Characters / Deltarune Card Castle Royalty

Deltarune Main Character Index
The Three Heroes
Darkners: Card Kingdom (Card Castle Royalty) | Cyber World (Spamton)
Lightners
Other Characters

General Tropes

"Historically, this land was ruled by the Four Kings, from CARD CASTLE to the East. But, recently, a strange knight appeared... And three of the kings were locked away. The remaining king put him and his strange son into power."

— Seam describing how the King of Spades took over the Card Kingdom

The Arc Villain of Chapter 1 and his Co-Dragons.

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• Big, Thin, Short Trio: King is Big, Rouxls is Thin and Lancer is Short.
• Cartoon Creature: None of them align with any clear species. Rouxls more plainly resembles a human, but with colors and a face that mark him as magical instead. On the other hand, Lancer and King specifically both seem to be animalistic cartoon creatures with differing traits and inspiration:
  • King's large pointed incissors, clawed fingers, enjoyment of cashews, and the hamster wheel and suckable water bottle in his prison all indicate he was designed as some kind of giant rodent.
  • Lancer on the other hand lacks all of these classic rodent traits, but his large black nose and eating salsa out of a honeypot may bring bears to mind (perhaps a certain one in particular), with his dumpy round body, color scheme, and the distribution of black and white across his body along with black-shrouded eyes being comparable to a panda. His tongue hanging outside his mouth is also a stereotypically dog-like feature.
• Final Boss: Besides Jevil, who can be fought at any point before King, Rouxls and King will be the final enemies you face in Chapter 1.
• Living Toys: Well, living cards, but the royalty is represented by cards in the Light World: The Jack of Spades for Lancer, the Rules Card for Rouxls Kaard, while the King's card remains unknown, but it probably doesn't take a genius to figure it out.
• Nice Mean And In Between: Lancer, King and Rouxls Kaard, respectively. Lancer is a friendly Harmless Villain who becomes a Morality Pet to Susie (Nice), Rouxls is a Big Bad Wannabe who, despite finding him annoying, genuinely cares for Lancer (In-Between), and King is a Fat Bastard of a tyrant with a few small redeeming qualities at best (Mean).
• Playing Card Motifs: See Living Toys above.

King

The King

"To my people, I'm a hero. To you? I'M THE BAD GUY!!!"

"Soon, this world shall be blanketed in darkness... And DARKNERS shall RULE it! Then, you may see what it is like to live in DESPAIR!"

The ruler of the Card Castle, the King of Spades is Lancer's father, and the one trying to halt the progress of the Lightner heroes.

