Here are the overworld sprites and dialogue portraits I drew for Julia Starhope! I have well over twenty-five different expressions I've drawn for the latter, and I intend on posting a good few of them on here some time. <333
To compliment the dialogue portrait resprite I drew of her, here is Carol Holiday's overworld sprite drawn in my own style! I've never really been one for how she's depicted proportionally (Nice arms mom lmao), so I thought I'd put my own little spin on her 💙❄️
What can be said about Undertale that hasn't been said already? Since its release in 2015, passionate fans the world over have dissected and over-analyzed this game to its very core— appropriate, too, seeing as there's just so much to work with (The same can be said for its ongoing successor, Deltarune).
But I'm not here to throw my hat into the ring with a new groundbreaking theory, nor am I here to do a deep-dive on a main character of choice whose personality and goals are all but common sense to the average Undertale fan. Instead, I've come to try something a little different, something a smidge unheard of...
Analyzing the dialogue of just one NPC.
The Business Manticore, a character met at the posh MTT Resort, stands idle in front of an elevator regardless of your story progression or what route you choose. I can say with full certainty that I am the #1 Business Manticore fan, and I'd like for this post to be proof on the matter.
Where some might see her as inconsequential and others see her only as the "Jade Harley ass manticore" Toby coined her as during the 10th Anniversary stream, the Business Manticore is an extremely special character to me in particular. Why might that be, you ask?
... I dunno. I just think she's neat. And super cute. Like, really really cute. Her glasses are darling. And her hair. Oh, and her little heels, too, and her... ahem. Pardon, I'm getting ahead of myself.
In this post, I will be going over all ten of her known dialogue boxes (Seven from Undertale, and three from the fourth chapter of Deltarune) in great detail in an attempt to unearth her overall character. She has a surprising amount of dialogue for an NPC, and there's a lot to work with in pertains to extracting a clear personality.
Moreso, I'm still relatively new to analyzing a character's dialogue, so there will be a fair share of speculation and headcanons on my part... on the side, this post is mostly just going to be me having fun with what-ifs instead of being taken as facts, so let's go ahead and get down to business!
(SPOILERS AHEAD FOR BOTH UNDERTALE AND DELTARUNE. Please read at your own discretion!)
PACIFIST / NEUTRAL ROUTE:
"This elevator goes straight to the captial. But it stopped working."
The Business Manticore doesn't waste any of your time, and straight away tells you what you need to know— there's an elevator in the lobby, and it's out of service. Upon interacting with her for the first time, you aren't aware of what (Or who) could be the reason behind its state of disrepair, so your guess is as good as hers.
Though, something about this text box has intrigued me, so much so that I'd wager that it's the reason I wanted to craft this analysis in the first place (Aside from being totally infatuated with her)— she's en route, with an unmarked briefcase, to the capital... New Home.
We are never told what it is that the Business Manticore does for a living, though it fascinates me that she works over in Asgore's neck of the woods. I doubt that she works as a royal scientist, or anything even close to such a position, though I have the slightest suspicion that she works for him in some capacity given the location and her relationship with Asgore in Deltarune. Merely a theoretical.
Whatever it is that the Business Manticore does, I have to imagine it's of high importance for her to have any business (Nice) boarding an elevator to the capital of all places. I'm almost shocked nobody's done so much as consider the implications of this in the last ten years... then again, no one is as obsessed with the Business Manticore as much as I, so let's see what else she's got going on.
"The hotel's doing its best to accommodate everybody stuck here."
Staying true to her previous spoken line, the Business Manticore doesn't beat around the bush, and even seems to stick up for the establishment in spite of the inconvenience. Her wording here makes me think that, of the elevator triad (The Sad Dragon, the Shambling Mass and herself), she was the first person to note the defunct elevator and take her concern straight to the receptionist for answers.
She appears to be a sort of mediator in such a situation, simply telling others verbatim what she was told as to prevent further confusion. I imagine that she offered the same explanation to both the Sad Dragon and the Shambling Mass upon their arrival (Perhaps coercing the former to call home). But, most importantly, where the Sad Dragon is visibly distraught over the setback, and the Shambling Mass bluntly makes their outrage known...
... the Business Manticore seems oddly neutral on the matter at hand.
