History Trivia / Undertale

** While already known for being the source of Toby composing "Megalovania", ''VideoGame/LiveALive'' inspired ''Undertale'' in other ways as well (some covered in [[https://www.jp.square-enix.com/music/sem/page/lalost/interview/ this interview]]), with Toby directly saying that its Twilight of Edo Japan influenced the pacifism-versus-violence gameplay of ''Undertale''. He's also implied that [[spoiler:Oersted's ProtagonistJourneyToVillain twist]] in that game influenced the character writing of ''Undertale'' and subsequently ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}''.

* IncidentalMultilingualWordplay: Sans' name in the Japanese version is rendered as "Sanzu", which is coincidentally also the name of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanzu_River river in Japanese mythology]] which souls of the dead must cross before reaching the afterlife. The purpose of the river is to judge the sins you committed in life; the more sinful you were, the harder your path to the end will be. [[spoiler: The parallels to Sans' role as judge of your sins at the end of your playthrough are almost too on the nose.]]

* MemeAcknowledgment: Toby Fox acknowledged Sans' popularity in Tumblr as a [[MrFanservice "sexyman"]] by writing a [[https://twitter.com/tobyfox/status/1567739718762364929?t=NwGy0zF2_uQ9PaNW5JX0tw&s=19 short fanfic]] where Sans beats [[Manga/MobPsycho100 Reigen]] by one vote in a "Tumblr Sexyman" contest.

** Closer to the game's launch, several [[LetsPlay Let's Players]] decided to play through the game, most notably ''WebVideo/SteamTrain'' and ''WebVideo/TwoBestFriendsPlay''. Both of them gave the fandom a huge boost of popularity with their several thousand strong fanbases who were equally captivated by the game. Joel from ''{{WebVideo/Vinesauce}}'' was also personally contacted by Music/TobyFox, asking him to play the game (not only does he have a huge fanbase, but skeletons and puns are AuthorAppeal for him).

* CreatorBacklash: Minor example. Music/TobyFox admitted in [[https://www.twitter.com/tobyfox/status/826070605376151554 a tweet]] that he was annoyed by the player character's slow movement speed, but thought adding a run button retroactively would mess up the timing of many scenes.

** Music/TobyFox denied having based Papyrus' personality on a [=YouTuber=] known as Octopimp after a wiki erroneously reported that he had.

** Sans appears in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' as a Mii costume. Considering the popularity of the game, ''Undertale'' is suddenly in front of a much larger audience.

** The theory that [[spoiler:Chara is the game's narrator]] has never been excplicitly confirmed, but the idea is so widespread and has been explored by so many fan work creators that it's almost universally considered canon.

*** Toby was originally going to have the player kill Toriel in order to proceed in the story. As he wrote Toriel's dialogue, he felt like killing her was just wrong and from there, he rolled with the idea of making Undertale a game where you can progress without having to kill anyone. Toriel's first design was something vaguely human before Toby changed it to a goat design. Toriel was also designed without horns, but Toby noted that she looked too similar to the mimigas from ''VideoGame/CaveStory''. He was partially inspired by the mimiga design and loves ''Cave Story''.

* TheWikiRule: [[http://undertale.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page Right here]]. There’s also [[http://undertale.gamepedia.com this one from Gamepedia]].

** The phrase "you dirty brother killer" is often associated with Sans during the OmnicidalManiac Genocide route. Thing is, Sans never says that in the Genocide route; he only says this at the end of the ''Neutral'' path if you killed Papyrus (and then say "no" to the question he asks).

** There's also unused variations of songs that were revealed on the first anniversary of the game; namely a variation of Alphys's theme that was cut for sounding too much like [[{{VideoGame/Earthbound}} a lab song from another game]], an early version of "Spear of Justice" that was cut for not sounding like "being heroically punched in the face", "Dog Hole" (no description for this one), "Dogtroid" was supposedly meant to play if one did a {{Speedrun}} of the game and was rewarded with a [[{{Franchise/Metroid}} picture of the Annoying Dog in a bikini]], an unused version of "Undertale" that was more melancholic and "less effective", and "Patient" was reworked into "Another Medium".