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• 0% Approval Rating: Nobody likes King. His son, Lancer, is the only one to show any compassion towards him in the whole game, enough that this puts him against the main characters for a while; however, he still overthrows and imprisons King in the end anyway if the player opts to keep true to a pacifistic playstyle, netting the King a hefty dosage of Laser-Guided Karma.
• Abusive Dad: Threatening to toss his only son off of the top of the castle just because he tried to befriend the heroes and commenting on the splatter it would make to screw with them sure isn't winning him any "Father of the Year" awards. Plenty of dialogue suggests that he has completely neglected Lancer altogether. Chapter 2 walks this back a bit, as he says was bluffing and never intended to actually harm his son, and does display genuine care and concern about Lancer; still not winning any "Dad of the Year" awards.
• Adipose Rex: He has a noticeably big and round stomach, and is the oppressive King of the Card Kingdom.
• Affectionate Nickname: In Chapter 2, he's fond of calling his son Lancer a "little pumpkin".
• Arc Villain: Of Chapter 1, having seized control of the Card Kingdom and locked up the other three Kings while he orders their forces to hunt down the heroes.
• Badass Cape: He wears a black mantle with a prominent collar. It flies off on its own after he's defeated.
• Belly Mouth: Complete with a spade tongue.
• Berserk Button: He gets angry when you trash talk the gigantic water bottle in his cell.
• Beware the Silly Ones: He looks ridiculous as all get-out, but he's incredibly dangerous.
• Big "NO!": In the peaceful ending to Chapter 1, Lancer gathers a mob of his subjects, overthrows him, and then orders him to go to his room. As said mob drags the King away, he screams this.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: During the Undertale 6th Anniversary Stream, invokedToby Fox mentioned that the King was being influenced by the Card Kingdom's Dark Fountain, making him more aggressive than he should be. By the time you meet him again in Chapter 2, he's still a racist jackass, but is shown to have truly cared about his son and is just slightly calmer, as long as you don't push his Berserk Button. It's implied his Fantastic Racism, or at the very least dislike of Lightners has been a thing before the Knight showed up, but the Dark Fountain made those qualities more visible and extreme.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Pun aside, King fully acknowledges that he's seen as the bad guy by the heroes. He's still going to murder some kids because of his Fantastic Racism for Lightners and his urge to maintain his power, though.
• Chess Motifs: As the King, he doesn't leave his castle, instead having Lancer and his minions fight the heroes instead. Once they do reach him, defeating him ends Chapter 1.
• The Comically Serious: He's rarely comical, but one recurring joke from Chapter 2 is that some characters will comment on the hamster cage water bottle in the corner of his cell, prompting him to start feverishly sucking on it and demanding their envy.
• Composite Character: Of both Asgore and Flowey, inheriting the former's position and the latter's cold, violent attitude and Darwinist beliefs.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist:
  • While King is merely Deltarune's first Arc Villain, he nonetheless bears some significance due to how starkly different he is from Undertale's Asgore. The latter was a kind, gentle ruler who loved his children dearly and was extremely hesitant when it came to having to kill Frisk. This King is a brutal, openly racist dictator who relishes in his own villainy, threatens to throw his own son off the side of the castle, and doesn't hesitate to get into fights.
  • As the game's first major antagonist, he's this to Toriel. Toriel also loved her kids and treated Frisk with love and kindness (to a rather overbearing degree sometimes), only fighting Frisk to keep them from exiting the Ruins, for fear of Asgore killing them. King, meanwhile, will gladly kill Kris in a heartbeat, and unlike Toriel who eventually relents and allows Frisk to pass with a heavy heart, King remains bitter after his defeat. To bring the contrast even further, Frisk could potentially kill Toriel in one hit after she lets her guard down, while King pulls a similar trick by blindsiding the heroes once Ralsei heals him.
• Cutscene Power to the Max: No matter how well your party does against him in the actual battle (if you've already fought and beat Jevil earlier on, the King isn't likely to pose much of a threat to you), your party will get absolutely trashed in the cutscene that follows the fight.
• Dark Is Evil: One of the few genuinely evil Darkners, who utterly relishes his bad guy role until the bitter end. However, the Undertale 6th Anniversary Stream implies he was simply driven mad by the Dark Fountain's influence.
• Didn't See That Coming: It's one thing to expect an all-out battle with the legendary heroes. It's another for your son who you've horribly mistreated and tried to kill to pull a successful coup d'état and oust you without even giving you a chance to retaliate. Probably shouldn't have treated your kingdom's subjects like garbage, eh?
• Dirty Coward: Either after being beaten in a fight or ended nonviolently by weathering his assault, he gives a short speech about his motives and seems to be ready to make a Heel–Face Turn, asking Ralsei to heal him. When Ralsei obliges, he immediately gets up and brutalizes the party with his renewed vigor and element of surprise and reveals that the entire thing was just an act.
• Disc-One Final Boss: The final confrontation and a Point of No Return for Chapter 1, culminating in everything the player's learned up to that point as the chapter's climax.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: He acts extremely indignant if Kris and Susie come to visit him in the dungeon in Chapter 2, saying almost word for word that he doesn't want their pity and he is in fact quite content with living in his new jail cell with an awesome hamster wheel and giant bottle of water that he can suck on whenever he likes.
• The Dragon: To the Knight. Bizzarely enough, the fact that the King apparently put Lancer and the Knight in power instead of himself implies he's his own son's right hand. But Lancer is still the one that answers to him.
• Epic Flail: Uses a spade-shaped blade that emerges from his second mouth as a weapon, both to attack directly and to fling the box containing the SOUL around into other bullets.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Chapter 2 reveals that his threat to drop Lancer off of the roof was a bluff. Although he might be a neglectful father, he would never think of actually harming his son, and even asks the heroes if Lancer is happy. He's also shown to still be affectionate with Queen during the chapter's epilogue.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Talking to him early in Chapter 2 has him reveal that threatening to throw Lancer off the roof was a bluff he never would have acted on (and even if he did, had full confidence Lancer would just bounce back) and seems genuinely disgusted when the party is convinced he would actually hurt his own son. He might be a neglectful father, but he won't hurt his son, ever.
