History Webcomic / PaperTrail

* AmbiguousDisorder: Sitting in the Hot Seat in the church's Dark World forces Susie to spill the beans on her diet - her established unabashed consumption of chalk and other strange objects is reminiscent of pica, but the real kicker is when she reveals [[ObsessedWithFood that she always feels like she's starving and very often compelled to eat anything and everything around her]]; the inability to feel full being similar to the conditions experienced by those with Prader-Willi syndrome. [[spoiler:Subverted as it was revealed that she couldn't get the food she needed, namely meat, due to her poverty, which is the true cause of her persistent hunger.]]

** The SOUL itself is kind of a head-scratcher. On multiple occasions it pilots Kris's body against their will and interferes in their decision-making without Kris having asked or wanting it to do so. But so far it doesn't seem like it means Kris or their friends any harm. On the contrary, every time it pops up, it's apparently trying to help.[[spoiler:Kris themselves suspects the SOUL sees the world around it as a game and wants to keep "playing" with everyone, admitting that they thought about just destroying their home and relationships to see if that would get rid of it.]] [[spoiler:The SOUL, or rather the Player, proves themselves as ultimately benevolent when they let Kris go, so the Light World won't be destroyed and Kris can be free to live their own life.]]

** Kris, Frisk and Chara all give absolutely no clue as to what biological gender they are, and Toriel even reveals that a younger Kris used to alternate between dressing up as a boy and dressing up as a girl. The author has stated that Kris is nonbinary.
** [[spoiler:The Player]] is never shown beyond [[spoiler:the Soul they control]] and so we never learn their gender. Justified, as they're supposed to represent [[spoiler:literally anyone who has ever played ''Deltarune''.]]

** The comic heavily hints that Kris is being possessed by the SOUL in parts of the story, but it's still not clear who or what the SOUL actually are, whether or not they intend to cause harm and why they chose Kris as a host. [[spoiler:Kris seems to think it's because they want to play with everyone and everything around them.]]
** When the SOUL [[spoiler:releases Kris in the end]], is it because they realized they were making Kris miserable and weren't actually helping with saving the world? Or did they, thanks to their omnipotence as a player, manage to observe the Knight's exposition to the Ralsei's and [[spoiler:realize that their very presence was needed to complete his plan?]] [[WordOfGod Word of God]] claims that it was both. [[spoiler:The Soul realized it was causing more harm than good, and disconnected to defy Gaster’s plans.]]
* AndTheAdventureContinues: The Knight reveals himself as [[spoiler:one of the humans trapped underneath Hometown after the bloody war between humans and monsters. He created Kris in order to link the Dark World and Light World, so that the humans could finally escape their prison and take revenge on the monsters. Due to all seven fountains having been closed he succeeds, and the Light World is invaded by both Darkners and angry humans. The SOUL, who is revealed to be the Player, severs their connection with Kris for good]], just as Asriel returns home, determined to make things right between [[spoiler:the humans and monsters of Hometown]]. As the player was a rough stand-in for the readers, this means the "story" will never have a conclusion that we'll be able to witness and ends here. What keeps this from being NoEnding is that this ending was Lynx's plan from the start.

* BeneathTheMask: The actions of the SOUL inhabiting Kris don't necessarily line up with who Kris really is. [[spoiler:As of Chapter 60, Kris' own attempts to 'destroy everything' just to make the SOUL go away are revealed to be a ruse, too - deep down, Kris is a frightened kid who misses their big brother, Asriel, and are scared of being alone to face their hardships.]]
* BerserkButton: Do ''not'' imply that Toriel isn't the best mother. [[spoiler:Sans hammers this button as hard as he can when grilling Toriel about what happened sixty-six years ago, then implying she raised Kris out of spite at the abusive humans from her past]].

-->'''[[spoiler:Asriel]]''': ...And the worst part is....I can't do anything about it, or everyone will...it'll all be over.

** The Knight finally takes off their helmet in Page 67. [[spoiler:We don't see who it is thanks to angles, but the Spade King's reaction speaks volumes]].

* DyingAsYourself: Kris attempts to do this during their FreakOut, as [[spoiler:killing themselves would at least be ''their'' decision, not the SOUL's]]. They eventually stop when Susie interferes, but more because dying would [[spoiler:just mean reviving at their last save point, not because they've snapped out of it.]]

-->'''Toriel''': Leave. ''Now.''

* HorrorHunger: Susie reveals during the sin confession trial that she feels a constant nagging hunger that she just can't seem to sate, and which makes [[spoiler:flesh very alluring]]. It all started when she was in kindergarten and she [[spoiler:ate the classroom hamster]] because of how hungry she was. She's absolutely ''terrified'' that one day, she's going to snap and [[spoiler:take a bite out of one of her fellow monsters, and she puts up her bully front in large part to keep them away so she won't be tempted.]]

