This isn’t like, an official change to how I view/write underswap for asks but it’s an interesting variation that I’ve been thinking about
Toriel: She still lives in the Ruins. But rather than leaving to escape violence, she goes there to quietly collect human souls, because she knows Asgore won’t do it. As with Tale!Asgore, she isn’t cruel or sadistic. She takes no pleaure in killing children and tries to do it as painlessly as possible. Her approach is usually to guide them through the Ruins, while making sure they know what’s coming. I’m thinking of Asgore’s “dentist” speech. She promises the child that if they come with her, she’ll protect them from the more painful death the other traps in the Ruins can give them, and she’ll make them a pie of their choosing as a sort of last meal. It’s macabre in it’s way but it’s all she can think to do. She ends up forming a bond with Frisk, however. Which makes their battle that much harder. She tries to provoke them, to fight back. If they kill her, she’s grateful. She thanks them. She begs them to be careful. And if they continue to spare her….in the end she lets them past. Overwhelmed by her guilt but praying that if they can make it out….maybe things can be better.
Papyrus: former pride of the Royal Guard, Stretch was on track to potentially follow in Undyne’s footsteps someday. He was smart, fast, and far, far more dangerous than he looks. A few years ago, though, something…. happened. No one knows just what. But he started to look more and more tired. He showed up for work later and later. He’d always played fast and loose with regulations and always been a bit on the lazy side but lately it was like he didn’t even see a point anymore. Finally he turned in his letter of resignation without much explanation. Something about no longer feeling like he could protect people. He and Undyne still hang out. Shes trying to teach him to cook, with….. extremely mixed results. The rest of his time he spends helping/harassing his brother with his terrible jokes. Still, don’t mistake his apathy for weakness. If pushed into a corner, you’ll find he’s retained a lot of his old skills….he’s the man on the phone for most of your journey. Hope you enjoy bad puns and bitching about Hotland
Sans: wannabe Royal Scientist and absolute terror of Snowdin. Since childhood Blue has always had an uncanny knack for machines. Usually machines of a somewhat….explosive variety. Combine that with his love of stars and astronomy, and it was natural for him to want to work at the Labs. Still, he’s young, inexperienced, and perhaps a bit undisciplined. Alphys likes his potential but worries he may not be ready yet (not that she’d ever say it to his face). In the meantime he develops his skills via puzzle making (and pranking the residents of Snowdin). He’s exuberant, a bit of a little shit, but ultimately sweet tempered and hungry for friendship. He also has a telescope in Waterfall and a lot of odd jobs to support his equipment purchases. Rather than a battle body he wears a labcoat and glasses he doesn’t need.
Grillby: the owner of Blues favorite place in Snowdin and a notorious tightfist. He attacks the player if they can’t pay their tab and tries to shake them down for items. Can be pacified if you bought Sans’ fried snow. He loves his daughter very much and seems to enjoy Blue’s hijinks, for whatever reason
Undyne: the notoriously reclusive captain of the Royal Guard. No one ever doubts her strength. When called on she can still cause a severe ruckus. However, these days she’s rarely seen outside her Waterfall home, except for her rare visits to the Lab. The Player first encounters her on the phone as she stammers out some vague threats before ambushing them is magical spears. If you follow the clues from her phonecalls, you can eventually find her house, where you learn her dark secret:..
….she actually thinks human culture is super cool. And she’s worried that by doing this she’s let everyone in the Underground down, including Asgore, who invested so much time in her. She still loves to fight! But killing humans….in person it’s too hard. In a pacifist route, the player can even opt out of combat and offer to make tea with her and reminisce.
Alphys: sure, anime is great for flower symbolism, catgirls, and princesses with swords the size of their dead fathers. But you know what else it has?
And these giant robots are the particular specialty of the Underground royal scientists. Whether is just basic power armor, Voltron clones, or transformers, Alphys has a sexy, sexy bot for almost every occasion. Mettaton, her debut, was just a taster for her real abilities. If it’s badass, mechanical, and you can attach a sexy pair of legs to it, Alphys can build it for you. However, the Royal Scientist’s passions for her craft (and the destruction of humanity) masks a warm heart for her friends, and deep down she’s a big ol softie.
Napstablook: sometimes fame hits when you least expect it. Napstablook is a brilliant musician who’s self-produced tracks have taken the Underground by storm. However, their talent is only matched by their mystique. The ghost has just a bit of an ego, and is convinced mingling too much with others with fans will taint their artistic vision. As a result, all their songs are published under a handle (SpookedSordid, if you’re curious) and they hide themselves away in the family snail farm, ever hiding from their legions of fans. Since their cousin left, they’ve been a bit on the lonely side, though…
Mettaton: Metta loves his cousin’s music, he really does. He’s also very happy that people are enjoying their work. But when you spend all your time on the outskirts of someone else’s spotlight, you eventually start to worry you’ll never get your own. When he found an opportunity in a young science prodigy….he took it. Disappeared one day and turned up at Mettaton, prospective new star of the Underground. Finally, his performance abilities were being appreciated! But, in time, he found that it couldn’t distract from the gnawing guilt inside him. Not to mention the onset of imposter syndrome. It was by singing and dancing along to Napsta’s music that he had even learned to perform in the first place. So who was he to stand here, receiving the lauds? Would people even want to be around him if they knew who his cousin was? Could Napstablook even forgive him? Was he worth all this attention? By the time the Player encounters him, he is a whole mess of insecurities, only barely hiding, and desperate for anyway out of the Underground to escape this fear. If it’s not too much trouble. Is he bothering you? He’s probably bothering you…
Muffet: the spider woman may look a bit on the spooky side but she’s a respectable woman looking to raise money for her kin in Snowdin. Her bakery is a welcome respite, and the only thing that would ever make Stretch agree to deal with Hotland’s puzzles.
Asgore: the loss of his children didn’t leave him angry. It left him…scared. They were gone for mere moments before they were torn to shreds. Was the outside world really that dangerous? The coming years only reinforced this for him. Children who fall into the Underground (those who make it past his wife, that is) rarely have happy stories. Ebott really was the only safe place, wasn’t it? Well….if that was true, what responsible parent would ever allow them to leave? They were safe here. No matter how much monsterkind might dream of the stars….and no matter how much the human children wanted to go home. He wasn’t cruel: he let them keep their dreams. If Undyne found any humans she was under strict orders to bring them to him, ostensibly to deal with them, but really to squirrel them away in the palace until they lived out their natural lifespans. So short compared to monsters .
He would keep them safe….whether they wanted it or not. He stands as the last guardian between the barrier and the underground. And no one will be leaving.