  • He will call out the trio if you don't recruit all the characters from the Cyber World. Doubly so if the player did the Weird Route.
    King: ...Talk to you? Hah. You left them behind, didn't you? Just as you left us... Begone.
  • He outright admits Queen is much worse than he is. Ironically, while he is right when it comes to being a tyrant (Queen outright brainwashes her minions, something King didn't do), he couldn't be more wrong when it comes to their personalities; Queen is a goofy, affable Well-Intentioned Extremist, while King is a self-serving bastard with one redeeming quality.
• Evil Counterpart: To Asgore. Asgore had a legitimate excuse to be angry at humans, loved his children, and his cruelty had a lot of standards, plus he was adored by many of his people, with the promise that he'd free them all from the underground. King is a tyrant with an excuse lacking any strong roots, a bad father, and has few standards and little remorse for his evil.
• Evil Laugh: Lancer's own Un-Evil Laugh made much deeper and with a bit more reverb, which succeeds in making it properly menacing.
• Evil Overlord: He is the cruel ruler to the people of the Card Kingdom.
• Evil Sounds Deep: The King's Voice Grunting is harsh and very deep in pitch, helping to cement his evil and malevolent character.
• Face Framed in Shadow: Most of his dialogue portraits (barring a few silly ones) have shadows covering half his face.
• Fantastic Racism: Absolutely despises Lightners for what he perceives as abandoning the Darkners, and wants to Take Over the World so that Darkners will rule supreme and Lightners will "live in despair".
• The Farmer and the Viper: He asks Ralsei to heal him, only to attack him afterwards.
• Fat Bastard: One of the pudgiest and least sympathetic denizens of the Dark World.
• Furry Reminder: In Chapter 2, his cell has a gigantic wheel and a suckable water bottle (which, if prompted, he will proudly drink from, as if expecting you to envy him). All this, his bodily shape, and his front teeth looking suspiciously like large rodent incisors may imply that he's actually a gigantic anthropomorphic hamster.
• Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: His battle style is notably more physical than Queen's, using the spear that comes out of his Belly Mouth to drag the bullet box every which way.
• Hate Sink: He's utterly detestable, being incredibly smug, horrible to his subjects and even his own son, and is an exploitative coward willing to play dirty. His motivations are far too flimsy to justify what he does and how he acts, and once it's revealed that he would happily threaten his own son's life, he has absolutely zero redeeming qualities left or implied. Played with during Chapter 2, where talking to him reveals that his threat was a bluff; he neglects Lancer, but wouldn't go so far as to actually hurt his son, and further interaction reveals that deep down, he genuinely cares about him. He's still a prick, though.
• Heroic Wannabe: Despite his pre-battle taunt, the other Darkners don't see him as their hero. Most of them are downtrodden due to him locking up their rightful rulers and because of his draconian policies. On a run where combat was avoided for the most part, they're willing to help Lancer, a child, overthrow him and become their leader because they were treated well by Kris's party and were sick to death of the tyrant.
• His Name Really Is "Barkeep": King is never referred to by any name or full title other than "the King", proper noun included. Even his battle text calls him King, so it most likely is his real name.
• Interface Screw: He can physically interact with the battle window, turning it into a spiked cage or using his spade flail to drag it around (or both of those at the same time).
• I Surrender, Suckers: He pretends to be either worn down from battle (if beaten) or exhausted (if spared), asking Ralsei to heal him so they can talk. When Ralsei obliges, the King promptly attacks again.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk:
  • King not only tries to kill Kris and their friends himself, but even pulls an I Surrender, Suckers by pretending that he's going to make a Heel–Face Turn, and then immediately attacks and nearly succeeds in killing Kris while their guard is down.
  • King's time in prison after Chapter 1 seems to soften him a bit, exposing a tender side — however slight — that he's had from the start. The protagonists can visit King in his cell during Chapter 2; midway through the first visit, he asks if Lancer is doing okay since they last met. When Susie presses him on his treatment of Lancer, King then reveals that his threat of dropping Lancer from the castle roof was a bluff. He's legitimately offended that the heroes thought he'd stay so true to his words. And when Queen drops by and declares that she's taking Lancer under her wing, King asks her to cheer him up in a specific way should he ever grow upset.
• Kneel Before Zod: When the party confronts him, he threatens to throw Lancer off the roof of his castle, unless they submit to him.
• Large and in Charge: As the ruler of the Card Kingdom, his size dwarfs those of the heroes and his subjects.
• Laser-Guided Karma: In pacifist runs, the King is defeated not by our heroes and their wits, but by Lancer overthrowing him and tossing him in the dungeon before he can even hope to fight back. Considering he did the same to anyone that opposed him, including the other three Kings of the region, it's a pretty fitting fate for such a violent man. Even in the "violent" ending of Chapter 1, where it seems like his only comeuppance for despotically ruling the Card Kingdom and nearly killing his own son and the main trio is being put to sleep by Ralsei, he gets thrown in Ralsei's dungeon in Chapter 2 onwards.
• Leitmotif: "Card Castle", the minimalistic 8-bit theme of his lair, which is remixed in "Chaos King" (his battle theme) and "Basement" (the castle's dungeon).
• Locked Out of the Loop: If talked to at the end of Chapter 2, he'll tell the Fun Gang that though they may have bested him, they'll soon face someone even more dangerous than him.... to which Susie replies that they've already met said person (Queen), causing him to give a Big "WHAT?!" and Queen to enter the scene to further humiliate him.
• Multi Purpose Tongue: He uses the spade tongue in his Belly Mouth to attack.
• No-Nonsense Nemesis: He didn't exactly expect Lancer to succeed in dealing with the three heroes, but the instant he realizes his son tried to befriend them, followed by realizing that they were right there, he instantly starts trying to murder them as soon as possible and only saves the villain monologues for in-between his attacks. He even nearly manages to win due to this mercilessness.
• Non Sequitur, *Thud*: In the "violent" ending, Ralsei uses Pacify on him, and right before he falls asleep, he calls Ralsei a "sweet little pumpkin", which is pretty out of the blue considering his attitude up until that point. Funnily enough, it sounds extremely similar to the nicknames that Lancer would give Ralsei.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: At first, it seems that he's motivated solely by seeking revenge on the Lightners, but it quickly becomes apparent that King is just a selfish tyrant looking to expand his realm by conquering both the Light and Dark Worlds.
