What do you think of demon Chara (how the geno end and most of the fan base see Chara, I personally just believe Chara would be a little brat but still nice)
I used to think Chara was evil (or some variation of that). But I dont anymore. It's all the player. [Neither Frisk or Chara]. however in a comic, obviously someone is to blame [and in most comics it cant be the player] and in that scenario, I think what works best is shared blame. Where both Chara and Frisk are responsible for what happened.
I think Chara being as dark as they are in AFAC [but notably not pure evil and actually very complex] is probably a result of early undertale fandom ideas of Chara (though I'm not TQ, so I can't say for sure) AFAC started very early [like 2015 early] so... yeah. And at least that Chara isn't a demon like people thought [but some askers definitely thought so]. And Frisk has partial blame.
Since then fans have had many in depth discussions on the nature of Sans, chara, Papyrus and Toriel (etc). And those of us who have been here a while have seen a change in how people view each of the characters. Mainly going back to the roots of characters and then adding from there.
Some things we know about Chara: they're a human. They came to the underground for an unhappy reason. They became best friends with Asriel. They knitted Asgore a mr dad guy sweater. They liked to mess with Asriel and make creepy faces. They baked a pie with buttercups instead of cups of butter. Asgore ate it and got sick. They laughed it off. They came up with a plan to break the barrier: they would eat a poison pie and die so that Asriel could take their soul and cross the barrier and get 6 more human souls. Asriel didn't want to, but Chara convinced him. They carried out their plan but when it came to the killing humans part, Asriel refused and so, humans killed them both instead. Chara wasn't the nicest person.
If Chara is the narrator [which is a theory with some solid backup such as "it's you" and "it's me" ] then they like puns! Just about as much as Sans Papyrus and Toriel. They have a lot more fun with the player during a pacifist run with what they say about the situation. You get the sense that the narrator [chara?] Prefers pacifist. The narrator [chara] cheers you on and makes the suggestion to SAVE your friends.
And then they show up at the end of geno. Claiming the stats as their own and taking control. (And then you get a scary face?) Or in a pacifist ending after a geno run you see they've taken over control of the body.
To me, all that is like "congradulations. You killed everyone. You purposely went around hunting everyone down for exp and gold. For the satisfaction of completion. Now is your curiosity satisfied? Cool cool. This body is mine now. You've lost your privileges to a "happy ending". You are not above consequences. "
All in all, I think Chara is a complex person. Also just a kid. I dont think they wanted to hurt anyone (at least monsters). They like pranks and puns and just plain messing with people. They like chocolate and Asriel is their best friend (sibling, friend or romantic partner depends on who you ask. As long as they are not siblings, I think romance is fine.) They're not always good, and they're not always bad (like us all). they like monsters more than humans and want the monsters to be free, and are willing to die (and kill) for that cause.
Goldy: To me, Chara is a brilliant deconstructive element that serves Undertale’s meta-narrative. Namely, they deconstruct the idea of a child protagonist saving the world. Firstly, on a realistic level, a kid doesn’t always think things through when they try to do something that’s out of their depth, which the main reason why their plan failed in Undertale. And secondly, when you saddle a kid with that much responsibility, calling them “the future of humans and monsters,” the weight of it- the pressure- is going to be felt in one way or another, and something’s going to give. It’s not a question of if, but when and how.
I personally don’t believe Chara wanted to destroy humanity or even free monsters for the sake of freeing them, but rather, they simply just wanted to measure up to the expectations that they feel were placed on them. Don’t get me wrong: freeing monsters is probably something that they agreed with, but to me, the real root of their motive was just to prove their worth to Monsterkind for taking them in. Which is tragic, because the Dreemurrs’ love was unconditional. It makes you wonder: what has to happen to a child to make them feel like they can’t count on being loved unconditionally? That love is not real?
Even the fact that they call themselves a demon supports this: what would rather be remembered as after your big epic plan failed miserably? A great and terrible demon, or a total loser who failed miserably- grasping for accomplishment that was never theirs to want? Not unlike Icarus who flew too close to the sun. I think the whole “Demon” thing is nothing but an overblown pretense that serves to be self-flagellating and self-hyping at the same time. The fanbase latched onto it because everyone loves a legend, and in typical online-cringe-brand fashion, they fixated on Chara’s faults and possible mental health issues as “evidence” to support what ultimately amounts to a confirmation bias.
We can make anyone appear evil, even a kid. Especially when we need a scapegoat for our choices in a game with a metafictional narrative.
