Line #167 Webcomic/PaperTrail


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5	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/paper_trail_complete_edition_8.jpg]]
6	[[caption-width-right:350:''Welp… looks like these kids are back at it [[VideoGame/{{Deltarune}} again]]!'']]
7
8	->''"One of you will destroy your home."''
9
10	''Paper Trail'' is a ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'' fan comic created by [[https://lynxgriffin.tumblr.com/ Lynxgriffin]]. It functions as a fan-made sequel to the game and follows the adventures of Kris, Susie and Ralsei as they once again venture through the Dark World.
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12	After the events of the first game, Kris and Susie have become TrueCompanions through their shared experience in the Dark World, Lancer rules the kingdom with Ralsei by his side and life in general is sweet...until it isn't.
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14	After getting caught leaving the closet that hosts the Dark World one too many times, Kris and Susie discover to their horror that the room has been cleaned out by the school. Now they have to embark on a scavenger hunt across the entirety of Hometown to get their friends back and return the Dark World to how it was before. And as if that wasn't enough, it's becoming more and more clear that something is not right with Kris...
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16	The comic is available for free on [[https://lynxgriffin.tumblr.com/post/182674743163/paper-trail-masterpost Tumblr]].
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18	Compare ''WebComic/DogsOfFuturePast'', another fan comic made by Lynx.
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21	'''The comic takes place after Chapter 1 of Deltarune. Thus, this page will be rather spoiler-heavy. If you haven't finished the game yet and had planned to do so blind, this page definitely isn't for you. Proceed at your own risk!'''
22	----
23	!!Contains Examples Of:
24
25	* AbusiveParents:
26	** 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.
27	** Implied for Susie. She hasn't been fed properly for years, to the point that when she was in kindergarten, she [[spoiler:''ate'' the classroom hamster because she was just so hungry.]] Later it was revealed that she's living with her grandmother, [[spoiler: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.
28	* AerithAndBob: PlayedStraight every time Kris and Susie go into the Dark World. Not surprising since this fan comic goes with the interpretation that all the Darkners are actually LivingToys.
29	* AmbiguouslyEvil:
30	** For a good while the comic leaves it ambiguous if Kris really is the good person their friends believe them to be or if it's actually the SOUL doing all the heroics, while Kris's real personality is more sinister. [[spoiler:During their confession on the Hot Seat, Kris themselves admit that ''they don't know''. Since the SOUL has been possessing and making decisions for them for as long as they can remember, they never really got to find out who they really are and whether or not they're actually a good person or just do the things they do to elicit reactions.]]
31	** 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.]]
32	** 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.]]
33	** As of Page 58, ''[[spoiler:Toriel]]'', of all people, is a suspect of this trope. At this point, it isn't clear what went down, but [[spoiler:Sans implies that she and the other elder monsters not only murdered a town full of humans (in self-defense, if Toriel's claims are anything to go by), but took said town as their own and somehow erased all memory of the prior inhabitants]].
34	* AmbiguousGender:
35	** 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.
36	** [[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'']].
37	* AmbiguousSituation:
38	** 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.]]
39	** 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 Ralseis and [[spoiler:realize that their very presence was needed to complete his plan?]] WordOfGod claims that it was both. [[spoiler:The SOUL realized it was causing more harm than good, and disconnected to defy Gaster’s plans.]]
40	* 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.
41	* AntiHero: Susie and Kris are both more CreepyGood than anything else and their heroics are confined to the Dark World. In the Light World, Susie is abrasive and anti-social to the point of being TheBully while Kris is a rarely emoting, silent, moody teen whose friendship with Susie developed mostly out of convenience.
42	* ApocalypticLog: A non-lethal example. Every Prince of the Dark, including Ralsei, turns into a page of Asriel's secret diary when brought into the Light World. The entries detail his general thoughts and feeling towards and about Kris from his childhood up until his departure for college.
43	* ArmorIsUseless: Once again, Kris is the only one in the party who wears any kind of armor but they get hurt all the same and, if anything, are actually squishier than both Ralsei and Susie.