* ReferencedBy:
** In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', a small piece of the final battle against [[spoiler: Lord English]] takes the form of an ''Undertale''-style fight.
** Sans has a cameo in the [[PlayableEpilogue epilogue]] of ''VideoGame/BoxxyQuestTheGatheringStorm'', and gives you his autograph if talked to repeatedly. You can view the scene [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skzGl3Gs2SQ here]]. (The ''Undertale'' music was added by the video uploader).
** As of September 2019, Sans has also been added to ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' as a Mii Fighter costume, along with a remix of "MEGALOVANIA".
** ''Webcomic/StrangeSchool'' features two references to the final Genocide fight's dialogue:
*** [[https://strangeschoolnotsogreat.tumblr.com/post/137361936582/question-iris-in-the-biology-room Talking to Iris]] results in her quoting the pre-fight line "kids like you... should be burning in hell.":
----> '''Iris:''' ....But beings like him.....should be burning in hell.\\
'''You:''' ...That sounds vaguely familiar-
*** [[https://strangeschoolnotsogreat.tumblr.com/post/138896525522/meatlet-jr-yu-knoit-was-a-real-pain-in-the The return of Meatlet Jr]] parodies the boss's "You're gonna have a bad time" quip:
----> '''Meatlet Jr:''' ...ur gonna hab a bath tim
** The console ports of ''VideoGame/LaMulana2'' feature a shopkeeper named Burgerpantheus who, other than the name, backstory, and art style, is identical to Burgerpants in appearance and speech. He also carries a smiling gold sunflower similar to Flowey, and both will make their iconic facial expressions as you navigate the shop menu.
** ''[[VideoGame/HenryStickminSeries The Henry Stickmin Collection]]'': The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz9NnoTBlZA battle against Mr. Macbeth]] is a pastiche of an ''Undertale'' battle with an identical UI, with the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcbPeU0Bm6w music]] being a SuspiciouslySimilarSong for Metal Crusher.
** ''VideoGame/LiveALive'': In a case of recursive references, the [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=FIKewCkA4h0?t=7068 penultimate song]] of the 25th anniversary concert was an EpicRocking rendition of "Megalomania", referencing the rock in ''Undertale'''s version of "MEGALOVANIA". The band even incorporates the first few notes of the song into the finale.

* OutOfHolidayEpisode: An alarm clock companion app was planned as a vehicle for various humorous monologues from the characters. Development of this app was halted to focus on ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'', so in September 2020, Creator/TobyFox took the ChristmasEpisode portion of the dialogue, polished it up, and [[https://undertale.com/alarmclock/ published the dialogue by itself]]. [[spoiler:At the end of Asgore's page, Flowey pops in to incredulously wonder how nobody noticed the date.]]

** Character designer Temmie Chang is more complicated about the subject. She's [[https://twitter.com/tuyoki/status/675513730764001280 stated]] on Twitter that she dislikes pornography that features Temmies (as they're her AuthorAvatar) and will likely intervene with porn blogs focusing on them; she's additionally [[https://twitter.com/tuyoki/status/675516692974448640 asked]] that all Temmie porn be tagged "Temmoi."

** ''[[VideoGame/HenryStickminSeries The Henry Stickmin Collection]]'': The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJWAG8OprW0 battle against Mr. Macbeth]] is a pastiche of an ''Undertale'' battle with an identical UI, with the music being a SuspiciouslySimilarSong for Metal Crusher.

** ''[[VideoGame/HenryStickminSeries The Henry Stickmin Collection]]'': The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJWAG8OprW0 battle against Mr. Macbeth]] is a pastiche of an''Undertale'' battle with an identical UI, with the music being a SuspiciouslySimilarSong for Metal Crusher.