She's not upset, she's not angry— in fact, the nonchalant look on her face almost gives off the impression that the broken elevator is no skin off her nose. This is our first real discovery pertaining to her character; she may press for answers if something is awry, though she is also very patient and willing to explain any goings-on to others.
Speaking of...
"Me? I just like explaining things to passerby."
Gee, that's a self-aware NPC line if I've ever read one. We can deduce that the Business Manticore is of the talkative sort from this line of dialogue. Where some might view that personality trait as a negative one, the Business Manticore doesn't seem like the type to yap to no end just to hear herself talk. If she has something to say, it's of importance to those around her.
It also backs up my assumption a few paragraphs ago that she jumped at the chance in explaining the elevator's operative status to the Sad Dragon and the Shambling Mass the first moment she was able to. After all, you can't tell me she watched both of them waltz up to the elevator to only find that it's broken themselves; she had to say something.
Such is the elevator's fate, until you return to her prior for one last chat before destroying the barrier separating humans and monsters at the tail end of the True Pacifist route, where it's revealed that...
POST TRUE PACIFIST:
"Good news! The elevator started working again."
Still assuming the mediator role, the Business Manticore delightfully tells you the elevator she's been waiting on is up and running again. We aren't told when the elevator began working again; it could be either just after Alphys' intentions are brought to the player's attention by Mettaton, or just then at the end of the story, but it's a nice resolution to a menial plot point established hours before.
Now, it's unclear if her soul was absorbed alongside the scores of others during Flowey's final traitorous act, though it seems equally as likely that she just stayed put at her post during said final confrontation. It's a funny thought and completely within her character to wait it out.
With the elevator up and running, she can get straight to work, right?
"But now it's been so busy, we still haven't gotten the chance to ride it."
Well, that figures. Personally, I think it would have been funnier if the Business Manticore's position Post-True Pacifist was moved to the elevator in the capital, though the only difference is now she can't travel back down, but I digress. Some might see this line of dialogue being the perfect cherry on top to the punchline of a setup established hours ago, though something else has my attention...
Don't you think that the Business Manticore would have, at the earliest possible convenience, boarded the elevator upon its reactivation? It's a bit strange that she hasn't yet, moreso that she claims that "it's been so busy" which seems to imply that others have gotten the chance to use it before her. Why has she not?
By this point in the story, several monsters in other parts of the Underground are aware of their fate: they're at last free, so it would only make sense that the elevator leading up to their ticket out of the Underground is seeing heavy traffic. I think that, because everyone is aware that they're free to leave the Underground at last, the Business Manticore is no longer in a hurry to see herself to whatever business she had up in the capital...
... and is instead allowing other monsters from further on down in the Underground (Think early game areas like the RUINS or Snowdin) ascend the elevator to access the barrier first. She now knows there is no reason to rush as freedom awaits everyone and, in an admirable act of selflessness, allows others to seek their way to the soon-to-be shattered barrier before she can.
I'm tearing up at the idea of the final monsters to board the elevator being her, the Sad Dragon and the Shambling Mass.
So ends the True Pacifist route, where all monsters— the Business Manticore included— are treated with the happy ending they deserve. But what becomes of her in the chilling Genocide Route? Luckily, she is not slain on-screen unlike many other monsters before her, though what we do see from her is very, very interesting.
GENOCIDE ROUTE:
"Mettaton hasn't made a performance for more than five minutes..."
I imagine there's not much for the Business Manticore to do while waiting for the elevator's repair, ESPECIALLY in the Genocide Route. The dialogue she has for this path in the story is, naturally, rather off-putting (Though maybe a touch funny given the insinuation of the time span between Mettaton's numerous performances), though, of the elevator triad, only the Business Manticore has taken notice of Mettaton's absence.
It's worth noting that Mettaton, by this point in the story, has not been reduced to scrap metal yet. He has interacted with the player in Alphys' Lab beforehand, though tauntingly refuses to battle them knowing what they did in the preceding areas before fleeing.
The Business Manticore's dialogue here seems to confirm that he has gone into hiding, waiting for the perfect opportunity to take down the murderous human (Which, as we see later in the CORE, seems to be the case). It also shows that, even while she's keeping a close eye on the elevator's status, that she is extremely perceptive of those around her.
