
You quickly look away. Who is that?
imagine how confusing this all is for kris. logically, they have a plan, they know what they have to do. without the soul, they can't feel the compassion they have grown to feel for their friends. they only see the silver lining, the path from point a to point b. they're acting of their own will. but with the soul, they're conflicted. they can feel easily and freely, love their friends and family. but when they take a step, it's not of their will, but our own.
credit to the deltarune and undertale wikis for the library quotes and for reconfirming some details for me (it's been awhile since i played undertale).
Made this post about 15 minutes after the repair guy who fixed the pump on my dishwasher packed up his tools and left, as the dishwasher was whirring along doing my dishes from that morning.
He said the exact same thing, which I did not know before that, so spreading this knowledge.
This is about the sexiness of The Golden Girls but I really feel the need to remind the world of how fucking progressive this show was.
In the episode 72 hours, we find out Rose may have contracted AIDs during an emergency gallbladder surgery.
Rose: Why me, Blanche? I'm tired of pretending I feel okay so you won't say, 'Take it easy', and I'm tired of you saying 'Take it easy' because you're afraid I'm going to fall apart. Dammit, why is this happening to me? I mean, this isn't supposed to happen to people like me. You must've gone to bed with hundreds of men. All I had was one innocent operation.
Blanche: Hey, wait a minute! Are you saying this should be me and not you?
Rose: No! No, I'm just saying that I am a good person. Hell, I'm a goody-two-shoes!
Blanche: AIDS is not a bad person's disease, Rose, it is not God punishin' people for their sins!
In Isn't it romantic? we find out Dorothy's childhood best friend is a lesbian who recently lost her partner. She confesses she has feelings for Rose. Rose turns her down but makes it clear that she still wants to be friends even though she doesn't return those feelings.
Sophia: Jean is a nice person. She happens to like girls instead of guys. Some people like cats instead of dogs.
Jean: Rose, about last night. I should never have said anything.
Rose: You only said what you were feeling.
Jean: It's just that this last year has been so difficult for me. Pat was the person I planned to spend the rest of my life with. And when she died, I just felt so terribly alone. Empty. I thought I could never care for anyone again. Until I met you. I just got very confused. I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable.
Rose: Well, I have to admit that I don't understand these kinds of feelings. But if I did understand, if I were, you know, like you, I'd be very flattered and proud that you thought of me that way.
Ebbtide's Revenge gives us Phil's funeral, and Sophia addressing him wearing women's clothes.
Rose: So what if he was different? It's okay that you loved him.
Sophia: I did love him. He was my son, my little boy. But every time I saw him I wondered what I did, what I said, when was the day I did whatever I did to make him the way he was.
Angela Petrillo: What he was Sophia, was a good man.
Sister of the Bride, where Blanche's brother Clayton brings his boyfriend to town, because they're planning on getting married.
Blanche: Oh, look, I can accept the fact that he's gay, but why does he have to slip a ring on this guy's finger so the whole world will know?
Sophia: Why did you marry George?
Blanche: We loved each other. We wanted to make a lifetime commitment. Wanted everybody to know.
Sophia: That's what Doug and Clayton want, too. Everyone wants someone to grow old with. And shouldn't everyone have that chance?
There are so many episodes I could sit here and quote but this show is still so important. It isn't perfect, there are jokes that definitely don't land that I will not sit here and defend, but in the context of when it was created? This show is a fucking masterpiece and deserves respect for that.
TIL a family in Georgia claimed to have passed down a song in an unknown language from the time of their enslavement; scientists identified the song as a genuine West African funeral song in the Mende language that had survived multiple transmissions from mother to daughter over multiple centuries (x)
In 1997 Amelia’s daughter, Mary Moran, and other members of the Moran family were invited to Sierra Leone, West Africa, where they were welcomed in Freetown by Sierra Leone’s President and then flown by helicopter to the country’s interior. There, in the small village of Senehun Ngola, Mary and Bendu Jabati met and sang this song together for the first time. Years earlier, Bendu’s grandmother had told her that this song, which had been passed down in her village from mother to daughter for centuries, would one day reunite her to long-lost relatives.
