My lovely mutual (and spamtenna & darkner oppression scholar) Cat @maybe-a-gatto-or-a-catto said this in response to a post I reblogged the other day, about how “it’s not that deep” doesn’t really apply to Deltarune the way it applies to most things, because Toby Fox is genuinely unhinged — and genius — about the way he uses secrets and subtext to tell stories:
I completely agree with Cat, and their response actually made me want to do a rundown & analysis of most of the supplemental material we’ve gotten regarding spamtenna, and how it’s not really subtle in the slightest compared to the in-game content we have so far. So this is that analysis!
First, of course, there’s the Spamton Sweepstakes, which were such a goldmine for Deltarune lore in general, and in retrospect, is where a lot of spamtenna evidence and lore came from, almost 3 years before ch3's release. Some people were able to figure out that Tenna was Spamton's ex pretty much immediately from the "Damn You Tenna" page (although the majority of the wider Deltarune fandom still thought the TV character was going to be Mike until closer to ch3's release, from what I could tell).
Highlights from the Sweepstakes include the iconic MLM "business-loving-businessman" tweet clearly referring to Tenna, Spamton being confirmed as bi/pan, the South of the Border!! connection to the Tropic of Love, Spamton crossing out Tenna with a red marker as described on the throuple cutting board page, the Spamton engraved wedding ring being the page that links to "Damn You Tenna," divorce references, and a bunch of other little things that ended up being connected to spamtenna. I really wish there could be another event like this with a ton of hidden lore, it was a genius move to make something like that and have it benefit charity at the same time.
(sorry for the low quality mess that is this image, hopefully tumblr doesn’t make it impossible to read)
And, of course, there are the spamtenna plushes... The Tenna plush was first released for preorder at the end of July, and a new batch of the Spamton plush was made available to preorder as a bundle with him. Personally, I can't get over the fact that Tenna's proportions were specifically made to match with Spamton's proportions!! They are the only 2 plushes to have this unique body type. They also both include a pipis hidden in their heads, and of course, were posed very cuddly, and advertised as a pair on the front page of Fangamer.
You could argue that they were advertised like this solely to draw in spamtenna shippers for more sales, but Toby is extremely specific about the merch Fangamer makes (such as no lightner plushes being a big rule) and making sure all merch "improves the game." He's helped to design certain items himself before, such as him ensuring that Big Shot Spamton's suit on the air freshener from the Specil Fun Pak matched with Tenna's suit, several years before Tenna's design was officially revealed in ch3.
I think Toby had to have been consulted on the plushes being designed and advertised like this, if he didn't request it himself - and I have to say that if spamtenna weren't actually meant to be a couple, and weren't going to end up together again in at least one route of Deltarune, I honestly think it would be a cruel and unprofessional decision to tease fans like this for the sole purpose of making more money, which seems extremely unlike Toby to do. Clearly, explicitly advertising Spamton and Tenna as a set and a romantic pairing is something that improves Deltarune in his eyes. Add onto this that Toby actually brought more attention to it via tweet, and it's clear that spamtenna is intentionally being used as one of the draws to Deltarune.
(Note that this being the fastest selling Fangamer product of all time, over any other game franchise's merch, including any of their Undertale merch, is pretty damn impressive.)
Edit May 2026 to add another merch-related update:
On the Mr. Tenna Figurine product page on Fangamer, there’s a 3D render; if you look closely, there’s a very obvious indent on Tenna’s ring finger. As far as I’m aware, this is not a rendering error, because it wouldn’t be on both sides of the finger, or just be on one specific finger. The artist quite likely intentionally added a wedding ring indent, and it’s possible that this is an actual Easter egg/hint about something that may be relevant in the game at some point in the future. We’ll have to wait and see on this one.
Regarding the Nintendo Dream interview question Toby answered about spamtenna (l recommend checking out this full translation, btw; there's more Tenna-related questions and tons of interesting little tidbits from the translator) it's especially significant because it sounds like Toby answered fan-submitted questions to the magazine, and he chose to answer this one about spamtenna, even if it was in a very coy manner. Most people at the time thought this answer meant Toby was trying to leave their relationship ambiguous and up to players' interpretation (the thread of the Deltarune Unofficial Message Boards I found the linked translation on seemed to view it this way, for sure), but even when it happened, I thought it was possibly meant to tease that we would find out more eventually (and we already have with the winter newsletter scene!) — otherwise I don't think Toby would have even answered this one in the first place, or playfully made it clear that he was "so, so happy we want to know."
(the rest is under the cut so I don’t completely destroy people’s dash)
If Toby genuinely wanted Tenna and Spamton's relationship to be left up to interpretation, he wouldn't have done everything included in this post, wouldn't have written their backstories to be intertwined, made their current personalities so heavily influenced by each other and their perceived abandonment by the other, put so much time and effort into hinting at what kind of relationship they actually had, or included a scene expanding on them even more in Castle Town next chapter (never mind sending it out with the newsletter, meaning most of the more dedicated fandom would see it, even if they already gave Tenna away).
While spamtenna is currently, by design, largely implied through subtext, that does not mean it's ambiguous what their relationship was meant to be if you're paying any sort of attention, or even that it's necessarily going to remain as subtextual as it is now. (I wrote an analysis last August — which I’ve since updated with new info & evidence — on why I fully believe spamtenna will get another chance together on at least one route of Deltarune; you can read it here if you’re interested.)
Everything Toby's doing with these two is very intentional, and I would imagine has a purpose, the way all of his more detailed hidden or "secret" lore does. Toby doesn't often even acknowledge ships outside the game itself, as far as I'm aware, and if he does, it's usually the main romance, Suselle, not (quote-unquote) "unconfirmed" or implied relationships; he's said he likes to let the game and story speak for itself, so again, l think it's really interesting that he's done all this for spamtenna, including even being willing to answer this question, let alone being excited about it.