* InterspeciesFriendship: Twofold in the story. Kris has one with Susie, who is a monster, while both Susie and Kris share one with the Darkners, Ralsei and Lancer. [[spoiler:Then Noelle gets added to the mix, even becoming an official Fun Gang member.]]

* ParentalAbandonment: WordOfGod has confirmed that [[spoiler:Susie's parents weren't around her ever since she was really young, and Susie refers to her grandmother as the one who raised her.]]

** It is hard to decipher, but it is implied that this is what Lairse's prophecy's about as it [[spoiler:parallels that of ''{{VideoGame/Undertale}}'', which is what happened in this universe.]]
--> '''Lairse''': [[spoiler:Long/Years ago, two races ruled over Earth/lived in the town, '''HUMANS''' and '''MONSTERS'''. After a long battle/riot, the humans/monsters were victorious. They sealed the monsters/humans underground with a magic spell/an unbreakable lock.]]
** The Knight's job to [[spoiler:free the humans]] seem to parallel that to [[spoiler:Dr. W. D. Gaster]] in ''Undertale'', or in ''Webcomic/DogsOfFuturePast'' at least.]]
* PowerupFullColorChange: [[spoiler:Ralsei and the other princes]]' FusionDance causes them to assume a form much like the one Asriel has in the first phase of his Undertale boss fight, their clothes becoming iridescent and shifting between their respective colors.

* TricksterMentor: On [[https://lynxgriffin.tumblr.com/post/187424628113/things-are-hanging-by-a-thread-ohh-heck-new Page 18]], Seam imparts some rather specific taunts on each of the Fun Gang as he fights them...which, when put into context, serve as [[ArmorPiercingQuestion a means to make each recipient consider their actions up to this point]]:
** He asks Ralsei if they're capable of [=ACTing=] on their own, rather than leaving it all to Kris. [[spoiler:This gets explored later in Page 60, where Ralsei has to fuse with his other selves in order to face Kris after the latter has a FreakOut]].
** He points out to Susie that for all her griping about his wasting their time, she'd rather live in the Dark World than the normal one; he wonders if there's something in the normal world she's pining for. [[spoiler:As it later turns out, Susie thinks she's a dangerous, unstable beast who can't function in normal life because of her hunger habits. Noelle helps her come to terms with her eating habits, thus setting her on the path to slowly overcoming her issues]].
** He forces Lancer to realize that he doesn't [[spoiler:(at the time)]] have any power of his own, having relied on the Lightners for so long rather than develop his own abilities. [[spoiler:Come page 43, Lancer forces himself to manifest his own tail-spear to face his father]].
** He tells Kris that though they think they're fixing things, they're actually being manipulated into a more insidious endgame. [[spoiler:[[BreakingTheFourthWall Except that he's not talking to Kris.]] This comes into play in the finale, where it turns out the Knight was counting on the SOUL's desire for resolution to bridge the gap between Light and Dark Worlds]].
* TriumphantReprise: The somewhat ominous lullaby from the credits of Deltarune: Part 1 are given a more uplifting context in Page 60 - it was a song that [[spoiler:Asriel sung to Kris in the past to calm them down when they were freaking out]].
* {{Troll}}: [[spoiler:Seam]] starts a fight with Susie, Lancer, Ralsei and Kris just because he feels like it and continually presses each opponent's BerserkButton while doing so.
* TheUnreveal: As of Page 67, [[spoiler:the King finally sees the Knight's face under their helmet]]. We, however, don't get to see this due to camera angles; however, the reaction of both parties implies that [[spoiler:the latter is/was a ''Lightner.'']].

* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:The Knight's]] ulterior motive is to [[spoiler:free all the humans locked behind the bunker 66.5 years ago by using a human soul to guide Kris into merging the Light and Dark worlds together, so that the humans could obtain freedom once more.]] However, he didn't care if the Light or Dark world gets destroyed, and is even gleeful to see the town on the Light world destroyed as {{Revenge}} on [[spoiler:the monsters. He also doesn't care what the player controlling the SOUL does to Kris so long as they finish the game, since the player longs for an ending.]]

** After a nice little chat in the diner, Sans suddenly gives Toriel his famous empty eye-socket DeathGlare and starts interrogating her about [[spoiler:something that happened sixty-six and a half years ago.]]

-->'''Asriel''': Mom told me about [[spoiler:the bunker.]]

* WhamShot: On Page 63, the last of Asriel's journal entries reveals that [[spoiler:he found out what happened 66 years ago...and whatever it was, it was such an AwfulTruth that Asriel came to ''hate'' his parents, the town, etc. so much that he left for the college that was furthest away from home.]]