In addition to finding out where in Africa her ancestors were abducted into slavery, Mary Moran discovered the meaning of the Mende song: a processional hymn for the final farewell to the spirit, it was sung in Senehun Ngola by women as they prepared the body of a loved one for burial.
(The OP's link leads to a site with a recording of the song sung by both Mary Moran and her mother, Amelia)
So chapter 6 is easier to do because Weird Route skips it
Maybe like previous weird routes the aborted weird route in this one will skip a lot of content anyway but not as THE ENTIRE chapter.
So what if......... is Berdly centric? The character that IN THE text is called forgettable (its another world I can remember) in Deltarune where the whole Don't Forget is a thing. I'm sure is the leaving him out that will come back to make you feel bad.
Specially of how Susie is acting in general. Which I think is obviously on purpose for future writing.
Kris is obviously getting isolated BIG TIME. Even if they go on adventures in the dark world as the Fun gang. Susie is dating Noelle, they get more push away (specially if we acknowledge the double crush Kris has). Even if they spend the date with Kris, if we choose all the Suselle options we are leaving Kris out to favor their date. They are the ones expending time in the lake. And Kris also doesn't tell Susie why Noelle left (plus this is also part of the conspiracy for sure), so that she isn't after Noelle the whole time. Oh, Noelle! Had to leave? That means we have to follow her!.
We can choose to see what all the flowers are telling Susie, but that means that Kris expends time alone to see what she is up to. Or we can expend time with Ralsei, that if we make it into the whole "my future is with you" Susie interrupts you. (not on purpose). When Berdly tries to go for Kris for the date, Susie insta shuts him down in Krises behalf. As per usual cause since chapter 1, Susie shuts down scenarios and options constantly. Both her and Noelle need Kris (and your input) for the start of the date, but they forget you were there by the end.
In the weird route. Susie does explain she feels left out. Why can't Noelle talk to you in front of me?, next chapter is why can I be there with you guys? She sees it as Kris and Noelle getting closer, she lets it happen, but she obviously feels hurt and left out.
In the aborted weird route. Both Kris and Susie have a conversation that shows you they have feelings for each other, more in this scenario where you expend time with Susie and block her from being with Noelle. And even thought they do the lake thing, Noelle doesn't feel the same as in normal route.
She is also leaving Berdly out, after he goes back to his smart persona after thinking the Dark world didn't happen. By then he telling his story of pretending to be smart to be given meaning as a person, also didn't happen in his mind. Her not letting Kris have a say (even if it was a no from them or us) on expending time with Kris alone like, She wants for herself, Noelle and Kris, because We need them. And even tho Berdly backs off or defends their relationships during the Queen and King voting. Susie's sprite just gets angry and ignores him. Susie makes a welcome for Noelle because We can't keep hiding this from others, but only thinks of telling Noelle even if Berdly also was on Chapter 2 dark world and saving them during Queen's fight. Telling him would be beneficiary for him, his relationships, etc. Also, if we need to tell people for safety then why not him at all?
In the end this whole Susie is now living in the dark world, this whole thing she had ready for Noelle will turn around real bad. Because she doesn't know Rudy fell down the day before. And the chapter also criticizes her and Ralsei for wanting to keep their fountain but nobody elses.
I'm sure for Susie who felt so left out her entire life, realizing she is doing it to others (even if it isn't the same way) it will hurt triple.
I feel the whole town is having a big issue of leaving people out. Even for a small town, they don't notice people missing (which is surely part of the whole way the world was created and manipulated), no one gets worried really for Undyne yet, I wonder if they'll do for Asgore. Having this town as a place for goners is perfect.
They don't help out much others who are struggling Noelle, Kris, Dess probably, Asgore, Susie, Mettaton And Mew/Pink.
Noelle is hurt and stuck ghost walking her life, she literally says she wanted to leave.