44	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: [[spoiler:The fused form of Ralsei]] drops one on Kris on Page 60.
45	-->[[spoiler:Fusion-Ralsei]]: Kris...is [[spoiler:destroying everything]] ''really'' what you want?
46	* ArtificialHuman: 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.]]
47	* 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.]]
48	* 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.]]
49	* BewareTheQuietOnes: Kris heavily borders on CreepyGood in the comic. Their stoic nature doesn't really help and neither does this little interaction between them and Susie:
50	-->'''Susie:''' ''You'' should try being scary.
51	-->'''Kris:''' ''([[SlasherSmile grins]])'' No. I shouldn't.
52	* BigBrotherInstinct:
53	** 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 health 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.
54	** Sans, as usual, puts his brother Papyrus' well-being front and center, even passing up on a date with Toriel to comfort him after a nightmare.
55	* BreakTheCutie: The recovered entries from Asriel's journal reveal, one part at a time, how the Dreemurrs' biological son was gradually broken down by the stress of caring for an unstable Kris, then watching as his parents grew apart before divorcing. Then, as of Page 63, the last entry shows that [[spoiler:Toriel revealed the dark secret of what happened 66 years ago. Whatever it was, it was such an AwfulTruth that Asriel came to ''hate'' his hometown and parents.]]
56	* BulletHell: True to the game it's based on, every battle in the comic consists of Kris, Ralsei and Susie, plus whoever else is in their party at the time, having to dodge a variety of projectiles.
57	* TheBully: Susie might be TrueCompanions with Kris, but her attitude towards the rest of the student body hasn't really improved that much. It's best seen when she "asks" Berdly about the missing toys from the closet. When he doesn't answer her right away, she immediately goes on the offensive and threatens him. A bit of a deconstructed example, since she afterwards confesses to Kris that her mean-and-tough-persona is mostly her trying to cover up that she has NoSocialSkills, because she doesn't want the other kids to pity her.
58	* CantSpitItOut: Zigzagged. Subverted in that Noelle comes to Kris and asks Kris outright if Kris is romantically interested in Susie, then asks Kris to tell Susie about Noelle's feelings for her. Played straight in that Noelle couldn't bring ''herself'' to ask Susie out.
59	* TheCameo: Frisk and Chara appear as living portraits in the Highlight Gallery. Though in there, they apparently go by Noble (Frisk) and Naughty (Chara).
60	* Catch22Dilemma: As of Page 63, it seems that [[spoiler:Asriel found himself in one when Toriel revealed the truth of what happened 66 years ago. On the one hand, the AwfulTruth, whatever it was, deeply upset Asriel. On the other hand, trying to do something about it will supposedly make things ''worse.'']]
61	-->'''[[spoiler:Asriel]]:''' ...And the worst part is....I can't do anything about it, or everyone will...it'll all be over.
62	* ClimaxBoss:
63	** 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.
64	** And later, [[spoiler:''Kris'' takes on this role, as the truth about the SOUL comes out and the others have to talk them down from their self-destructive behavior]].
65	* {{Cliffhanger}}: [[spoiler:Darkner monsters spill out into the Light World. The SOUL severs its connection to Kris, foiling the Knight's plan to rely on its desire to continue "playing the game" and reach the end of the "story." We fade to white just as Asriel gets home, with no way of knowing what happens next... but that's probably for the best.]]
66	* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: The many versions of Ralsei wear clothing that reflects the SOUL-traits they are based on.
67	* TheComicallySerious: Kris rarely emotes as much as their friends, which makes it pretty humorous when they tell a pun, ACT silly to end a battle or get put through comedic slapstick all the while never changing from their default blank expression.
68	* CooldownHug: [[spoiler:Fusion-Ralsei]] gives one to Kris on page 60.
69	* 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.
70	* DarkIsNotEvil: While a lot of the Darkners may look intimidating, none of them are truly evil per sé. Most can be pacified by [=ACTing=] a certain way and even Yisho, the one Darkner who ''has'' to be defeated through violence, turns out to only have been grumpy due to suffering from an egg stuck inside of him and hops away giddily once it's finally out.