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: As Kris explains in the church Dark World, they just want the SOUL to ''leave them '''alone''''', and they're afraid that one day, that desire may lead them to do terrible things. Kris talks about getting rid of "everything it wants to play with", including their friends and family, and finally confesses that [[spoiler:they've been thinking about just burning their home to the ground so there's no place to "play", just to see if the SOUL will leave them alone.]]

** Even later, on Page 69, Noelle tells Susie that [[spoiler:the latter isn't a bad person for [[ObsessedWithFood her compulsion of eating everything around her]], it's that she needed a diet of meat which she couldn't afford instead. Noelle even offered Susie to find a food programme specific to carnivores, or even head to the city together to a steak house or Korean barbecue place.]]

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: By Page 67, it turns out that [[spoiler:Spade King was nothing but a pawn in the Knight's bigger plan. While the latter doesn't plan on killing the former, they've got not intention of freeing him either]].

** Happens again on page 66, when the Fun Gang returns to the Card Kingdom to greet the restored inhabitants. All the subjects are back, and Noelle has made it so other Lightners can enter the unused classroom and play with the Darkners again. Everything seems good for the time being... [[spoiler:...until Kris realizes that [[MonsterClown Jevil]] is missing from their inventory.]]

* FunnyMoments: [[https://lynxgriffin.tumblr.com/post/612338619419688960/language-susie-well-kris-just-let-that-cat-out Susie's incredible Spit Take upon finding out that Noelle likes her.]]

!Contains Examples Of:

** [[spoiler:The Player is never shown beyond the Soul they control and so we never learn their gender. Justified, as they're supposed to represent literally anyone who has ever played ''Deltarune''.]]

** When the SOUL [[spoiler:releases Kris in the end]], is it because they realized they were making Kris miserable and weren't actually helping with saving the world? Or did they, thanks to their omnipotence as a player, manage to observe the Knight's exposition to the Ralsei's and [[spoiler:realize that their very presence was needed to complete his plan?]]
*** [[spoiler:[[WordOfGod Word of God]] claims that it was both. The Soul realized it was causing more harm than good, and disconnected to defy Gaster’s plans.]]

*** [[spoiler: [[WordOfGod Word of God]] claims that it was both. The Soul realized it was causing more harm than good, and disconnected to defy Gaster’s plans.]]

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: The SOUL ultimately frees Kris, and in doing so forfeits any say in or even knowledge of the gams.]]

** When the SOUL [[spoiler:releases Kris in the end]], is it because they realized they were making Kris miserable and weren't actually helping with saving the world? Or did they, thanks to their omnipotence as a player, manage to observe the Knight's exposition to the Ralsei's and [[spoiler: realize that their very presence was needed to complete his plan?]]

* DeathMontage: [[spoiler:The Fun Gang]] dies over and over again in the fight against [[spoiler:Lairse]]. Eventually Kris gets tired of it and chooses to try and avoid the confrontation altogether.

* TheHeavy: The Knight seems to be this. By Page 67, [[spoiler:they claim that they're "not the one holding the cards," thus implying that they're doing the legwork for someone else. It's later revealed that he's doing this for the player, and that despite what he implied everything was indeed planned by him alone]].

* AFateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:The humans who lost to the monsters in the altercation of Hometown were banished into an underground-bunker and basically left to rot. With no sunlight, dwindling rations and no hope of being freed any time soon, they consider their situation this.]]

** [[spoiler:The Spade King. The more things change. When confronted in the Dark World in Noelle's house, he wastes no time berating and bullying Lancer, even threatening to put him in the dungeon after he's defeated the Lightners. Thankfully, Lancer finds the courage to stand up to him.]]
** [[spoiler:Implied for Susie. Her parents have evidently been starving her for years, to the point that when she was in kindergarten, she ''ate'' the classroom hamster because she was just so hungry.]][[spoiler:Later it was revealed that she's living with her grandmother, who's living on fixed income and could only afford what she would eat, namely rice, oatmeal and noodles, but Susie's kind is actually carnivorous, so she couldn't get the nutrition she needed, and would often complain she's hungry, yet all her grandmother did was yell at her for being demanding and ungrateful.]]

* AmbiguousDisorder: [[spoiler:Sitting in the Hot Seat in the church's Dark World forces Susie to spill the beans on her diet - her established unabashed consumption of chalk and other strange objects is reminiscent of pica, but the real kicker is when she reveals [[ObsessedWithFood that she always feels like she's starving and very often compelled to eat anything and everything around her]]; the inability to feel full being similar to the conditions experienced by those with Prader-Willi syndrome. Subverted as it was revealed that she couldn't get the food she needed, namely meat, due to her poverty, which is the true cause of her persistent hunger.]]