Kris has being struggling for so long, then they had a low point in relationships that weren't Asriel, then he left. And only recently became friends with Susie. They needed art therapy of trauma their blocking hard. They hurt themselves specially when it comes to us possessing us. No one truly notices how badly Kris has changed due to us the player besides Noelle. (which seems a great metaphor for depression and trauma affecting someone deeply, but no ones realize a difference, showing how isolated and shallow their relationships to others are.) and even Susie and others cant grasp how badly Kris is doing. The stage of a child dealing with a lot, so much that others just treat their behaviors as normal or default.
Asgore is talk about in pity by everyone. Will others notice he is gone, specially after not going to see his colleague best friend who fell down?
Susie grew into the role of the bully, but she was obviously struggling, only Toriel comforted her. And now she is living in the closet. She never wants to go home And she eats leftovers... Kris and her disappear for hours and nobody is on alert.
The fact that I'm scared that Monster Kid and Snowy being nowhere in the festival? No, in the monster crow shot, not in any festival games or scenarios like Catti, Jockington, or Temmie? They were trying to enter the shelter previously? Carol was investigating?
I opened Instagram today to the news that Shirley Raines, the CEO of Beauty 2 The Streetz, has died. Many people probably know her on here, even if they don't know her name. Her videos of feeding and providing other essentials for the homeless of her community have been reposted across many platforms due to her kindness and unending respect for people so often denied agency and personhood. She did so much for people in need and truly wanted to elevate others with what she had, building confidence and strength in those that needed it most.
The Beauty 2 The Streetz nonprofit has asked that you send love and support to her family, loved ones, and the community she has fostered. The beauty2thestreetz Instagram and Tiktok [able to be found here on Linktree] are both worth supporting and spreading awareness of her mission.
If you have the means, their website has donation options to further her cause and continue to provide necessary support in food, hygiene, makeup, and hairstyling to the homeless community. The utmost respect for a kindhearted woman that will be remembered fondly by those she helped. May Shirley Raines rest in peace and may the people she looked out for see the same time, effort, and kindness she was always prepared to give.
🔴Farah urgently needs your support to undergo speech therapy sessions, behavioral therapy, and visual and auditory communication therapy.🙏🏻🥹
🆘Don't be stingy with her; these sessions are expensive, but they are essential.begging you to give a chance at a better life. I'm not asking for the impossible; I just need your humanity.😭🙏🏻💔
⚠️‼️Is there anything more genuine than my poor girl's tears? Don't let her down. It's my right to try to address her mental disability too. I'm a mother, and my heart breaks for her.
🛑My child makes unintelligible sounds, trying to express herself through screams. Doesn't your conscience stir, oh human being? How can you lay your head on the pillow to sleep with my daughter's cries echoing in your mind, without offering a helping hand? Search for humanity in your souls. I am a mother whose heart breaks for her. It is not enough that she is unaware of the death that surrounds her, whether from a sudden cardiac arrest due to potassium deficiency or from facing the symptoms of viral diseases. Every day I wake up with a deferred hope for Farah's survival Make patience a roof One of the dreams is to see her playing, laughing, and talking someday.😭💔
🟥People with disabilities in Gaza endure double the suffering and endless patience, as they face the biting cold of winter and constant hunger in a dilapidated tent. Their options have dwindled, and their bodies are failing, but this failure lies not in their physical condition, but in a world that remains silent.
No one can truly imagine the scenes and images of destruction, bombing, devastation, health failures, and environmental pollution unless they experience it firsthand, and that is something we would not wish on anyone.
My children are sick because of the harsh winter and the viruses spreading every day. Every day brings new expenses – water, milk, diapers, and medicine, the most important of which now is antibiotics – and all of this requires money. There is nothing more painful than having your children suffer.All you have is love - but there is no way to give them safety and health.
🟥🫂My hope is that generous souls will stand by us and donate, even a little. Every contribution is a seed of hope for my child to speak and survive.🙏🏻🙏🏻
In closing my remarks about our suffering, I will thank you, and especially the humanitarian butterfly. @oediex 💗🦋♥️
Note: if you would prefer to pay via paypal, you can do so here.