• Orcus on His Throne: He never confronts the heroes himself until they reach him on the roof of his castle, preferring to send Lancer and his soldiers to deal with them instead. It goes about as well as you would expect.
• Pet the Dog: If the player visits him in prison during Chapter 2, he'll ask if Lancer is OK after all the things he put him through in Chapter 1, and claims he was never in real danger from him. Of course, he's a known liar, and Susie flat-out ignores him.
• Playing Card Motifs: King of Spades. The spades suit represents a sword, and fittingly, he is a rather violent person. In fortune-telling, the King of Spades often represents an authoritative, ambitious, and likely self-serving man, reflecting King's tyrannical nature. It’s also noted that there are three other Kings in the Card Kingdom, presumably for the other three suits. After being corrupted by the Knight, King decided to conquer all their kingdoms.
• Put on a Prison Bus: If you spare every opponent (which includes making sure that Susie won't beat anyone besides Lancer and C.Round into submission), his last appearance will have him being overthrown and imprisoned. No matter how Chapter 1 will end, Chapter 2 shows King is still in prison.
• Shadow Archetype:
  • Though he only shows up at the end, during Chapter 1 King serves as this towards Susie by essentially being a dark mirror of the monster she initially presents herself as and who others assume her to be, and a twisted conclusion of what she could be if she never grew out of it - a tyrannical, cynically unhappy bully who only gets their way through intimidation and aggression. Visually, he's a hulking monster with threatening Hidden Eyes and a monstrous mouth as one of his defining features, both on his face and stomach. Susie's growth is kickstarted by and arguably best shown through her budding friendship and protective streak with Lancer, the son King neglects and who comes into conflict with the party by threatening to kill. This is capped off with the phrase, "Quiet people piss me off"; this was part of Susie's Establishing Character Moment by threatening to eat Kris's face before not going through with it, and what ends up cementing her Heel–Face Turn and friendship to Kris is attacking him and standing up for her friend in response to King saying it - and at this moment, her eyes finally become fully visible to differentiate her from him.
  • It's also been noted that his narrative role contrasts Asgore from the previous game. Asgore is built up to be a big, menacing opponent, when in reality he's just a Gentle Giant trapped in a situation nobody wants. Likewise, this guy is built up to be in a similar position, only it turns out that he really is the tyrant you're expecting to fight. And while Asgore's tragic past and worst actions are explicitly told to have come from losing his beloved children, King's child is still alive and suffering from his whims and neglect alongside the rest of his people.
• Sophisticated as Hell: A far less overt example than Rouxls, but he speaks largely in a very typical kingly manner during his introduction, fight, and for much of the scene afterwards... which makes it a lot more jarring and threatening when he loudly declares himself to be "THE BAD GUY!!!" to the heroes with an evil laugh or when he grabs Kris and tells them that "Quiet people piss [him] off.", compared to when the largely-informal Lancer and Susie say them respectively.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Essentially looks like a giant version of Lancer, and the two share physical similarities with Queen, whose exact relation to the Spades is rather ambiguous.
• Take Over the World: He dreams of blanketing the world in an eternal darkness, ushering a new world where the Darkners reign over the Lightners.
• Talking the Monster to Death: Averted and Defied by him. King is so deranged that he refutes every attempt to talk to him. Even when it seems like he's finally in a place where he wants to talk, it turns out to be a complete ruse, and he had absolutely no sincerity in their words getting through to him.
• Trademark Favorite Food: King apparently likes cashews, as when Queen asks him what he wants from the store he specifically asks for them.
• Tyrant Takes the Helm: Pulled this before the start of the game by dethroning the other three kings and locking them up.
• Ungrateful Bastard: He "thanks" Ralsei for healing him by attacking all three main characters.
• Unhand Them, Villain!: When he grabs Lancer once the party confronts him, his response to them telling him to "let [his son] go" is to threaten to drop Lancer... off the castle roof.
• Unwitting Pawn: His talk about darkness conquering the world implies he had no idea the Knight is an Omnicidal Maniac.
• Vagueness Is Coming: Parodied at the end of Chapter 2, when he attempts to pull this by vaguely foreshadowing the existence of Queen, almost in the same way Jevil did in Chapter 1, only to be informed that you've already met her.
• Villain Has a Point: He's become spiteful over having been abandoned by the Lightners, deprived of what Ralsei defines as every Darkner's purpose. While this doesn't excuse his antagonism in Chapter 1, he views you failing to sufficiently recruit enough Darkners from Chapter 2 as proof of his outlook.
• Villainous Breakdown: He loses it once Lancer and his subjects overthrow him.
• Voice Grunting: A deep, gruff grunt accompanies his text.
• Would Hurt a Child: Threatens to throw Lancer, his own son, off the castle and to his doom, then assails the school-age protagonists with his spade projectiles. It's downplayed in chapter 2, where he reveals he was bluffing about this; even if he had gone through with his threat, Lancer would just bounce away harmlessly. While it shows he wouldn't go as far as killing the boy for such a purpose and he clearly has some affection for him left buried beneath his other qualities, the fact he still violently grabbed Lancer and held him up seemingly by the neck doesn't paint a good picture, to say nothing of his willingness to murder his dear friends in front of him as some kind of twisted lesson... at least two of which are school students.
• Wrong Genre Savvy:
  • Arrogantly calls himself a great hero in the eyes of his kingdom. Though a violent playthrough has the Darkners side with him against the heroes, a Pacifist playthrough proves this completely wrong.
  • He believes that spreading the darkness with the Fountains from the Knight will allow Darkners to Take Over the World and send the Lightners into despair. In Ralsei's elaboration on the Prophecy by the end of Chapter 2, it indeed brings an eternal night for the Lightners, but one where all Darkners are turned to stone and the Titans wreak havoc.
• You Fool!: He screams this at his subjects as they decide to overthrow him and install Lancer as their new king instead:
  King: You IDIOTS! The Lightners are your ENEMIES! FOOLS! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU!
• Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: Before his battle starts, he claims his image to the people of the Card Kingdom is that of a hero's, but for your party, he's "the bad guy". Whether he's telling the truth or not depends on how you've treated a majority of the kingdom for much of the story.