** [[spoiler:When the SOUL releases Kris in the end, is it because they realized they were making Kris miserable and weren't actually helping with saving the world? Or did they, thanks to their omnipotence as a player, manage to observe the Knight's exposition to the Ralsei's and that their very presence was needed to complete his plan?]]
* AndTheAdventureContinues: [[spoiler:The Knight reveals himself as one of the humans trapped underneath Hometown after the bloody war between humans and monsters. He created Kris in order to link the Dark World and Light World, so that the humans could finally escape their prison and take revenge on the monsters. Due to all seven fountains having been closed he succeeds, and the Light World is invaded by both Darkners and angry humans. The SOUL, who is revealed to be the Player, severs their connection with Kris for good, just as Asriel returns home, determined to make things right between the humans and monsters of Hometown. As the player was a rough stand-in for the readers, this means the "story" will never have a conclusion that we'll be able to witness and ends here.]] What keeps this from being NoEnding is that this ending was Lynx's plan from the start.

* ArtificialHuman: [[spoiler:While not stated outright, Kris's nightmare about their past heavily implies they are one. It shows them confined in some sort of container and looking out at what appears to be another human body, constructed from multiple parts strewn around the room. The two unseen other people in the room also frequently refer to Kris as "it" and when Kris wakes up, they notice with glee that the SOUL is still in its cage, although it's thrashing wildly in an attempt to get out. Kris then tries to get away from it, but seemingly has difficulty walking without it. Their escape attempt is ultimately unsuccessful and the SOUL flies into their body yet again.]] [[spoiler:This is ultimately confirmed on the last page. Kris is the creation of this world's human W. D. Gaster and was made specifically to free humankind from their underground prison.]]

* TheCameo: [[spoiler:Frisk and Chara appear as living portraits in the Highlight Gallery. Though in there, they apparently go by Noble (Frisk) and Naughty (Chara).]]

* DeathMontage: [[spoiler:The Fun Gang dies over and over again in the fight against Lairse. Eventually Kris gets tired of it and chooses to try and avoid the confrontation altogether.]]

* DramaticUnmask: The Knight finally takes off their helmet in Page 67. [[spoiler:We don't see who it is thanks to angles, but the Spade King's reaction speaks volumes]].
** [[spoiler:He does this again on the comic's last page when he confronts the Ralseis, revealing himself to be a human. It is also heavily implied that he is this world's version of W. D. Gaster.]]
* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler:Kris attempts to do this during their FreakOut, as killing themselves would at least be ''their'' decision, not the SOUL's. They eventually stop when Susie interferes, but more because dying would just mean reviving at their last save point, not because they've snapped out of it.]]
* ExactWords: How [[spoiler:the Knight]] justifies the outcome of their deal with [[spoiler:the Spade King]]:

--> '''[[spoiler:Spade King]]:''' But...you promised...

* ExistentialHorror: [[spoiler:Kris' rant about being controlled by the SOUL and their fears of what they will eventually do to try and escape its presence.]]

* FusionDance: [[spoiler:Ralsei and Lairse (along with, it's implied, the rest of the Asriel figments encountered thus far) fuse into one being to save the rest of the FUN gang from the depths of the "Hell"-path.]]

* TheHeavy: The Knight seems to be this. By Page 67, [[spoiler:they claim that they're "not the one holding the cards," thus implying that they're doing the legwork for someone else. It's later revealed that he's doing this for the player]].

* HorrorHunger: [[spoiler:Susie reveals during the sin confession trial that she feels a constant nagging hunger that she just can't seem to sate, and which makes flesh very alluring. It all started when she was in kindergarten and she ate the classroom hamster because of how hungry she was. She's absolutely ''terrified'' that one day, she's going to snap and take a bite out of one of her fellow monsters, and she puts up her bully front in large part to keep them away so she won't be tempted.]]

* ItAmusedMe: [[spoiler:Seam's entire reason for fighting the Fun Gang instead of just coming home with them.]]
* ItIsDehumanizing: [[spoiler:The two unseen people in Kris's bad dream call Kris an "it" several times. This, along with the fact that they apparently kept younger Kris in a cage makes it pretty clear they didn't really care about them that much.]]
* KnightsAndKnaves: [[spoiler:Noble and Naughty are a variant of this. Although it's fairly obvious who is the liar and who always tells the truth (they ''tell'' you, after all), the real challenge comes from them performing a sort of FusionDance that makes them look the same. From then on, you have to decide by their respective statement who is who.]]

** [[spoiler:Aelsir is pretty fond of adding a certain flair to his sentences and movements. Funnily enough, he infects Ralsei with this too, for a short time.]]
** [[spoiler:Naughty. ''Especially'' when you fail at their and Noble's puzzle.]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Naughty:''']] [[spoiler:'''Wrong''', Idiot! '''I'm''' the liar, [[EvilLaugh hahaha hee hee]]!]]