✅️Vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is ( #451 )✅️
💥This is my son Abdullah. I gave birth to him after 10 years of waiting. He came after I had four daughters. He's suffering from a sore throat, severe flu symptoms, and pneumonia due to cooking smoke. He tries to help me when I prepare their food. I need to buy him medicine. Please help me. Be compassionate and kind to my family. Thank you. 🫂🙏🏻😭
🛑Please take action for Farah. She needs her chronic kidney medication for this month, antibiotics, and to be registered for therapy sessions. It's not enough; she's battling kidney failure. Please rise up! I need your humanity more than ever. Thank you to everyone who is taking action now.🙏🏻😭🙏🏻
What's wrong with you, kind hearts? My child Farah desperately needs your donations. I haven't received any meaningful support. Please act for her sake; her tears have broken my heart. 😭💔😭Please don't let her down.
I need more of Mike being smart in fics. Like super smart. Make him figure out complicated strategies in a few minutes, embrace all his technological knowledge (like being able to build a bomb, knowing BASIC, being AV president) and have him make something cool, show that he’s resourceful and good at thinking on his feet, make him outsmart people with ease,,,, please I need more of my nerdy son, the ‘Mike is dumb and head empty’ fake propaganda just cause S4 characterised him as emotionally oblivious for some reason has terrorised me for years
404 has been knocking it out of the park since they started. Please support their original reporting on this! If you subscribe to nothing else I highly recommend them. Their podcast is great too.
Planning documents for "Scout" say the plan is to "make people addicted" to the tool before adding new features.
[ID: Screenshot of a post by HedgieMarkets that reads:
Microsoft's internal strategy document for its new Al assistant Scout says the explicit goal of phase one is to "make people addicted." The doc, obtained by 404 Media, outlines a three-phase plan from "addictive app to agentic platform."
The tool sits on your desktop, manages your calendar, triages your inbox, files expenses, and acts on your behalf. It requires access to your accounts and files. Security and compliance are things to "figure out" later. Nadella already uses it.
My Take
After everything this week, I think this document accidentally explains the entire Al business model. Not just Microsoft's, everyone's. The product can't sustain itself on current pricing. We know that because Copilot just proved it on Monday. The unit economics don't work at flat rate. So the play is to get people locked in before the real bill arrives. Make the tool essential to how you work, let your company cut the people who used to do those tasks, and by the time consumption pricing kicks in, walking away costs more than paying up.
IBM's CEO just told us the industry needs $6 to $8 trillion in capex to chase revenue he says doesn't exist. Google diluted shareholders to fund a buildout it can't cover from cash flow. Oracle fired 30,000 people during a record quarter to redirect salaries into data centers. And Microsoft's answer to all of that is an internal doc where step one is addiction. They're not selling the product on value. They're selling dependency. Get people hooked before anyone calculates what it costs to run, and make sure they can't leave once they find out. A product that needs addiction to survive is a product that can't survive on its own.
Y'all for real please do these. Even if you're certain your posture doesn't suck. One day you will wake up with impinged shoulder pain like I did and let me tell you it fucking HURTS. Do these exercises even just once a week and it will make such a difference. Especially my fellow creatives out there, stop shrimping over your work and go do these right now. RIGHT NOW.
For these who don’t know: The restaurant she worked at closed down but she left before that and opened her own bakery, that’s apparently very successful!
She has a youtube channel where she shares recipes and cooking advice!
“This potion will give you the body that your heart desires, the body that will bring you true and lasting happiness. But be warned: don’t expect beauty. I’ve seen men become literal monster from the darkness in their hearts. Happy monsters, but monsters nevertheless.”
There's always a moment of intense cultural whiplash whenever I realize I'm talking to someone who thinks "legal" and "illegal" are meaningful categories and ascribes innate goodness to following the law. It's like meeting a space alien.
theartofmadeline
dailybridgerton
prguitarman
baratheonpilled
germansingergirl
kaledo-art
origamiaround