I'd like to take a moment to talk about the Business Manticore's talk sprite animation— esoteric, I know, though there's a point to make in doing so. As a counter-example, the Sad Dragon's talk sprite simply has his mouth bob up and down as well as a few of his other features such as his tail.
When speaking to the Business Manticore, however, she has a particularly jarring talk sprite animation wherein her eyes dart back and forth, as though fervently scanning the area for information. It could just be an attempt to make her talk sprite animation feel more lively, though I find that it plays into her 'perceptive' trait almost perfectly. She is well-aware of what is going on around her...
... but not here. Not in the Genocide Route. She may have noticed Mettaton's uncharacteristic disappearance, but she is blissfully unaware as to why this could be, potentially assuming it to be a hiccup in his showtime schedule. And then, suddenly...
"What's happening...? Can you explain it?"
SHE is the one pressing YOU for answers.
She doesn't know of the carnage you've left in your wake just beyond the door leading into the MTT Resort. She doesn't know that Mettaton's disappearance is a result of your own filthy actions. And, worst of all, she doesn't know that she is speaking face-to-face to the person who intends to wipe out the entire Underground.
It's haunting. All this time, she's been portrayed as a knowledgeable monster who, for the few things she doesn't know or understand, is quick to figure out why and act as a mediator to others on such matters... but here? She's helpless, both in seeking out the truth and in standing out in the open where you could do away with her in one swift slash if you could.
There has never been a better time to be an NPC, however, as Gerson Boom himself previously said upon being threatened by the player:
"I've lived too long to be afraid of something like you. Try it, kiddo! … I know you can't here."
This would be the Business Manticore's first and only canonical appearance for exactly a decade. She'd show up in merch, sure (Try and see if you can spot her!), though she wouldn't grace the player's screen again until just this year, 2025, where she appears in Hometown in the fourth chapter of Deltarune.
In another time, one where her existence isn't waiting on an elevator... what does she have to say?
DURING DELTARUNE: CHAPTER 4:
"That Asgore guy... it's a shame he lost everything after he... You know."
There is something strange going on about Asgore Dreemurr's past in this timeline, and Deltarune does NOT shy away from teasing the player on the matter. Through flavor text and dialogue from previous chapters, we learn that he was the chief of the police force, though due to an (As of writing this) unclear incident, was terminated and quickly replaced.
Everyone seems to know what Asgore did— residents of Hometown, his friends and family, and most explicitly, his own child Kris, who is quick to stop reading upon finding an article on the matter and refusing to read past the headline. We, as the player, are left in the dark as to what may have happened, but others clearly are aware, the Business Manticore in particular.
The choice to have her deliver this cryptic dialogue is ESPECIALLY interesting. It could have just been any old throwaway NPC, whether they starred in Undertale or were designed explicitly for Deltarune... but it's the Business Manticore who not only comments on Asgore and his misdeeds, but right outside his flower shop no less.
All that separates them is a door.
This really doesn't seem like a coincidence, at least not to me. To anyone else, the Business Manticore is incidental enough to have been lazily copy-pasted into Hometown at literally any point prior to Chapter 4... and yet, the first time she appears, it's here.
Do you think that she was one of the first monsters in town to know what he did?
"Now he has to sell flowers to make ends meet, but... What? He's your father? Sorry."
From here, she tells us what we have already been able to deduce; Asgore is not doing well financially (As evident by the notice you can find in his quarters written by Carol Holiday), and him merely giving flowers away to patrons rather than charging for them isn't doing much to help.
But the Business Manticore stops before she can finish her thought. This appears to be one of the rare instances where Kris speaks, though it goes unheard of by the player (A similar example would be Ralsei commenting that Kris is yelling after you select 'no' upon being asked if they feel okay after the Spamton NEO battle).
Obviously, whatever must have happened, Kris is deeply uncomfortable on the matter, and didn't hesitate to make the Business Manticore quit while she was ahead. Upon learning that Asgore is Kris' father, however, the first thing she does is apologize to them.
One could assume that she is apologizing for speaking ill of Asgore, which is a fair enough judgement to make, though her next line...
"Well, I hope for your sake he quits being so... obsessed with that stuff."
... seems to come across as though she's sorry FOR Kris.
Where others in town are clearly disgusted over Asgore's actions, the Business Manticore is less angry at him and more concerned, voicing that she hopes that Asgore knocks off whatever he's obsessed with for his own well-being, echoing her fear for Mettaton's safety back in Undertale.