* ParentalAbandonment: WordOfGod has confirmed that [[spoiler:Susie's parents weren't around her ever since she was really young, and Susie currently lives with her grandmother.]]

* PlotParallel: It is hard to decipher, but it is implied that this is what Lairse's prophecy's about as it [[spoiler:parallels that of {{VideoGame/Undertale}}, which is what happened in this universe.]]

** [[spoiler:The Knight's job to free the humans seem to parallel that to Dr. W. D. Gaster in Undertale, or in ''Webcomic/DogsOfFuturePast'' at least.]]
* PowerupFullColorChange: [[spoiler:Ralsei and the other princes' FusionDance causes them to assume a form much like the one Asriel has in the first phase of his Undertale boss fight, their clothes becoming iridescent and shifting between their respective colors.]]

* SixthRanger: [[spoiler:Noelle ends up joining the team later in the story after Kris accidentally brings her to the Dark World in her basement.]]
* StrawNihilist: [[spoiler:Seam seems to have given up on life in general when the Fun Gang finds him. He's convinced that nothing he or they will do will change anything, since they're all influenced by outside forces and have no real control over their lives anyway. He seems to snap out of it a bit after the fight, however, remarking that even though it might soon be TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt for all of them, "when people care, unexpected things happen."]]

* TokenHuman: Kris is the only human child living in a town full of monsters. It's even lampshaded later in the story. When Kris meets Sans again, he not so subtly points out that it's a little odd for them to be the only human for miles and asks if they have any idea why that is, but backs off as soon as he notices that this topic is making them severely uncomfortable.

** He asks Ralsei if they're capable of ACTing on their own, rather than leaving it all to Kris. [[spoiler:This gets explored later in Page 60, where Ralsei has to fuse with his other selves in order to face Kris after the latter has a FreakOut]].

* {{Troll}}: [[spoiler:Seam starts a fight with Susie, Lancer, Ralsei and Kris just because he feels like it and continually presses each opponent's BerserkButton while doing so.]]

* VillainHasAPoint: [[spoiler:The Spade King uses a living Magic 8-ball in his fight that lets him cancel out the FUN-gang's turns and attack indefinitely. When Lancer scolds him for cheating, the Spade King points out that it's a bit hypocritical of the heroes to whine about fairness when the current fight is four against one.]]

* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:The Knight's ulterior motive is to free all the humans locked behind the bunker 66.5 years ago by using a human soul to guide Kris into merging the Light and Dark worlds together, so that the humans could obtain freedom once more. However, he didn't care if the Light or Dark world gets destroyed, and is even gleeful to see the town on the Light world destroyed as {{Revenge}} to the monsters. He also doesn't care what the player controlling the SOUL does, so long as they finish the game, since the player longs for an ending.]]

** [[spoiler:After a nice little chat in the diner, Sans suddenly gives Toriel his famous empty eye-socket DeathGlare and starts interrogating her about something that happened sixty-six and a half years ago.]]

-->'''Asriel''': [[spoiler:Mom told me about the bunker.]]

* WhiteMage: [[spoiler:When brought to the Dark World, Noelle becomes a mage whose primary focus is on healing and protection.]]
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler:As Kris explains in the church Dark World, they just want the SOUL to ''leave them '''alone''''', and they're afraid that one day, that desire may lead them to do terrible things. Kris talks about getting rid of "everything it wants to play with", including their friends and family, and finally confesses that they've been thinking about just burning their home to the ground so there's no place to "play", just to see if the SOUL will leave them alone.]]
* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: When Susie breaks down after admitting her past sins, Lancer hoists her over his shoulder and tells her that he's her friend, and he won't abandon her.

* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: By Chapter 63, all of Lancer's subjects have been recovered, and the fountains of darkness have been purified. Quest accomplished...only, it isn't. [[spoiler:Asriel's last journal entry implies that the Fun Gang will need to confront their hometown's dark past.]]

* InterspeciesAdoption: Kris, a human child, was adopted by the Dreemurs, a monster family.
* InterspeciesFriendship: Twofold in the story. Kris has one with Susie, who is a monster, while both Susie and Kris share one with the Darkners Ralsei and Lancer. [[spoiler:Then Noelle gets added to the mix, even becoming an official Fun Gang member.]]

* NoEnding: [[spoiler:The Knight reveals himself as one of the humans trapped underneath Hometown after the bloody war between humans and monsters. He created Kris in order to link the Dark World and Light World, so that the humans could finally escape their prison and take revenge on the monsters. Due to all seven fountains having been closed he succeeds, and the Light World is invaded by both Darkners and angry humans. The SOUL, who is revealed to be the Player, severs their connection with Kris for good, just as Asriel returns home, determined to make things right between the humans and monsters of Hometown. As the player was a rough stand-in for the readers, this means the "story" will never have a conclusion that we'll be able to witness and ends here.]]