71	* DeadpanSnarker:
72	** Susie isn't one for subtlety, but she sneaks out some pretty snarky one-liners here and there.
73	** Ralsei, Eslira and Irales are prone to snark when upset. Which, for Irales, is pretty much all the time.
74	* 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.
75	* DeerInTheHeadlights: Noelle was in no way prepared for the Dark World and its 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.]]
76	* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The Light World and its characters are drawn in all black and white to contrast it with the literally way more colorful Dark World.
77	* DidntThinkThisThrough:
78	** 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.
79	** 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''?
80	* DramaticUnmask:
81	** 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.]]
82	** The Knight does this again on the comic's last page when they confront [[spoiler:the Ralseis]], revealing their identity as [[spoiler:a human. It is also heavily implied that he is this world's version of W. D. Gaster.]]
83	* 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]].
84	* EldritchAbomination: The ''entity'' [[spoiler:(actually the player)]] who the knight summoned and [[HijackingCthulhu hijacked]] to help bring about the world of darkness, described as a curious being with BlueAndOrangeMorality who's as far above the cast as Lightners are above Darkners. Complete with ExistentialHorror worthy of a CosmicHorrorStory.
85	* ExactWords: How [[spoiler:the Knight]] justifies the outcome of their deal with the Spade King:
86	--> '''[[spoiler:Knight]]:''' I have done exactly as I promised. Even now, darkness is spreading, overtaking the light. A new world approaches. One ruled by darkness.
87	--> '''Spade King:''' But...you promised...
88	--> '''[[spoiler:Knight]]:''' I never promised ''you,'' specifically, would rule it.
89	* ExistentialHorror: Kris' rant about being controlled by the SOUL and their fears of what they will eventually do to try and escape its presence.
90	* FantasticRacism: Lairse has a deep-seated hatred for monsters and refuses to let the Fun Gang walk through the Heaven-route as long as Susie and Noelle are in the party.
91	* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:The humans who lost to the monsters in the altercation of Hometown]] were banished into [[spoiler: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.
92	* FreakOut: Kris ultimately suffers one when they're forced to confess their existential crisis on the Hot Seat. [[spoiler:When Noelle and them end up in an underground cave due to the floor collapsing, Kris loses it and repeatedly slams themselves against walls in an effort to kill themselves.]]
93	* 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 FUN gang from the depths of the "Hell"-path.
94	* GetOut: At the culmination of her argument with [[spoiler:none other than Sans]] in page 58, Toriel makes it ''very'' clear she's had enough.
95	-->'''Toriel:''' Leave. ''Now.''
96	* 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.]]
97	* HappilyAdopted: Kris seems to genuinely love their adopted family the Dreemurs and the same is true in reverse.
98	* 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]].
99	* HeroicBSOD:
100	** It's heavily implied that Kris vividly remembers being possessed by the SOUL and dreads that it will happen again. [[spoiler:It's later confirmed that Kris is totally aware of the SOUL being a foreign element that controls them, and they're absolutely terrified of it.]] For some reason, they're also deathly afraid of the Knight, to the point they were willing to pull Ralsei and Lancer into the Lightner-world (without knowing what would happen) rather than trying to fight him when he first appears.
101	** [[spoiler:During their first fight with Noelle in the party, she becomes terrified after realizing they could all die for real and is paralyzed for the rest of the fight, leading to Kris being unable to use any of her moves and the gang actually getting killed.]]
102	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:The SOUL ultimately frees Kris, and in doing so forfeits any say in or even knowledge of the game.]]
103	* HeroicSelfDeprecation: Susie has pretty severe self-esteem issues, not helped by her continually pushing others away and earning a reputation as a delinquent for it. [[spoiler:This actually bites her in the ass when the gang has to answer a riddle that includes a true and a false statement. Susie automatically assumes the statement "One of you is a terrible person." to be true since, well, ''she's'' there. Turns out that was actually the false statement, something Susie registers with blatant surprise.]]