Then there were the spamtenna references in, of all places, the goddamn Undertale 10th anniversary stream — an incredibly significant milestone for Toby and the UTDR fandom. And of course, Toby just had to add an entire Spamton cameo scene, because he's obsessed with that little freak like so many of us are. Right before Spamton shows up at Grillby’s, Spamton A. Spamton inserts the LoadedDisk into the CRT Undertale is being played on… and it becomes Tenna-colored when Spamton is put in. Hm. Okay. Sure. Why not.
During Spamton's cameo, he performs ridiculous acts to get paid, recounts the days after his eviction while attempting to make it entertaining for the audience, begs for more money, and complains about losing everything because of Tenna, before realizing he's being shown on a TV, freaking out, and disappearing; I'd say all of this is pretty par for the course with what we know of Spamton. This scene stays light and silly, and doesn't get into any deeper characterization or story, because it's all just meant for fun, and isn't at all canon.
The final spamtenna reference from the Undertale anniversary stream is one that comes a bit out of left field — it differs from the other two, because it's much more serious and somber in tone, and is brought up in an important context while new lore is revealed about Undertale.
This is considered a spamtenna reference because it's definitely an odd and intentional writing choice to include "business partners" here, and Spamton and Tenna are the only "business partners" in either Undertale or Deltarune. While Gerson isn't literally referring to them, on a metatextual level, this is meant to reference their relationship and imply certain things to us as the audience; the subtext is that Spamton and Tenna genuinely don't want to hate each other, and that even if it appears they do, their feelings aren't actually clear cut at all. It's framed as a tragedy that these two were turned against each other by outside forces, because it is meant to be tragic.
One last supplemental piece of spamtenna lore I have to talk about is the valentine from Spamton to Tenna from the winter 2024 deltarune newsletter. This was one of 44 total valentines sent out, and this was Spamton's only rare valentine, with his other two being normal - meaning this one was less likely to be sent to people.
I still think this is the single biggest piece of evidence of a romantic relationship between Spamton and Tenna, and it also includes very important lore implications for them. It starts off with an extremely obscure reference to an old tumblr meme, "the puppet master (TV) that cursed my dick," because this is the kind of shit Toby includes as lore for Deltarune (he is not normal!!). Toby used to be an avid tumblr user and got a lot of his humor from here, which ended up being a big influence on Undertale and Deltarune. He used an extremely similar meme from the same tumblr account to imply Jevil may also be an ex of Spamton's. This is kinda a fitting meme for spamtenna, I have to admit, with Spamton at this point thinking Tenna was much more manipulative than he really was — a "puppet master" — but it also implies Spamton loved Tenna with all his heart, and was willing to tell people.
Spamton directly quotes/foreshadows a Tenna line from ch3, also implying that both of them see the pipis as their child, and says that he thought they had something, but Tenna threw it away. There is literally no argument to be made that this isn't intended as romantic, unless you think Toby is using the idea of them being in a queer relationship as a punchline (unfortunately, there are somehow many people in this fandom who genuinely do believe that).
And then there's the line about Tenna changing his [credit card numbers] - in brackets, meaning it's an interruption. I mean, Tenna probably changed his credit card numbers, sure, but there's also the obvious underlying implication here of "phone number." When paired with Spamton NEO's Snowgrave dialogue about screaming into a receiver to beg lost friends for help until his voice runs out, it becomes obvious why Spamton is so incredibly heartbroken and angry over Tenna; he thinks Tenna intentionally cut him off when he needed him most, after his downfall and transformation (but of course, Tenna never actually received those calls, because their dark worlds had been separated).
Most of this could have been inferred from the NEO dialogue on its own by people who were perceptive enough to pick up on that connection, but this valentine was seemingly made with several intentions in mind: 1. To imply that Spamton and Tenna had been in a fairly serious romantic relationship that Spamton was genuinely invested in, and had believed Tenna was, too; 2. To further hint in conjunction with the NEO dialogue that Spamton had tried to call Tenna for help after his downfall, and when he never answered, Spamton believed Tenna had cut him off after he ran away, and had never really cared about him; 3. To suggest that Tenna's betrayal hurt Spamton more than anyone else's had, and that Tenna's perceived abandonment of him and everything he'd thought they had together is the main reason Spamton is so deeply bitter over Tenna.
All of this from a few lines of text in an uncommon Valentine's card most people wouldn't see, in a newsletter from before many people were truly aware Tenna existed. In the game itself, I think the biggest direct implication they were romantically involved (besides Tenna treating Spamton’s egg as his child, obviously) is Tenna referring to Spamton as his "partner" in ch3 - he notably does not say "business partner" - and using the phrase "he ran out on me" in ch5, which is almost exclusively used to refer to one's romantic partner leaving them.
The care, complexity, depth and intricacy with which Toby Fox has built Spamton and Tenna's relationship, while still keeping so much of it to subtext and hidden implications is truly remarkable to me. He uses similar storytelling techniques for many things throughout Undertale and Deltarune, and it's one of the things that made me such a huge fan in the first place, over ten years ago; but using queer subtext and a repressed CRT TV character as commentary on the Hays Code, and its effects on homophobia and queercoding in television to this day, as well as using this subtext to reflect the larger themes of Deltarune - the oppression Spamton, Tenna, Darkners as a whole, and the protagonists are under, all of whom are being influenced and controlled by higher powers and the Prophecy - it's really genius. Like I’ve said before, Toby Fox needs to have his brain studied
