Underswap Asriel Headcanons
I’ve always hated how overlooked Asriel is in Underswap. I get that the MK <> Asriel swap doesn’t make much sense, but implications of this swap are fun to think about
I image Swap!Azzy to be pretty similar to his classic counterpart with two major differences. One, he’s a big fan of Alphys, and two, he doesn’t have legs.
The legs thing is inspired by one comic of Monster Kid watching Mettaton’s show and getting super excited when MTT says “Who needs arms with legs like these?” Since Napstaton loves his arms, I though it’d be a funny parallel, on top of me just trying to be original.
Swap!Asriel has prosthetic legs that Undyne made at Toriel’s request. Azzy’s pretty self-conscious about them, so he wears super long sweatpants that he trips over a lot. Swap!Asriel also plays a bigger part in the story than classic MK. He still sneaks out against his parents’ wishes, but that carries a lot more weight when you remember that he’s the prince.
Asriel sticks a lot closer to you and basically becomes your only party member, possessing healing abilities similar to Ralsei’s. His anxiousness shows itself in his acts, especially when he has a flex off with Shyren, though he does seem to enjoy singing with Aaron.
Alphys’ chase scenes involve Chara dragging Asriel along by the hand, with Alphys attacking a lot less out of fear of accidentally hitting the prince. Alphys, along with the additional guards patrolling Waterfall due to the prince’s absence, are under the assumption that Chara is holding the prince hostage, or at the very least manipulating him.
Alphys attempts to reason with Asriel, but the path gives out, causing Chara and Asriel to fall into the dump. The flashback plays out the same, and Chara wakes up to Asriel worriedly calling out to them. Asriel’s clothes are all sorts of messed up after the fall, basically forcing Azzy to come clean about his prosthetics. He asks Chara if they think he’s lame because of it. Chara will say no regardless of which option you chose.
Asriel becomes a bit more confident, even after the Bored Dummy insults him for having such boring magic attacks. He mentioned his love of the stars if you poked around the wishing room, but he’s now more vocal about it. He really likes Hapstablook’s poem about the stars, and he looks through Sans’s telescope, only to find that Papyrus drew on the lense with marker. A classic Papyrus Prank TM.
After facing off against more guards, including 01 and 02, Chara and Asriel arive at the cliff. Alphys actually starts telling Chara the story of monsters before Asriel tries to sneak past with Chara, who seemed genuinely interested. The chase plays out similar to canon, only with Alphys trying to talk Asriel down. If you say just the right things, Asriel can convince Alphys to back off. If not, then the chase continues all the way to the bridge to Hotland.
Alphys doesn’t buckle under the heat, instead grabbing Asriel. In a panic, Asriel pushes her away, right off the bridge. Alphys is now dangling above molten lava. She’s struggling to hold on, and Asriel can’t pull her up on his own.
If Chara does nothing, Alphys falls and dies. Asriel, overwhelmed by the guilt of killing his hero and his only true friend doing nothing about it, runs back to Waterfall. In many resulting Neutral routes, he is still missing.
If Chara does help, Asriel will apologize profusely. Alphys asks one last time that Asriel stay away from the human, even though now, she seems a bit reluctant to. On more violent neutral runs, Asriel does just that, but otherwise, he stands his ground.
Undyne is ticked off by the visitors, but she tries to be more approachable when she realizes that it’s the prince and the human. Asriel mentions seeing Napstaton’s blue prints along with the designs for his prosthetics. Undyne talks about Napstaton, who then bursts through the wall.
Instead of TV programs, Napstaton’s encounters are them filming for their Music Videos. Each one is themed. A science song for the lab, a Halloween song, a love song (which is basically just the musical scene). Each encounter baring the first utilizes the Cyan soul, which is basically just DDR. Asriel can sing in each encounter, and he can even show up Napstaton, giving you the chance to freestyle. If you freestyle on all the previous encounters, then Asriel will (unwilling) play the part of the princess in the love song instead of Napstaton.
Catty and Bratty are now 03 and 04, and their fight is pretty much the same as the unused encounter. Grillby is tough to reason with, as he doesn’t talk, but Asriel can help the fire monster WARM UP to you. In fact, Asriel can help you spare a lot of monsters in Hotland and the Core easier than if you were alone. Also, Asriel can cause Grillby’s attacks to become stronger/more erratic if he attacks the fire monster because fire + fire = more fire.
In the dinner scene with Papyrus, Asriel confirms that the man behind the door is Asgore. Unlike classic Toriel, Swap!Asgore didn’t run away. He was purposely relocated to the ruins to… collect the human souls quicker. Papyrus drops a penny and takes his opportunity to stairwalk away and let you two talk.
Asriel talks about how tense things are between his parents. How tense the guards are as they walk him to ruins so he can stay with his father for the weekend. How tense his dad is when he tucks him in.
Asriel explains that he didn’t sneak out because he wanted to see Alphys, or the “stars,” or any of that. He snuck out because his parents were fighting over the phone. He needed to get out and clear his head.
Asriel chuckles at the irony. If he hadn’t been in such a bad situation, then he never would’ve met you. You, Chara, who saw him for who he was. Not “Asriel Dreemurr,” or “Asriel the prince.”
He was just Asriel.
01 and 02 are out in the back alley selling stuff if you didn’t kill them. Nice Cream Guy puts on a glossy exterior, but Asriel can tell that the bunny man is dead inside.
Undyne actually gives you the correct directions in the Core because she kinda wants you out of her hair. If you couldn’t tell, Hotland’s heat has made her a bit of a grump.
At the end of the Core, you face off with both Napstaton and Hapstablook, the latter now having a robot body and going by Mettaton. Chara can help Mettaton overcome their stage fright, while Asriel can cause Napstaton to tear himself to bits similarly to classic MTT. Yes, that means that Napstaton’s question of “who needs legs with arms like these?” is directed at Asriel. Que happy goat boy sounds.
Anyways, Napstaton has a bit of a Blooky moment before powering down, and Undyne steps in to sort everything out. While Undyne helps Mettaton calm down, Asriel and Chara ride the elevator to New Home. Asriel is the one who explains the situation with you taking the queen’s soul, though he’s even less tactful than classic Alphys.
If you killed Napstaton or Mettaton, not only would the fight end abruptly, but Asriel would lock himself in his room. Asriel would also do this if you started killing monsters after saving Alphys.
If neither of those are true, then Asriel will follow you through the judgment hall, where all of your sins (or lack thereof) are spelled out by Papyrus, and finally, you reach the throne room. Toriel is both shocked and relieved to see her son, but when her gaze lands on Chara, she goes numb. She tells Asriel to go to his room, and after much arguing, he obliges, though not before giving Chara something.
A heart-shaped locket.