* SignificantAnagram:
** The different Princes of the Dark the Fun Gang meets all have names that are an anagram of Ralsei.
** Ralsei's name in turn is an anagram for Asriel, the name of Kris's older brother.

** He tells Kris that though they think they're fixing things, they're actually being manipulated into a more insidious endgame. [[spoiler:[[BreakingTheFourthWall Except that he's not talking to Kris]]. This comes into play in the finale, where it turns out the Knight was counting on the SOUL's desire for resolution to bridge the gap between Light and Dark Worlds]].

* DeerInTheHeadlights: Noelle was in no way prepared for the Dark World and it's many dangers and was repeatedly characterized as timid and easy to scare. [[spoiler:So naturally, when she learns she could actually ''die'' there, she's mortifed and freezes up, leading to her powers being nullified in the battle and the Fun Gang getting killed as a result.]]

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Susie and Kris skipped class three days in a row to visit the Dark World and used the same excuse each time. It apparently didn't occur to them that Alphys, Toriel and all of their classmates would turn suspicious and go look for them eventually.

* RealityEnsues:
** Really, why ''did'' Susie and Kris think they would get away with cutting class for three days in a row, especially since Kris's mother is ''one of the teachers''?
** Noelle was in no way prepared for the Dark World and it's many dangers and was repeatedly characterized as timid and easy to scare. [[spoiler:So naturally, when she learns she could actually ''die'' there, she's mortifed and freezes up, leading to her powers being nullified in the battle and the Fun Gang getting killed as a result.]]

** He asks Ralsei if they're capable of ACTing on their own, rather than leaving it all to Kris. [[spoiler: This gets explored later in Page 60, where Ralsei has to fuse with his other selves in order to face Kris after the latter has a FreakOut]].

** He tells Kris that though they think they're fixing things, they're actually being manipulated into a more insidious endgame. [[spoiler: [[BreakingTheFourthWall Except that he's not talking to Kris]]. This comes into play in the finale, where it turns out the Knight was counting on the SOUL's desire for resolution to bridge the gap between Light and Dark Worlds]].

* AFateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler: The humans who lost to the monsters in the altercation of Hometown were banished into an underground-bunker and basically left to rot. With no sunlight, dwindling rations and no hope of being freed any time soon, they considered their situation this.]]

** The SOUL itself is kind of a head-scratcher. On multiple occasions it pilots Kris's body against their will and interferes in their decision-making without Kris having asked or wanting it to do so. But so far it doesn't seem like it means Kris or their friends any harm. On the contrary, every time it pops up, it's apparently trying to help.[[spoiler:Kris themselves suspects the SOUL sees the world around it as a game and wants to keep "playing" with everyone, admitting that they thought about just destroying their home and relationships to see if that would get rid of it.]] [[spoiler: The SOUL, or rather the Player, proves themselves as ultimately benevolent when they let Kris go, so the Light World won't be destroyed and Kris can be free to live their own life.]]
** The Knight for some reason terrifies Kris and is responsible for the Spade King's rise to power before his defeat by the Fun Gang. Him suddenly appearing is what causes Kris to panic enough to pull Lancer and Ralsei into the Light World. But we never see him actually ''do'' anything that could be classified as evil. [[spoiler:After the Fun Gang's first death with Noelle in the party, he approaches Kris in the Game Over-screen with an item to help them later on. But when they try to refuse it, he makes it clear that he was talking to the SOUL, not them and that he doesn't care one bit about what they want.]] [[spoiler: He is later revealed to be one of the humans trapped in the underground bunker-system beneath Hometown, who created Kris as a way to free humankind. While he acts fairly antagonistic and it's made clear he has quite a few screws loose, you could still argue his insanity and extreme actions are somewhat justified, seeing as him and his fellow humans were victims of decades of imprisonment.]]

** [[spoiler: The Player is never shown beyond the Soul they control and so we never learn their gender. Justified, as they're supposed to represent literally anyone who has ever played ''Deltarune''.]]

** [[spoiler: When the SOUL releases Kris in the end, is it because they realized they were making Kris miserable and weren't actually helping with saving the world? Or did they, thanks to their omnipotence as a player, manage to observe the Knight's exposition to the Ralsei's and that their very presence was needed to complete his plan?]]

