THE DEMON BEHIND WEIRD ROUTE.
…And why does that happen the way it does?
Oh, it’s because of us, right? Because we’re just so evil and maniacal! After all, we cause the weird route to happen, so OF COURSE, THE SOUL is the explanation for all of this!
We are not the evil dialogue prompts. We are not the voice that Noelle hears, and we are not the malevolent force behind it all. Something else is. Something in game, something diegetic.
It’s summoned by us... called by us… but it’s not REALLY us.
In Undertale, we summon Chara.
In both Undertale and Deltarune, Chara & Acter are two entities which are bound to the main protagonist as well as the player, and they are named whatever the player decides to name themselves. However, they aren't active until the player does something to summon them, to call them.
Chara and Acter are both summoned due to the players want for power, and blind curiosity.
Think of it like college majors and minors.
Chara’s major is power, and Acters major is blind curiosity, and their minors are vice versa.
In Undertale, a player may be grinding for XP in the ruins. Perhaps it’s just something they do in every other RPG game they play. It’s a tedious task, but its worth it so the player can level up, become stronger, and have the game become easier as a result.
This is the want for power.
Suddenly, the enemies stop showing up.
The music is now replaced with this eerie, foreboding, droning ambience...
...And the player is now realizing that something happened as a result of their actions.
...So naturally, they may think, "What happens if i keep doing that?"
That is the blind curiosity.
In Deltarune, let’s assume that all 7 chapters are out and the player just beat the entire game.
They loved it. However, they wish there was just... more.
The game is over now, but they just want more to experience, more of Deltarune. They think back, think to any secrets that they might’ve overlooked…
When they were playing chapter 3 during the sword route there was that cryptic message about how the “forbidden path begins with ice magic.”
Although... they couldn’t find ANY point during the remaining chapters with anything that to do with ice magic that could possibly lead to some “forbidden path…”
...Until they remember chapter 2! When Noelle was with Kris she could use ice spells!
So, they replay chapter 2, get to the part where Noelle and Kris traverse the city alone together, and once in battle, the player uses that “ice shock” spell that they once perhaps overlooked…
Not only does it freeze the enemy, but it leaves them encased in ice on the map itself! And the more they do it, the stranger and more disturbing things get.
The player then realizes that this isn’t just some easter egg, this is leading to an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT sequence of events, and they want to see just how deep it goes.
This is the blind curiosity.
Power could be looked at in two different ways.
You could look at it from an In game perspective where you do weird route by making Noelle stronger, therefore giving her power…
Perhaps it could be looked at as the player wanting power over the narrative.
Not only to experience more of the game, but in a desperate attempt to see a different ending. Maybe a player out there isn't satisfied with the main ending and wants something else.
A way to change the story.
A way to break the prophecy,
...Even if It could lead to something worse...
Don't you want to see what happens?...
And now a question that's probably on your mind by this point.
JUST WHO THE HELL IS ACTER?
...So, do i think that like Chara, Acter was a human who existed before becoming a demon child? Yes. Yes i do.
As for what type of person acter was, however? Thats not really my place to say. And what i mean by that is, whether or not acter had ANY connections to the characters in hometown, dreemurrs, holidays, etc, is honestly up in the air. They could've? But they also could've been some random human that none of the main characters really knew.
It's not relevant to the theory at large and i also wouldn't wanna spoil my upcoming fanfic series, My Deltarune, starting in july!
I mentioned earlier how both Chara and Acter are bound to both the main protagonist and also the player since the game begins, but they only become active once you do whatever you need to do in order to call them.
...I already talked about the player side of things, so let’s talk about the main protagonists.
In Undertale, Chara was bound to frisk ever since they fell into Mt. Ebott and landed on the flower bed, the place where Chara died. So that’s a pretty short explanation for frisk…
...First off, I believe that kris’s soul… used to be Acters soul.
This is the part of theory where you’re going to have to suspend your disbelief the most.
This theory borrows from another.
That theory being: Kris is the goner vessel.
There's this short comic by artist leifLemmon that shows once the goner vessel was discarded, toriel found them and took them into her home, becoming a part of the dreemurr family.
The goner was "colored in with care" and became Kris.
What I'm saying is, i believe that Acter the human Became the goner vessel and then the goner vessel became Kris.
...Let me try to explain.
Something happened to Acter that caused them to either die, or be in a state close to death. Perhaps somehow, some way, they were even shattered across time and space like Gaster was.
Somehow, Acters shattered pieces, essence, and SOUL ended up in the depths and Gaster took possession of them. Goner maker is basically us remaking Acter without us even realizing we're doing that.
We're not completely remaking Acter however. The vessel is just meant to give them a full body once again and for us to control it. However, the process gets interrupted by the second voice, causing the vessel to become discarded.
Now, the vessel is an empty shell with no memories of acters previous life. Then, the vessel becomes one of the dreemurrs and takes on a whole new identity as Kris.
Both Acter and Kris share the same body, the same Literal SOUL... But they don't share the same mind. Regardless of any past lives, Kris is their own person separate from acter...
There was in fact a way to completely bring Acter back.
I'm saying that the ending of weird route is Acter being fully reincarnated, through kris, killing kris's ego entirely.
Even if we don't mean to do so, weird route is basically telling Kris that even if they try, they can't be their own person. They're bound to Acter no matter what. And hell, they may even be aware of it. (Kris is aware of a lot of things the player isn't after all.)
I also do believe that while, yes, Acter isn't active until the player does the snowgrave ritual to summon them, i do believe that they are conscious. Waiting. Waiting to be called.
And i also believe that they are NOT fond of Kris in general. Acter was the original human, and now that Kris is living in what they view to be their own body... well? It probably pisses them off.
Comedic relief foreshadowing character.
The last point i wanna bring up is one that PROBABLY isn't canon at all, but i just thought it was fun to think about.
I know its probably just a stylistic choice for this scene in particular, but this just made me wonder if Acter really did have a slightly different green sweater and also red highlights at the bottom of their hair. I know its probably not canon, but, again, just a fun idea :3
So, let me close this piece by answering the questions i proposed at the beginning!
"Just who is saying that?"
Why, its Acter of course!
"Then who’s voice, is it?"
It's Acter's voice leaking through Kris's! They... might've had two separate distinct voices. And it also probably sounds scary because Acter is a demon child now.
"…And why does that happen the way it does?"
Because. That's Acter using their demon child sigma aura to make their presence truly known.
...Writing this piece exhausted me.
And now im going to relax and wait for chapter 5 to be either proven right so i can brag about being right or proven wrong so i can not brag but still write about it in my AO3 fic.
At least if im wrong then i can say that Acter is 100% my thing so i win either way :33
Also, to FULLY end things off, this theory was inspired by WandyDoodle's oblivion theory! There ARE differences between mine and theirs, and mine is MUCH shorter, but i wanted to give them credit considering its where i got the name "Acter" from and the concept of them being the vessel too.
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