Today on random analysis that has lived in my brain for too long
I think the striking thing for me about Undertale is that none of the bosses are good people
Like, Toriel is a hypocrite
Sans is nihilistic and honestly half the time antagonizing his brother
Papyrus, while endearing, is incredibly self centered
Alphys lies to everyone and has hidden family members
Mettaton is also self centered and abandons his family
Asgore, you know, kills kids
And Flowey is, well, Flowey
And don’t get me wrong, I love all of these characters. But I can also see any given person understandably disliking any of these characters.
Which is why Undertale is such a perfect allegory for mercy and forgiveness. The beauty of mercy is that it’s undeserved. Not a single boss (or character really, aside from maybe Whimsun) deserves to be spared. They all try to kill the player (at least from the player’s perspective).
In world, the child has no real reason to spare these monsters aside from an internal desire to show mercy, forgiveness, and love.
And, in a world that seems more and more bent on retaliation and vengeance, I think that is becoming a lost characteristic.