* MemeAcknowledgement: Toby Fox acknowledged Sans' popularity in Tumblr as a [[MrFanservice "sexyman"]] by writing a [[https://twitter.com/tobyfox/status/1567739718762364929?t=NwGy0zF2_uQ9PaNW5JX0tw&s=19 short fanfic]] where Sans beats [[Manga/MobPsycho100 Reigen]] by one vote in a "Tumblr Sexyman" contest.

** ''Webcomic/StrangeSchool'': To the final Genocide fight's dialogue:
*** [[https://strangeschoolnotsogreat.tumblr.com/post/137361936582/question-iris-in-the-biology-room When]] talking to Iris: The fight's line "kids like you... Should be burning in hell.":
----> Iris: ….But beings like him…..should be burning in hell.\\
You: …That sounds vaguely familiar-
*** [[https://strangeschoolnotsogreat.tumblr.com/post/138896525522/meatlet-jr-yu-knoit-was-a-real-pain-in-the The return of Meatlet Jr]]: The fight's line: "You're gonna have a bad time":
----> Meatlet Jr: ...ur gonna hab a bath tim

** Sans is now in [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Smash]] as a Mii costume. Considering the popularity of the game, ''Undertale'' is suddenly in front of a much larger audience.

** [[http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2016/02/undertale_creator_open_to_nintendo_port_but_wouldnt_be_able_to_code_it_himself Toby spoke to]] Nintendo about the possibility of creating a port of Undertale for the 3DS or Wii U, but said it would be difficult as neither console supports Game Maker. With the Wii U itself pretty much dead in the water, it's very unlikely that a version for that console will ever happen. Indeed, though an ''Undertale'' port on a Nintendo console was eventually released, it was for the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, not either of the aforementioned.

** [[http://existentialgamer.com/interview-toby-fox-of-undertale In an interview]] Toby mentions that "Another Medium", "Heartache", "Fallen Down" (as mentioned above) and "Nyeh Heh Heh"/"Bonetrousle" were all songs he made for other projects that got recycled into ''Undertale''. In particular, "Heartache" and "Nyeh Heh Heh"/"Bonetrousle" were originally composed for ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}''[[note]]the former was [[spoiler:Jevil's original battle theme]] before being replaced by [[spoiler:"THE WORLD REVOLVING"]], and the latter two are based on the original regular battle theme that "Rude Buster" replaced[[/note]], which started development a year before ''Undertale'' did only to be put on hold until after ''Undertale'' released.

* BootstrappedLeitmotif: Most animated fanworks and fangames involving [[spoiler:Chara/The Fallen Child]] have "Megalo Strike Back" or a remix of it as their theme. While the song doesn't originate from ''Undertale'' itself, it was one of Toby Fox's earlier compositions from the ''VideoGame/{{Earthbound}}'' fan album ''I Miss You - Earthbound 2012''. The fandom decided it was fair game since Toby himself used another of his songs from the album ("Fallen Down") in the game. "Star", a CutSong meant to play after dodging one of Madjick's attacks for long enough, also gained popularity as Chara's theme due to several musicians bringing that idea to prominence in the years after the game's release.

** As of September 2019, Sans has also been added to ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' as a Mii Fighter costume, along with a new remix of Megalovania.
** ''Webcomic/StrangeSchool'': To the Sans fight's dialogue:

** The phrase "you dirty brother killer" is often associated with Sans during the KillEmAll Genocide route. Thing is, Sans never says that in the Genocide route; he only says this at the end of the ''Neutral'' path if you killed Papyrus (and then say "no" to the question he asks).

** There's a unused regal-sounding remix of the GameOver theme within the game files. According to Toby, this would have originally played when the player met Asgore instead of "Small Shock", but it didn't fit the mood of the scene.

** The infamous "get dunked on" GameOver screen is associated with whenever the Genocide final boss kills you. However, this only applies when you allow yourself to be "[[ISurrenderSuckers spared]]".

* QuoteSource
** CryLaughing
** DefensiveWhat
** SelfConstructedBeing
** ThatOneBoss.{{RPG}}