QUICK DELTARUNE THEORY I NEED TO VOICE BEFORE I GO INSANE.
So basically, I wanted to talk about DEVICE_FRIEND, and a theory regarding the idea that they are made up of 4 demons of (little, but notable) independent thinking, and one complete demon…. And how this ties into Japanese mythology.
To get us started, I wanted to talk about the infamous demons a, b, c, and d (and x, y, z, and r.) Demons coming in groups of four— make note of that— who have “unused” dialogue deep within the UNDERTALE’s files in a way akin to Dess’ (or the voice within the bunker’s) “unused” dialogue. This reads:
You have made yourself completely clear.
I, your humble servant, will follow you to the utmost...
This has been linked to the chapter 3 vending machine— as the machine says “always at your humble service”— which you buy Tv Slop from in the S+ rank changing rooms. You can “buy” SMILE* from it, yet it sells out once you defeat ERAM and Ramb disappears, linking to the idea that FRIEND took Ramb after they’d completed their purpose and was “used up,” so to speak, taking him through the manhole.
*(mus.smile being the song playing near the shelter, which is a slowed down version of “garbage noise,” which plays in the background of entry 17. Friend is more than likely to be related to Gaster, considering they’ve got their file name in all caps, and also the dialogue alone could suggest a conversation between the two)
So, in assuming the FRIEND is, in part, the demons I mentioned, we’ve already successfully contextualised incidents in Deltarune with no flaw. It’s inarguably plausible to assume FRIEND is the demons. Got it? Okay. Now onto MY PERSONAL WORK.
I was researching the idea of Friend being an overlord of four demons by diving into myths and folklore, trying to find real examples Toby could’ve took inspiration from. Then I stumbled across a tale of Oni of Mount Ōe. Figuring anything Japanese could be a possibility with Toby, I took a look.
Now, the details are sketchy, but the main parts I picked up on was there was a demon named Shuten-dōji, a legendary Oni who kept kidnapping and killing people, and also had a bunch of drunk henchmen, namely; Kuma-dōji, Torakuma-dōji, Hoshikuma-dōji, and Kanekuma-dōji. If I’m wrong and the names are different, please don’t shoot me. All my sources were messed up and none of them agreed with eachother.
ANYwhom! Let’s make a quick note that the first four cats to appear in the game did nothing. No damage. Just nothing. They are what I like to think of as the four henchmen. Only imitations of the real deal. The cat from the basement, the mantle game, the battat (hey who’s that guy) game, and the sanctuary are all just henchmen that came off of FRIEND’s person.
However, in chapter 5, they do damage. This is the real thing. The thing Spamton kept changing his prices to shield himself from (as FRIEND does % damage based off item price, as far as I’m aware). FRIEND actually appeared in chap 5.
So that reinforced my idea of 4 henchmen, + the 1 real demon.
You may be thinking “oh, so what, you’re just pointing out parallels? LOSER!!! WHERE’S THE THEORY!!!!” YOU’LL GET YOUR THEORY!!! OKAY!!!!!!!!??????? JUST LISTEN:
THERE WAS ANOTHER DEMON I’M YET TO MENTION. IBARAKI DŌJI, SHUTEN’S RIGHT HAND MAN WOMAN??.
BACK WHEN I WAS CONSTRUCTING THIS THEORY, I THOUGHT ALL THE HENCHMEN WERE ACTUAL CAT CHARACTERS, SO I THOUGHT “WHO BETTER THAN SEAM TO BE THE GENDER AMBIGUOUS RIGHT HAND THEY TO THE CAT DEMON???”
But then I found out that, in mythology, in the same incident where all other demons are murdered, the demon overlord himself included, Ibaraki-dōji… loses their arm.
(Kris ties to the hand loss -> “you couldn’t find your hand” 1225 gumball machine scene, “you could see through your hand” light world chap 1 shadow crystal text, Susie mentioning severed hand twice in Noelle’s house (foreshadowing?)
Kris ties to FRIEND -> “lost where the forest would grow, the children the pointed tail. The poor children!” Likely referring to incident where Asriel Kris Dess and Noelle went to go burn an ICE-Es pizza box out in the forest because it smiled at Noelle (FRIEND is building up a track record for taking form of objects), Kris’ headband possibly being what FRIEND first took form in in the light world after Kris and Catti summoned a demon— COULD’VE BEEN FRIEND????— and they maybe lost it when they saw Dess go into the bunker*)
*Snowy and M.T calling Kris a “weenie” or sum for warning people about the bunker connecting to Dess and her “door shut behind me” dialogue in the unused text within Deltarune’s files
Now, for my final part of this theory. I make a prediction using one last character from the tale. The guy who kills em all. Minamoto-no-Raikou, a warrior who was an ally of the Fujiwara clan, “conducting violent operations they could not directly handle themselves.” (Sounds like Susie…)
Set that aside. Keep it in your mind. Now think back to the 4 demon’s names. What did they all have in common? KUMA.
The only time the word “bear” is mentioned in deltarune is in the chapter 1 Lancer and Susie fight, where you can use ACT to “growl at Susie like a bear.”
IBARAKI-DŌJI…. GROWLING AT THE GUY WHO KILLED ALL THEIR BEAR-DEMON ALLIES…. LIKE….. LIKE A BEAR!!!!?????
…let that sit for a moment. There’s not much to take in, but just sit for a moment.
Cause you may want to know. Why do I think she’d turn against Kris and hurt them? Why am I framing this to look like Kris is on FRIEND’s side???
Not because I think Kris will be saved by fate by getting all the eggs.
But because getting all the eggs will be how fate gets to them.
When the shopkeeper of chapter 5 talks about cast finding protein, and biting.. HARD. All while mentioning the cat bite on Kris’ hand…
All of this evidence together is why I wholeheartedly believe that when FRIEND comes to collect their protein from Kris, they will BITE DOWN on their hand, and Susie will chop it off to save Kris from FRIEND.
BOY I AM TIRED!!! WHAT A MOUTHFUL!!! I GOTTA GET SOME SLEEP I GOTTA GET UP IN 4 HOURS AND I EVIDENTLY HAVE NOT SLEPT SO THAT IS GONNA BE IT FOR TONIGHT!!!