* ArtificialHuman: [[spoiler:While not stated outright, Kris's nightmare about their past heavily implies they are one. It shows them confined in some sort of container and looking out at what appears to be another human body, constructed from multiple parts strewn around the room. The two unseen other people in the room also frequently refer to Kris as "it" and when Kris wakes up, they notice with glee that the SOUL is still in its cage, although it's thrashing wildly in an attempt to get out. Kris then tries to get away from it, but seemingly has difficulty walking without it. Their escape attempt is ultimately unsuccessful and the SOUL flies into their body yet again.]] [[spoiler: This is ultimately confirmed on the last page. Kris is the creation of this world's human W. D. Gaster and was made specifically to free humankind from their underground prison.]]

** [[spoiler: He does this again on the comic's last page when he confronts the Ralseis, revealing himself to be a human. It is also heavily implied that he is this world's version of W. D. Gaster.]]

* TheGhost: As in the game, Kris' older brother Asriel is mentioned a lot of times, but he's never shown. However, since his secret diaries play a major role in the story and he will presumably come to visit relatively soon, this may or may not be subverted in the future. [[spoiler: He finally shows up right as the comic ends.]]

* NoEnding: [[spoiler: The Knight reveals himself as one of the humans trapped underneath Hometown after the bloody war between humans and monsters. He created Kris in order to link the Dark World and Light World, so that the humans could finally escape their prison and take revenge on the monsters. Due to all seven fountains having been closed he succeeds, and the Light World is invaded by both Darkners and angry humans. The SOUL, who is revealed to be the Player, severs their connection with Kris for good, just as Asriel returns home, determined to make things right between the humans and monsters of Hometown. As the player was a rough stand-in for the readers, this means the "story" will never have a conclusion that we'll be able to witness and ends here.]]

* PetTheDog: [[spoiler: The SOUL willingly lets Kris go in the end, so they can be truly free and the Light and Dark World won't be destroyed by the Knight's machinations.]]

--> '''Lairse''': [[spoiler: Long/Years ago, two races ruled over Earth/lived in the town, '''HUMANS''' and '''MONSTERS'''. After a long battle/riot, the humans/monsters were victorious. They sealed the monsters/humans underground with a magic spell/an unbreakable lock.]]

* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:The Knight's ulterior motive is to free all the humans locked behind the bunker 66.5 years ago by using a human soul to guide Kris into merging the Light and Dark worlds together, so that the humans could obtain freedom once more. However, he didn't care if the Light or Dark world gets destroyed, and is even gleeful to see the town on the Light world destroyed as {{Revenge}} to the monsters. He also doesn't care what the player controlling the SOUL does, so long as they finish the game, since the player longs an ending.]]

* NoEnding: [[spoiler: The Knight reveals himself as one of the humans trapped underneath Hometown after the bloody war between humans and monsters. He created Kris in order to link the Dark World and Light World, so that the humans could finally escape their prison and take revenge on the monsters. Due to all seven fountains having been closed he succeeds, and the Light World is invaded by both Darkners and angry humans. The SOUl, who is revealed to be the PLayer, severs their connection with Kris for good, just as Asriel returns home, determined to make things right between the humans and monsters of Hometown. As the player was a rough stand-in for the readers, this means the "story" will never have a conclusion that we'll be able to witness and ends here.]]

** The SOUL itself is kind of a head-scratcher. On multiple occasions it pilots Kris's body against their will and interferes in their decision-making without Kris having asked or wanting it to do so. But so far it doesn't seem like it means Kris or their friends any harm. On the contrary, every time it pops up, it's apparently trying to help.[[spoiler:Kris themselves suspects the SOUL sees the world around it as a game and wants to keep "playing" with everyone, admitting that they thought about just destroying their home and relationships to see if that would get rid of it.]]
** The Knight for some reason terrifies Kris and is responsible for the Spade King's rise to power before his defeat by the Fun Gang. Him suddenly appearing is what causes Kris to panic enough to pull Lancer and Ralsei into the Light World. But we never see him actually ''do'' anything that could be classified as evil. [[spoiler:After the Fun Gang's first death with Noelle in the party, he approaches Kris in the Game Over-screen with an item to help them later on. But when they try to refuse it, he makes it clear that he was talking to the SOUL, not them and that he doesn't care one bit about what they want.]]

* AmbiguousGender: Kris, Frisk and Chara all give absolutely no clue as to what biological gender they are, and Toriel even reveals that a younger Kris used to alternate between dressing up as a boy and dressing up as a girl. The author has stated that Kris is nonbinary.
* AmbiguousSituation: The comic heavily hints that Kris is being possessed by the SOUL in parts of the story, but it's still not clear who or what the SOUL actually are, whether or not they intend to cause harm and why they chose Kris as a host. [[spoiler:Kris seems to think it's because they want to play with everyone and everything around them.]]

