the asgore battle is key to understanding chara (as well as the moral of the game)
like one thing that bothers me the most about this is that the game is set up that you learn about the second rule of the barrier late in the game.
you learn that you need both the power of a human and monster to cross. this means either asgore kills you and frees monster kind or you kill him to escape and monsterkind loses their beloved king and will be more down for the destruction of humanity more than ever before.
the game sets it up that monsters deserve their freedom. they were unfairly trapped my humanity, they were mercilessly killed in a war where they never had a chance to fight back. monsters are desperate and cannot stay down here, it’s at a boiling point.
i imagine if you’re experiencing the game for the first time, you can’t help but consider “i would give my soul to them. they deserve to be free.”
and the game hits you with this
it’s a conflicting feeling. should you be happy you’re giving your life for these monster’s hopes? its humanity who killed their prince. it’s humanity who again and again, have done them so wrong.
you are forced into a situation where you have to fight to live. its literally a kill or be killed situation. asgore breaks the mercy button to hammer home that you need to violently weaken him to win -and when you do beat him, his solution to the dilemma is to kill himself for your freedom.
what does this remind you of? chara. this is what chara was like.
chara was forced into a situation of trying to free monsterkind when the rule was either to die or kill a boss monster to leave. they went from a home that made them hate humanity to a loving home that accepted them… with the self-assumed condition of them saving monsterkind.
for a suicidal child who hated humanity and what they are, they must of felt so much guilt for existing in the dreeumrr home. that unconditional love felt alienating and confusing, i wonder if they felt they needed to find a way to free monsterkind to make up for the love given to them. but in a “selfish” way, they still wanted to stay with their new family. a kid can’t help but want to be loved, after all.
i don’t think it’s a coincidence that chara died by the same method they accidentally almost killed asgore with. the timing is too perfect, the method exact. at the end of the no mercy route, chara is consumed with guilt:
* (The potted plant is judging you for your sins.)
* You felt your sins crawling on your back.
* You felt your sins weighing on your neck.
They didn’t want to hurt anyone, they wanted to free monsterkind -otherwise the game over screen wouldn’t make sense. it was asogre’s words, his declaration that chara is the hope of monsterkind and you must stay determined and fight on for their sake that pushes chara back from the edge of death and change fate itself to live once more.
i imagine most people playing for the first in neutral/ pacifist would be tempted to agree to give their soul up for monsterkind. but you can’t let it end that way, you must see to this victory -otherwise you’d give up at the gameover screen. but you’re determined to end this, somehow. asgore thinks of doing what he did for chara, adopting you and giving you the same unconditional love. but if you’ve killed flowey after the omega battle, asgore isn’t interrupted.
We could be like…Like a family…
No. That’s just a fantasy, isn’t it? Young one, when I look at you…I’m reminded of the human that fell here long ago…You have the same feeling of hope in your eyes.
There is an ancient prophecy among our people…One day, a savior will come from the heavens.…
I believe the one that was prophesied was you.Somewhere in the world outside…
There must be a way to free us from our prison.It pains me to give you this responsibility,
but…
Please.
Take my soul… and seek the truth.
Ha… ha…I’m sorry…I couldn’t give you a simple, happy ending…
But I believe your freedom……
is what my son……
what ASRIEL would have wanted.
The dream that Toriel and himself could raise you can’t work. The other children are dead and things can never be the same. He, like Chara, feels unworthy of such a happy ending. He thinks of Chara’s hope for monsterkind. He sees them in you, believes you will find a solution on the surface. He then thinks of Asriel’s compassion and decides to die for your freedom.
Like… this is directly what Chara did. Asgore and Chara are the same. They both wanted to kill 6 humans (in asgore’s case he succeed) to save monsterkind. They both release too late that it’s wrong, that killing (and as toriel later implies, even killing asgore is wrong) yourself is wrong and will only destroy the hope of the underground.
They’re direct parallels to each other. And you can emphasizes with Asgore because you too, are forced into this same system that demands the sacrifice of a life to free people.
But unlike Chara and Asgore, you can rally the hopes and dreams of monsterkind and free the lost souls and break the barrier. The circumstances are different -if it weren’t for asgore’s murders there wouldn’t be the souls to break the barrier. we should be able to understand that for both chara and asgore, freedom was not set to be in the intimidate future.
You alone can not free monsterkind. Nor should you die for this cause.
The message of the game was they had it right at the start: adopt chara, show them hope and love. But never accept sacrifice, never accept the rules that you must kill -be it yourself or others. That will not bring freedom but rather only pain. There is always a third option, even if you don’t live to see the breaking of that barrier you will set it into motion to do so without adding to the misery.
in other words, Don’t Kill and Don’t Be Killed.
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