Lancer

Lancer

"Ho ho ho! The bad guys score another scot-free victory!"

"Hohoho!!! I'm the bad guy!"

The Jack of Spades, and son of the King. A kid who really, really wants to be evil, and yet is incredibly bad at it.

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• Anti-Villain: He's a genuinely friendly child who just happens to be on the side of evil. He's also so hopelessly bad at being evil that he comes across as amusing or pitiable rather than threatening.
• Badass Biker: He's often seen riding a bike and it's utilized in his attack pattern; after all, "Bicycle" is a famous playing card brand. It's also not a motorcycle despite appearances, just a bike he set on fire to look cool. He tucks it into bed at night.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Why he sides with the protagonists against his father. King is such a jerk that Lancer is convinced to turn against his father once it's clear that no Lightners will be spared, not even Lancer's new friends.
• Being Evil Sucks: His Cheerful Child traits vanish entirely around the point where he's forced into actual conflict with the heroes, especially Susie. Thankfully, he doesn't have to be.
• Big Damn Heroes: On a pacifist run in Chapter 1, he shows up with an army of Darkners to overthrow his father just in time to save the party. In Chapter 2, he helps to free Kris and Susie from their cages after spending most of the game in the former's inventory.
• Bouncing Battler: Revealed in Chapter 2 to have been in no real danger from being dropped off the balcony, as he would've just bounced harmlessly off the ground. The King even tells the Queen to bounce him "like a ball" when he gets upset and cries, implying it's soothing and calms him down.
• Car Fu: More like "Bike Fu", as he tries to run you over in battle on his bicycle.
• Cheerful Child: Despite starting the game on the side of villainy and coming from a pretty rough home, he's a jubilant little kid who loves fooling around, especially once he befriends Susie.
• Chekhov's Gun: He ends up being this in Chapter 2, as he's necessary to escape the cages when everyone (except Ralsei) is captured.
• A Child Shall Lead Them: Ends up as this by the end of Chapter 1, having inherited his father's position. And it's not as if he released the old kings (who the King had locked up)... But everyone was so done with his dad (including the old kings) that they don't complain.
• Cloudcuckoolander: When you pop into his bedroom, you find that he's dug a bunch of small holes in his floor and filled them with salsa, has "lovingly" tucked his bicycle into bed, and owns a music player full of cartoon splat noises. Visiting his room in Chapter 2 reveals the bed is exclusively for his bike, and he sleeps in the holes he digs.
• Comically Missing the Point: When Susie explains that she's really pissed off by Lancer's "bad guy wannabe" personality and threatens to bite off his face, Lancer mistakes this behavior for trying to teach him how to be scary with an evil laugh. This eventually leads to Susie's Character Development.
• Composite Character: Combines early-game Papyrus' quirky and enthusiastic Minion with an F in Evil personality, with Sans's short chubby frame and blue color motif. As the extremely childish and insecure kid of the evil king, his actual character bares more than a passing resemblance to Bowser Jr..
• Conflicting Loyalties: Between his father and his new friends. He knows that if they are to meet, they will hurt and possibly kill each other. Eventually, he'll choose the Lightners and lock up his dad.
• Cool Bike: Well, he tried. But he only got it by setting his bike on fire.
• Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Him and Susie have a stand set up at the bake sale. If you buy his once-per-game Lancer Cookie, they both run off and use the funds to buy a different confection from one of the other stands.
• Dark Is Evil: Well, when you first meet him, he tries to be the bad guy, but the most he can muster up against Kris and Ralsei is schoolyard-level pranks and childish insults.
• Demoted to Extra: A main character in Chapter One, to the point of being one of the first characters seen. In Chapter Two, he stays in Kris's inventory the entire time and eats almost anything added to Kris's Key Items. He has a Big Damn Heroes moment to help free the party, but then immediately turns to stone. Gets worse in the Weird Route, where his Big Damn Heroes moment never plays out and he turns to stone while in Kris's inventory by the time the heroes reach Queen's Mansion.
• The Dog Bites Back: Lancer's father, the King, uses him as a hostage to force Susie, Ralsei, and Kris, Lancer's Only Friends, to surrender, then prepares to murder them, while they can't fight back, right in front of his son. Lancer, who up until now always tried to win his dad's approval, at this point immediately attacks King, giving him the chance to escape and run away and allowing his friends to fight back. In a pacifist run, this is taken even further: after fleeing, Lancer gathers up the citizens of the kingdom and brings them back to the castle in a Big Damn Heroes moment to help him overthrow and imprison the King.
• Dual Boss: The second fight with him is a two-on-two fight against him and Susie.
• Duel Boss: Susie's character arc and Heel–Face Turn reach their climax when she faces him in single combat in the castle dungeons. Even then, he's also a Cutscene Boss, because the battle cannot be lost, and Susie automatically attacks him anyways.
• Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: When he's befriended Susie after a point and is tagging with the group loosely, it seems like he's having fun talking about all the things they're gonna do together until he gradually comes to realize that, yes, the trio are still gonna march into his home and probably beat up his father - or get killed trying to seal the fountain. Rather than an instant reaction, it's more like a slow and steady realization before booking it for the castle because he'd rather side with his dad to prevent either side from harming each other than really stick with them. Susie doesn't take kindly to it.
• Expressive Mask: The shape of his hood and its opening changes depending on his mood. It's usually shaped like a spade from a deck of playing cards, but it can sag or droop if he's upset.
• Extreme Omnivore: During Chapter 2, after Queen gives Kris her mixtape, checking your inventory will reveal that Lancer ate it. Using him plays out the mixtape jingle.
• Fat and Skinny: He's the Fat to Susie's Skinny.
• Fat Comic Relief: Lancer has the appearance of a chubby kid, and is also the source of many chuckle-inducing moments in Deltarune.
• Forced to Watch: After King forces Kris, Susie, and Ralsei to stand down and kneel before him by threatening to kill Lancer if they don't, he then prepares to execute his son's new friends right in front of him while holding him up in the air where he can clearly see it, even directly invoking this with his words. This prompts Lancer to finally stand up to his dad and attack him.
  (After creating spade-shaped blades to attack the three party members) "Now WATCH, Lancer! SEE what happens when you befriend Lightners!"