* ArtificialHuman: [[spoiler:While not stated outright, Kris's nightmare about their past heavily implies they are one. It shows them confined in some sort of container and looking out at what appears to be another human body, constructed from multiple parts strewn around the room. The two unseen other people in the room also frequently refer to Kris as "it" and when Kris wakes up, they notice with glee that the SOUL is still in its cage, although it's thrashing wildly in an attempt to get out. Kris then tries to get away from it, but seemingly has difficulty walking without it. Their escape attempt is ultimately unsuccessful and the SOUL flies into their body yet again.]]

** Asriel's secret diaries show that he was really protective towards Kris. He tried his best to get them to make friends, letting them tag along whenever he went outside with his clique. He also worried about their mental state when they began to have trouble sleeping and attempted to tell Toriel about it, only to be told that it was his responsibility as their big brother to comfort them through it.

* NoEnding: [[spoiler: The Knight reveals himself as one of the humans trapped underneath Hometown after the bloody war between humans and monsters. He created Kris in order to link the Dark World and Light World, so that the humans could finally escape their prison and take revenge on the monsters. Due to all seven fountains having been closed he succeeds, and the Light World is invaded by both Darkners and angry humans. Kris finally manages to sever their connection to the SOUL and with that the Player for good, just as Asriel returns home, determined to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong. As the player was a rough stand-in for the readers, this means the "story" will never have a conclusion that we'll be able to witness and ends here.]]

* ParentsAsPeople: Toriel does her best to raise Kris as a single mother, but it's obvious she doesn't really know how to help them through what they're going through. She also leaves them alone fairly often, due to her job.

** [[spoiler:The Knight's job to free the humans seem to parallel that to Dr. W. D. Gaster in Undertale, or in Webcomic/DogsOfFuturePast at least.]]

* TheHeavy: The Knight seems to be this. By Page 67, [[spoiler:they claim that they're "not the one holding the cards," thus implying that they're doing the legwork for someone else]].

* PlotParallel: It is hard to decipher, but it is implied that this is what Lairse's prophecy's about as it [[spoiler:parallels that of {{VideoGame/Undertale}}, which might be what happened in this universe.]]

* TheGhost: As in the game, Kris' older brother Asriel is mentioned a lot of times, but he's never shown. However, since his secret diaries play a major role in the story and he will presumably come to visit relatively soon, this may or may not be subverted in the future.

* ParentalAbandonment: WordOfGod has confirmed that Susie's parents weren't around her ever since she was really young, and Susie currently lives with her grandmother.

** [[spoiler:Implied for Susie. Her parents have evidently been starving her for years, to the point that when she was in kindergarten, she ''ate'' the classroom hamster because she was just so hungry.]][[spoiler:Later it was revealed that she's living with her grandmother, who's living on fixed income and could only afford what she would eat, namely rice, oatmeal and noodles, but Susie's kind is actually carnivorous, so she couldn't get the nutrition she needed, and would often complain she's hungry, yet all her grandmother did was complain that she's bein demanding and ungrateful.]]

** [[spoiler:Implied for Susie. Her parents have evidently been starving her for years, to the point that when she was in kindergarten, she ''ate'' the classroom hamster because she was just so hungry.]]

* AmbiguousDisorder: [[spoiler:Sitting in the Hot Seat in the church's Dark World forces Susie to spill the beans on her diet - her established unabashed consumption of chalk and other strange objects is reminiscent of pica, but the real kicker is when she reveals [[ObsessedWithFood that she always feels like she's starving and very often compelled to eat anything and everything around her]]; the inability to feel full being similar to the conditions experienced by those with Prader-Willi syndrome.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:''Whelp…looks like these kids are back at it [[VideoGame/{{Deltarune}} again!]]'']]

* ClimaxBoss: The second round with the Spade King is suitably dramatic, as it proves the turning point for not only Noelle becoming a proper member of the Fun Gang, but for Lancer to stand up for himself and become a proper king.

* DarkerAndEdgier: While ''Deltarune'' itself wasn't exactly all rainbows and sunshine, the comic takes it a step further by delving deeper into the more subtle darker themes hinted at in the game, like Susie's self-esteem issues, possibly broken home life, Kris's AndIMustScream-situation throughout their first trip to the Dark World and the mysterious "knight" responsible for the Spade King's rule.

* WhamLine: [[spoiler:After a nice little chat in the diner, Sans suddenly gives Toriel his famous empty eye-socket DeathGlare and starts interrogating her about something that happened sixty-six and a half years ago.]]

** And later, [[spoiler:''Kris'' takes on this role, as the truth about the SOUL comes out and the others have to talk him down from his self-destructive behavior]].

* Exact Words: How [[spoiler:the Knight]] justifies the outcome of their deal with [[spoiler:the Spade King]]:

* TheHeavy: The Knight seems to be this. By Page 67, [[spoiler:they claim that they're "not the one holding the
cards," thus implying that they're doing the legwork for someone else]].