104	* HijackingCthulhu: The knight spend a lot of time and effort to do this to [[EldritchAbomination the Entity]] they managed to summon, [[Franchise/ScoobyDoo and they would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for]] it listening in on their EvilGloating and pulling a HeroicSacrifice to throw a wrench in their plans.
105	* 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]].
106	* InterspeciesAdoption: Kris, a human child, was adopted by the Dreemurrs, a monster family.
107	* 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.]]
108	* ItAmusedMe: [[spoiler:Seam]]'s entire reason for fighting the Fun Gang instead of just coming home with them.
109	* ItIsDehumanizing: The two unseen people in Kris's bad dream call Kris an "it" several times. This, along with the fact that they apparently kept [[spoiler:younger Kris in a cage]] makes it pretty clear they didn't really care about Kris that much.
110	* KnightsAndKnaves: 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.
111	* LargeHam:
112	** Lancer, as per usual.
113	** [[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.
114	** Naughty. ''Especially'' when you fail at their and Noble's puzzle.
115	-->'''Naughty:''' '''Wrong''', Idiot! '''I'm''' the liar, [[EvilLaugh hahaha hee hee]]!
116	* LightIsNotGood: On Page 67, we finally see the Knight without any shadows in the way. Their armor seems to be pale white, evoking divinity...and yet, they're trying to bring about a world of ''darkness.''
117	* LipstickLesbian: Noelle, the very feminine NiceGirl with a blatant crush on the self-proclaimed thug Susie.
118	* MoralityChain: Lancer is this to Susie, kind of. She tends to be a lot nicer to him than she is to anyone else and most of her current improved behavior is the result of his friendship with her.
119	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: During their travels through the fifth Dark World, the Fun Gang encounters a sign post pointing to "Heaven" on the one and "Hell" on the other path. They unanimously decide to take the "Heaven"-route. [[spoiler:When it becomes clear to Kris that Lairse won't let them pass, they decide to go for the Hell-route instead, much to the dismay of the rest of the party.]]
120	* NothingExcitingEverHappensHere: The reason Kris and Susie frequent the Dark World. Both of them have become bored with their day-to-day-lives and would rather spend their time in the fun fantasy-world that reveres them as legendary heroes than the dull reality in which they're considered outsiders at best.
121	* 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]].
122	* 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 with what they're going through. She also leaves them alone fairly often due to her job.
123	* 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.]]
124	* PlotParallel:
125	** 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]].
126	--> '''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.]]
127	** The Knight's job to [[spoiler:free the humans]] seem to parallel that of [[spoiler:Dr. W. D. Gaster]] in ''Undertale'', or in ''Webcomic/DogsOfFuturePast'' at least.
128	* 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.
129	* RedEyesTakeWarning: A pretty interesting example. Kris' eyes are red and when you actually see them, it's a clear sign that shit's about to go down. Not because of Kris themselves, but because if ''anything'' gets TheStoic Kris to react in a way that you see their eyes, it's probably bad news.
130	* RedOniBlueOni:
131	** Susie is the hot-headed red to Kris's calm blue.
132	** Noble is the blue to Naughty's red. Noble is polite, soft-spoken and CannotTellALie, Naughty is loud, rude and a CompulsiveLiar. Also a partially literal example. Noble's portrait is blue, while Naughty's is red.
133	* RunningGag: During the Fun Gang's trip through the Rainbow Jungle, Kris keeps checking things and remarking "Smells like socks". Susie gets so sick of it that the word socks alone is enough to make her fly into a rage afterwards.
134	* SecretKeeper:
135	** Only Kris knows about the save points and the reloads. They also seem to know something about the Knight.
136	** Ralsei refuses to tell Kris why he looks so much like Asriel. [[spoiler:Kris becomes fed up with it at some point and calls him out on it. Ralsei tries to defend himself by stating that knowing would possibly hurt Kris.]]
137	* ShesNotMyGirlfriend: Kris is pretty quick to assure Noelle that they and Susie are ''not'' dating.
138	* ShoutOut: The third Dark World that the Fun Gang visits is basically an extended homage to ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'', with them needing to defeat an obvious expy of [[Characters/SuperMarioBrosAllies Yoshi]] to reach its Dark Fountain.