• Friendless Background: It's implied that Susie is his first real friend. Everyone else just did what he said because the King told them to.
• Friendly Enemy: Even though he's supposed to be trying to stop Kris and company and jubilantly proclaims himself "the bad guy", they end up getting along like old friends pretty much from the get-go.
• Go to Your Room!: After overthrowing his father, the King, in the peaceful ending to Chapter 1, his first order of business is ordering his father to do this:
  King: FOOLS! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU!
  Lancer: Yikes! I think someone needs a time out! Go to your room, Dad!!!
  King: (as the mob of his former subjects forcibly drag him away) NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
• Guest-Star Party Member:
  • Parodied. He joins the party briefly, but it's only for an uneventful walking segment with no enemies, he walks off the side of the path rather than following Kris like the others, and he isn't listed on the menu screen.
  • He's with the Lightners for the vast majority of Chapter 2 — only he spends all that time offscreen as a key item. If you don't check your items regularly, it's easy to forget he's there at all. It's not until the last part of the game that he actually does anything, after which he's promptly turned to stone.
• Happily Adopted: By Queen at the end of Deltarune Chapter 2, who's more than pleased to be Lancer's "girldad."
• Harmless Villain: Despite his best attempts he can't really pull off evil, even when his life is on the line. His attempts at being threatening are along the lines of leaving threatening signs, going the wrong way, and generally acting like a naive child at the heroes, all of which does very little to impede their progress.
• The Heavy: His father, the King, is the Arc Villain of Chapter 1, but is not encountered at all until the final boss battle with him, so Lancer ends up being the primary antagonist. Or at least he tries to.
• Heel–Face Turn: Not that Lancer was much of a villain to begin with, but by the end of the first chapter he's trying to help the heroes as much as he can. In a pacifist run, the Darkners will otherthrow his father and allow him to take the throne as a more benevolent leader.
• Incendiary Exponent: His bicycle doesn't have magical fire properties; instead, he just ignites the training wheels whenever he wants to make it look cool.
• Incurable Cough of Death: Downplayed in chapter 2. The first sign of something wrong with him is when he starts to cough and grow weak when they first get into the castle. It turns out Darkners cannot survive in Dark Worlds they weren't born in, and turn to stone in the process. Of course, he gets better when they get him back home.
• Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: He's so, so bad at being evil. Susie regularly has to give him pointers, and even Ralsei takes pity on him. In fact, he sucks so much at it that he drags Susie down with him; while Susie was a legitimately menacing jerk and bully up to the point where they meet, hanging out with Lancer causes her to start mellowing out.
• In the Hood: His eyes can't be seen through his hood, which is shaped like a spade.
• iSophagus: When he eats Queen's mixtape, using him in the Key Items menu will have him play a snippet of her theme song instead of splat noises.
• I'm Cold... So Cold...: Lancer utters one of these right before he turns to stone.
• Keet: Lancer is a cheerful, energetic and hyperactive kid who always has a smile on his face. You know something is wrong when he stops acting like this.
• Know-Nothing Know-It-All: He seems to think that he's a lot smarter than he really is, and that his evil plans as dastardly and ingenious. Meeting the heroes has him grow out of this.
• The Lancer: Ever wanted to know what his name means? He is seen as being so committed to being this for Kris that he quickly loses track of why he's doing it.
• Leitmotif: The aptly-titled "Lancer", a jaunty, jazzy tune that plays whenever he enters the picture. It also gets recycled for various pieces used in scenes featuring him, such as the Thrash Machine segment and his battle theme, as well as a Dark Reprise in both the Card Castle and the King's boss theme. He’s also associated with splat noises, but that’s not exactly “music”.
• Like Father, Unlike Son: Lancer is the spitting image of his old man, but personality-wise, they're as different as can be. Lancer's a Cheerful Child that happens to be on the bad guys' side who sucks at actually being evil, while King is simply rotten to the core.
• Like Parent, Like Child:
  • While Lancer's relation to Queen is uncertain, he shares her daft personality, being somewhat unfocused and goofy.
  • He inherits his Large Ham tendencies and his ineffectual villainy skills from his lesser dad, Rouxls Kaard.
• Limited Animation: Lancer stays in his signature pose most of the time and slides around while still doing it instead of having a walking animation ^note Apparently he does have a walk sprite, but Toby decided sliding was better, which actually helps players take him as comic relief rather than being uncanny.
• Live Item: Lancer spends a large part of Chapter 2 in your inventory, something Susie doesn't notice. Checking on him will have him react to the most recent plot event, and using him makes a splat sound, until he eats Queen's mixtape and beings playing music. He turns back into a regular playing card when brought into the Light World.
• Maniac Tongue: A downplayed variant; Lancer is an Anti-Villain (albeit a harmless one) who typically leaves his tongue out just because. Granted, he does pull a Heel–Face Turn.
• Medium Awareness: He appears to know that Ralsei's legend telling was accompanied by pictures, as he calls himself the "Tear Drop-Headed kid from the legend".
• Mind Screw: Even after you return him to the Dark World in Chapter 2, he's still in your pocket, but can be seen in the overworld at the same time. Apparently, he jumps back and forth into your inventory everytime you check it.
• Minion with an F in Evil: He's really, really bad at this whole "evil" thing. He only can muster up schoolyard insults, can be taken down without much effort in a straight fight, can be non-lethally talked out of fighting in just a few turns, and his plans for trying to stop the heroes are incredibly obvious. Even with Susie helping him during her Face–Heel Turn, he's still so hopelessly incompetent that he's only a minor nuisance.
• Missing Mom: He doesn't even understand the concept of a mother, calling the Queen his "girldad" when she returns. It's left ambiguous as to whether or not she's really his birth mother.
• Morality Chain: During Chapter 1, he manages to make Susie open up. As soon as he betrays the party, however, she reverts to her murderous personality, only stopping when she's about to kill Lancer.
• Morality Pet: Lancer becomes the first person Susie shows affection for, eventually making her undergo a Heel–Face Turn out of her desire to not hurt Lancer's dad.
• No Sense of Direction: He gets lost in the "Maze of Death," which is just a single path with two branches leading to dead ends. Later, you have to traverse the Forest Maze by going wherever Lancer doesn't go.