And it's not just concern for Asgore; it's concern for Kris, too. There's no way that the Business Manticore wouldn't pry after learning that Kris is the child of Asgore and Toriel and, knowing full well the burdens they already carry, (Being the only human in town, the splitting of their parents, etc.) does nothing more than stay in her lane and wish Kris and their family well.
Well, ten text boxes and a myriad of paragraphs over-analyzing them later... what have we learned about the sort of character the Business Manticore is? To summarize, we've learned that:
The Business Manticore is an extremely insightful monster and is (For the most part) well-aware of her surroundings.
She isn't one to grow impatient or frustrated, instead keeping a level head should anything go awry.
Should anything go awry or be out of the ordinary, the Business Manticore is quick to investigate for an explanation.
She only asks for something beyond her know-how to be explained to her as a last ditch effort.
The Business Manticore is a natural mediator and revels in filling those around her in with what's going on. She's less of a snoop and more of an informant.
She is particularly selfless, putting others before herself and apologizing should she ever say the wrong thing.
And lastly, she has a caring heart (Befitting her lion-esque body type), only wishing the best for those that are less fortunate than her.
... hopefully, that all answers the question I started this analysis with: "Can you explain it?". It only felt right to go as far as I did analyzing the Business Manticore given her inquisitive nature. If you've chosen to read all the way through this post, I only extend to you my greatest thanks for putting up with my incessant comfort character rambles.
Moreso, I intend to do more with the Business Manticore than her canonical roles in both Undertale and Deltarune. I'm working on getting an overview of my Deltarune AU up some time very soon, and I'm pleased to announce that she will have a starring role! 🤍
... hmm... now, how to round off such a gargantuan post... how about...
The Business Manticore x Me is canon because I said so <33333
You ever fall deeply in love with a relatively unpopular NPC that appeared in both Undertale and Deltarune so much that you decide to give them a starring role and expanded lore in your own Deltarune AU?
I may have already resprited them, drew them a text box portrait and sampled a voice blip for them...
Sorry for all the Elnina and Lanino posting. It will happen again
At some point very soon, I'm hoping to write an overview for Rising Star, my Deltarune AU this blog will see content for in the near future. In the meantime, I made the above video for giggles, and thought it'd be worth posting here lmao
@nelnal, the designer behind Elnina, drew art of her in her final outfit alongside two other absolutely darling pieces from her fashion collection, and it only felt right to draw a sprite for each one! Isn't she just the prettiest? ☁️✨
I was rather disappointed to learn that neither Lanino or Elnina received dialogue portraits for their text boxes (Would have made discerning them a smidge easier...), so I took it upon myself to draw exactly twenty for each of them! <333
Carol Holiday, shockingly, is one of my favorite characters in Chapter 4 (There is just so much mystique surrounding her from just one scene alone), so I thought I'd try my hand at giving her canonical dialogue portrait (Left) a nice touch-up (Right)! 💙❄️
(And yes, she does in fact fit nicely within the text box, as her portrait is exactly one pixel taller than my sona's!)
Hi hello! Saw that you were looking for new friends, and just thought I'd reach out. You know, I used to be afraid of the dark, so you're particularly brave for having hidden there for so long… even though I personally think you have nothing to hide. I don't think you look scary at all— quite the opposite, actually! <333
Yours,
— Julia
( @risingstarau )
UYOU.. DOANT THINK EIM... SCARY???
WOUUUU.. YOUR BRAVE WOARDS!! THIS MAEKS ME VERI HAOPPI..!!!!
MUY CAMERA BAD BUT I CRIY.. OF HAPPYNESS!!!!!!
THANK UOU VERY MUCH, JOOLIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My name is Julia, and this is a sideblog dedicated to posting about all things DELTARUNE— including my very shameless self-insert AU, Rising Star!
I've been a part of this community since just before the release of the second chapter, and I'm hoping to meet some moots who are just as deep in the Deltarune obsession as I. I will mostly be posting my own spritework, though I will also get a little comfy in reblogging art, too!
For now, I'll start off by posting the banner I made for this sideblog, starring the sweetest sheep monster this side of Hometown... Julia Starhope!
Please reach out if you're interested in connecting! <333
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