139	* SignificantAnagram: The different Princes of the Dark the Fun Gang meets, including Ralsei, all have names that are an anagram of Asriel, the name of Kris's older brother. This has yet to be explained in canon, but in ''Paper Trail'' [[spoiler:this is because the Dark Princes are created from entries in a secret diary Asriel kept on the backs of the pages in a Junior Jumble book Toriel once gave him]].
140	* SixthRanger: [[spoiler:Noelle]] ends up joining the team later in the story after Kris accidentally brings her to the Dark World in her basement.
141	* StrawNihilist: Seam seems to have given up on life in general when the Fun Gang finds him. He's convinced that nothing anyone does will change anything, since they're all influenced by outside forces and have no real control over their lives anyway. Seam 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."
142	* SuckECheeses: The "Pezza" parlor Kris and Susie have to go to to retrieve Seam. It's closed upon their arrival and Kris even comments on how they don't believe they've ever seen it open to begin with.
143	* TeethclenchedTeamwork: Kris absolutely ''hates'' it when the SOUL possesses them, but they pretty much have no choice in the matter.
144	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Page 58 has an extended one, as [[spoiler:Sans grills Toriel on what happened 66 years ago]].
145	* TokenHuman:
146	** 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.
147	** By page 58, this becomes a plot point, as it's implied that [[spoiler:Toriel and the other older monsters wiped out a town full of humans and took said town as their own. It's further implied, if Toriel's protests are anything to go by, that it was in self-defense]].
148	* 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]]:
149	** 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.]]
150	** 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.]]
151	** 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.]]
152	** 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.]]
153	* 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]].
154	* {{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.
155	* 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'']].
156	* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Ralsei's refusal to tell Kris why he looks like their older brother Asriel ultimately costs him their trust, as it's yet another aspect of their life that is seemingly controlled by outside forces.
157	* VillainHasAPoint: The Spade King uses [[spoiler: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.
158	* VillainousBreakdown: The Spade King goes from smug to stammering protests when the Fun Gang reveal they have the means to beat him. He gets a ''much'' more pronounced one upon [[spoiler:seeing the Knight's true face, and realizing that he's been a pawn for a Lightner the whole time. He's last seen shaking the bars of his cell and shrieking in outrage]].
159	* 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 in 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]].
160	* WhamLine:
161	** 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]].
162	** As of Page 63, we get a written one from the last of Asriel's journal entries:
163	-->'''Asriel:''' Mom told me about [[spoiler:the bunker]].
164	** Page 67 gives us another one that, combined with previous plot revelations, goes a long way towards explaining the Knight's motivations.
165	-->'''[[spoiler:Spade King]]:''' Y...you...! [[spoiler:You're a '''''Lightner!''''']]
166	* WhamShot:
167	** 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]].
168	** Another one happens when The Knight unmasks himself. [[spoiler:By all accounts, he looks like a completely normal man... Aside from the telltale scars above one eye and below the other revealing that he's the ''Deltarune'' universe's version Gaster.]]
169	* WhiteMage: When brought to the Dark World, [[spoiler:Noelle]] becomes a mage whose primary focus is on healing and protection.
170	* 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]].
171	* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre:
172	** 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.
173	** Later, on Page 60, the whole gang pulls this on [[spoiler:Kris when the latter expresses doubts about who they are without the SOUL. Fusion-Ralsei is quick to point out the good things they've done without any input from the SOUL; Susie insists that they're friends with ''Kris,'' not the SOUL; Noelle promises to help Kris find their own life; and Lancer claims he'll reach out to Kris the way Kris did for him]].
174	** 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]].
175	* YouAreNotAlone: Page 60 closes out with the Fun Gang joining Kris for a group hug to calm them down, and this encouragement from Ralsei:
176	-->'''Ralsei:''' Even in the darkest places...you were never alone.
177	* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: By Page 67, it turns out that [[spoiler:the 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 no intention of freeing him, either]].
178	* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle:
179	** 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.]]
180	** 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.]]

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