• Not Hyperbole: In Chapter 1, he tries to figure out who between him and Susie gets the outer part of a Hearts Donut and the blood inside. While this sounds like something out of cluelessness or an attempt to sound more villainous, giving one to Susie outside of battle or Noelle in Chapter 2 reveals that it really is filled with blood.
• Offscreen Teleportation: Will appear in both your inventory and on the overworld in certain screens during the epilogue of Chapter 2, something he jokes about if you select him there.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: For such a normally Cheerful Child, Lancer going dead quiet when Ralsei questions if his dad is happy, ditching the party, and all throughout his 'fight' with Susie is the first big window you get into just how bad and threatening his father is.
• Overlord Jr.: Looks almost exactly like his dad? Desperately looking for approval? A Royal Brat who commands subservience from his father's minions? He's this in spades. He even, in a pacifist run, overthrows his dad and takes over himself. Thankfully, he's also an innocent example who doesn't actually know a lot about evil and ends up making friends with the party.
• Playing Card Motifs: Spades, like his father. Specifically the Jack of Spades. In fortune-telling, the Jack of Spades often represents an immature or rebellious young man, both of which are pretty apt descriptors for Lancer.
• Recurring Boss: He is fought three times: first at the beginning of the game, second in the forest along with Susie, and third in the castle dungeons.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Unlike his father, he constantly tries to stop the Lightners throughout Chapter 1, but he's really bad at it. After making a permenant Heel–Face Turn and upsurping the throne from his father, he joins your party as a key item in Chapter 2 and becomes critical in helping you escape Queen's cages.
• Shared Family Quirks: Despite his and his father's obvious differences, the "violent" ending in Chapter 1 shows that he most likely got his weird name calling from his dad.
  King: You sweet... little... pumpkin...
• Sheathe Your Sword: A rare instance of an enemy doing this, but he stops aiming at Susie during their one-on-one fight because he doesn't want to kill her. It works because Susie doesn't want to kill him either.
• Shoo Out the Clowns: Lancer is an interesting example as several of the game's first intense and emotionally heavy moments center around him, but this is for a reason and he's normally a Cheerful Child and major source of comic relief - because of this, it's especially noticeable when he gets bunted out of the plot specifically for two chapters' final dungeons, leading to a more tense atmosphere for the rest of the chapter and the respective Secret Boss fights.
  • While his initial encounter is a creepy and intense chase, and Chapter 1's big mood shift comes in the chase after him when he flees from the party and his stand against Susie is one of the most somber moments in the story, after the two make amends he leaves the party to try to talk his father out of fighting, allowing them to enter Card Castle and potentially Jevil's prison alone with a much eerier atmosphere.
  • During Chapter 2, he's in Kris's inventory and can do silly things and commentate on events for most of the chapter, then emerges to help bust them out of jail before being Taken for Granite due to his incompatibility with the Dark World, which sets the stage for Queen's Mansion and ensures that if Kris visits Spamton and the basement, it's done so alone.
  • If the player starts the Weird Route in Chapter 2, Lancer will fall asleep in Kris's inventory and be unable to comment on what's happening. He won't wake up unless it's aborted and turns to stone off-screen once you reach the mansion, which is the first area immediately after the route's Point of No Return.
• Sixth Ranger: Lancer joins the heroes at the tail-end of the first chapter, but doesn't act as a functional party member nor actually follow behind Kris. He almost immediately becomes a Sixth Ranger Traitor by setting them up for a trap that lets the Card Castle's guards capture and lock them in the dungeon...because he can't bear the concept of his new friends and his father quite possibly killing each other. During Chapter 2, he tags along to the new world as an inventory item and helps the party at a crucial moment, but the reveal that Darkners cannot last for long outside of their world of origin and the Castle Town prevents him from being able to do much in other worlds for the time being.
• Stealth Pun:
  • Why is Lancer so obsessed with shovels and digging holes? Because he's a spade.
  • He's later instrumental to Kris busting out of Queen's cell in Chapter 2 since Queen didn't appear to have accounted for him. In other words, he's a wild card.
• Stone Wall: He doesn't appear to be trained well in card attacks, only being able to make a much weaker version of his father's moves during his fight with Susie and only a single spade when attacking his father. In contrast, while it isn't focused on, he endures well over a thousand damage during his fight with Susie without dying or displaying any sign of being seriously wounded.
• Taken for Granite: He's turned into a statue during the final part of Chapter 2, due to not fitting in the Cyber World. Thankfully, he gets better once the heroes return to Ralsei's own world.
• Token Evil Teammate: He still insists on being a "bad guy" even after the end of Chapter 1, but it's clear that he's on the heroes' side.
• Un-Evil Laugh: A jubilant "Ho ho ho!" which Susie compares to "baby Santa Claus". She gives him tips. It sort of helps. Sort of. The actual soundbyte of his laugh is a high-pitched and mocking-sounding cackle, which is a little more villainous-sounding, but not by much.
• Vehicle-Based Characterization: Lancer is first introduced riding a bike with the back wheel set on fire, and he uses it during the first two fights against him in Chapter 1, tying in with his nature as a small child who (initially) wants to be seen as an edgy, intimidating villain.
• Voice Grunting: A silly trumpet-like noise.
• Warm-Up Boss: Lancer is the first enemy you fight in the game, and as such is appropriately forgiving. Defeating him through violence will not screw up a pacifist playthrough, his attacks are easy to dodge and unlikely to actually kill the player even if they hit, he has enough health to weather Susie's attacks if you go for the pacifist option, and he automatically runs away after four turns. This gives the player a safe opportunity to explore the battle interface and get acquainted with it even before Ralsei's tutorial.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: He really wants his father's approval. When confronting the heroes, he declares that his dad will make him "Son of the Month," even though there's no actual competition in that department. However, King isn't exactly a model parent.
• Zero-Effort Boss: When Susie fights him as a Duel Boss, his attacks start avoiding the SOUL after a time. You can't lose even if you're actively trying.

