going on anon because i’m a little afraid of being crucified for this one but, and i’m saying this as a massive utdr fan, we need to be at least somewhat critical about the ways in which undertale and deltarune interact with race.
to be honest, this started when i saw a post from a jewish fan noting how spamton and tenna, as characters with big noses and big aspirations of money and success, do ring a bit of antisemetic stereotypes, especially in the way that spamtons greed is an active part of what makes him so eerie. he essentially facilitates you to do some of the worst actions you possibly can, which isn’t really helping matters.
from there i started thinking about both frisk and kris. why is it that both are portrayed with literal yellow skin? especially with frisk’s -_- expression, it reeks of sinophobia and yellowface, and kris’s expression is really only spared this connection because you can’t see their eyes. why is it that literal bright yellow is the darkest that human skin gets in these games?
with people talking about the upcoming deltarune chapter 5 and its japanese festival and shinto imagery, theres a discussion to be had about weeb culture and putting japan on a pedestal as well.
it makes me a bit sad because especially within deltarune, there are ideas that leave room open for really interesting concepts about race. kris being the only human in a monster town and experiencing some kind of species dysphoria is a really interesting one, and especially the fact that they don’t seem to have any ties to a previous cultural identity— instead being entirely assimilated into the cultural identity of the dreemurs.
susie as well holds incredible room for discussions of racism and especially antiblackness, considering that her life is essentially marked by being unwanted and percieved as threatening, even in a setting comprised of other monsters, some who definitely look more dangerous than this purple dinosaur. her butchness and refusal to bend to the forces that try to make her obedient and feminine are even more interesting when you read her as black, and people treating her like a violent and inherently dangerous creature just for existing is sadly very clearly reflected in real life. but because race isn’t a topic these games really engage with, it’s not a common discussion topic outside of majority POC spaces.
there’s a lot of genuine value to get out of readings of undertale and deltarune that incorporate race into them, but neither the games nor fandom particularly care to engage in it, which i think is a shame. it’s also important to look at how characters are portrayed critically and to ask if there are stereotypes at play.
Yeahhh... UTDR holds a special place in my heart but it's impossible to deny the orientalism and general lack of racial oversight in these games.