Rouxls Kaard

Rouxls Kaard

"Geh ha ha ha ha! Thoust FOOLS!"

"I amst the Duke of Puzzles, Rouxls Kaard. My hobbies includest calligraphy, lawkeeping, bugkeeping, cages... and long walks in the dungeon. Artest thou one of my admirers, worm?"

The Duke of Puzzles appointed by the King to stop the heroes from traversing his Card Castle. He has a lot of bombast that doesn't quite make up for his lack of skill in making puzzles.

I hath mine own self-demonstrating page now fools! Go visiteth it you fleas!

---

• Abhorrent Admirer: Becomes this for Queen in Chapter 2, constantly asking to become one of her servants. Swatch says that Tasque Manager electrocuted Rouxls when he mistook her for Queen and offered to be her minion.
• Animal Motifs: Worms. He'll mention or use them at almost every opportunity. See also Pitiful Worms listed below.
• Animation Bump: Gains a very brief one right before the fight against him in Chapter 2, where he pulls out his cutlass and faces the heroes... then goes back to his standard idle animation. He also uses said sprite when performing his block-dropping attack.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Even though he claims to find Lancer annoying, upon Ralsei telling him Lancer is unwell, his immediate response is to suggest ways to help him, and it's implied both his suggestions (burping and giving ginger ale) are things he knows from experience. He really is a father figure of sorts to Lancer.
• The Battle Didn't Count: Inverted; he has this used against him in Chapter 2. Even if Rouxls Kaard wins the real estate/land-taking puzzle, he didn't really have a plan about what to do if he actually won. He tries to power up the Machine to Thrash Your Own Ass, only to turn to stone in the middle of it. Either way, it means that the outcome of his battle is the same, whether you win or lose (the puzzle, at least. You still need to survive the Thrash Machine's attacks.)
• Big Bad Wannabe: A downplayed and interesting case. Rouxls doesn't want to be the Big Bad. In reality, he actually wants to be The Dragon. That said, he still wants to be seen as an actual threat by the Delta Warriors, which doesn't exactly work out.
• Bishie Sparkles: He'll constantly flick these out of his eyes when you speak with him at his shop.
• Black Shirt: Rouxls laments early in Chapter 2 that Castle Town lacks an evil ruler to serve. When taken to the Cyber World, he leaps at the chance to serve Queen. Quite literally, in fact. Right out of Kris' pocket in an impressive bout of "dadcrobatics (Lesser)" according to Lancer.
• Brainless Beauty: His Bishōnen looks and Informed Attractiveness bely his bumbling nature and frequent mishaps.
• Breakout Villain: Only has a brief role in Chapter 1, but later joins your inventory in Chapter 2 and has his own misadventures in the new dark world formed, which grants both him and the Thrash Machine an actual battle against you.
• Butt-Monkey: His utter incompetence in Chapter 1 was countered by his being in good graces with King and looking after Lancer, thus giving him some authoritative command over the unused classroom's Darkners. In Chapter 2, he attempts to grab some power in the computer lab's Dark World, but nobody takes him seriously. He gets thrown out of Queen's Mansion, electrocuted, and turned to stone, all while Susie doesn't even remember his name.
• Casanova Wannabe:
  • According to Swatch, he tried to hit on Tasque Manager, who reacted by electrocuting him with her whip.
  • A post-Chapter 2 scene shows he wants to woo Queen, even assuming that he already has, and in his eagerness claims to King that they're already together after she announces she'll be taking care of Lancer. He runs off with an excuse when Queen, who's in the same room, expresses confusion.
• Camp Straight: Downplayed as his sexual orientation isn't actually confirmed; although he is a very flamboyant Long-Haired Pretty Boy and has tried to woo Tasque Manager and Queen.
• Chronic Villainy: When spoken to in Chapter 2, he feels that Castle Town just isn't complete without an "Evil Rulere" to serve. He jumps out of your inventory to start his own adventure in Cyber World, which entails trying to force himself into the mansion's ranks. His confrontation with you in the acid tunnel isn't even on Queen's orders, he just assumes defeating you will nab him a spot in her court.
• Composite Character: Aside from the physical comparisons to Gaster, his role as a (bad) puzzlesmith is roughly that of Papyrus'. Rouxls' theatrical, self-absorbed nature not only brings to mind Papyrus, but Mettaton EX too, being a villainous Long-Haired Pretty Boy with admirers.
• Cordon Bleugh Chef: His Roux, a base for sauces (implied to be an actual sauce here) is implied to be pretty tasty (and aromatic), but it also has actual, live worms in it. Ralsei doesn't notice (thinking it's spaghetti), and Susie doesn't seem to mind. Noelle, on the other hand, thinks it "tastes like jumprope".
• The Creon: It's not that Rouxls likes to be The Dragon, he wants to be The Dragon. Although acknowledging the King as a tyrant, he still calls him a brilliant and benelovent ruler for making him his right hand and the one in charge of puzzles. At the beginning of Chapter 2, once the King is imprisoned and the Card Kingdom denizens move to Castle Town, Rouxls say that while their new home is nice, it's lacking an Evil Overlord that could rule supreme. His off-screen misadventure in the Cyber World revolves around trying to make himself The Dragon. If asked about Rouxls, Swatch says that he demanded to be made the "butler supremeth" of Color Cafe (as in, the one in charge of the Swatchlings). If you go talk to Swatch after defeating Rouxls, he will also mention that, after seeing Tasque Manager, Rouxls decided there is a 50% chance she's the queen, and tried to make himself The Dragon by hitting on her. What makes this even funnier is the fact that Tasque Manager is actually The Dragon to the actual Queen.
• Cut Lex Luthor a Check: He runs a store in Card Castle. When asked why he'd sell equipment and healing items to the people he's trying to fight, he tells the heroes that he'll use it to fund his plans to stop them.
• Didn't Think This Through: In the boss fight against him in Chapter 2, Ralsei asks him what happens if they win, prompting Rouxls to simply utter "Uh-oh."
• Dirty Coward: After the party beats the boss he summoned, he belts out a platitude about it just being a "test" of their abilities and wishes them luck before bolting.
• The Dragon: He's one of the few minions under the King who has any kind of authority in the organization, largely because he chose to serve willingly. When the Heroes fight their way to the top of the castle, he unleashes a mind-controlled K. Round at them as the penultimate boss before King himself.
• Dressed to Plunder: When he's finally fought in Chapter 2, he is dressed up like a pirate to fit the whole "battling on ships in an acid river" thing.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Earlier in the game, a block-pushing puzzle's rules have been vandalized beyond legibility with his initials appended to it, and one of Clover's heads swoons over the fact that he passed by and similarly vandalized one of the card suit puzzles.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: The incompetent Duke of Puzzles under the oppressive Spade King is shown to genuinely care about Lancer, earning him the nickname of "Lesser Dad".
• Eyepatch of Power: Part of his ensemble when he dresses as a pirate in Chapter 2.
• Foreshadowing:
  • When Kris and Susie enter in the Cyber World, you can see a little spark going out of the former's pocket. If you check Lancer in your key items right after, he'll flat out tell you that Rouxls had jumped out.
  • If you talk to him upon bringing the Unused Classrom Darkners to Castle Town, he will express how much he enjoys the place... but wishes it had an evil ruler for him to follow. Guess what he spends most of his time in Cyber World trying to do?
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Post-Chapter 1, Rouxls is ostensibly on the side of the heroes, but given all of his unpleasant traits (delusions of grandeur, being a notorious turncoat and Casanova Wannabe, and general obnoxiousness), nobody in Castle Town interacts with him more than they have to. The only person who likes him is Lancer, and that's mostly because Rouxls is a good target for making fun of.
• Harmless Villain: He's even less threatening than Lancer. Not because he doesn't try, but because he's just that incompetent.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: Chapter 2 reveals that old habits die hard, as Rouxls sneaks out of Kris's inventory at the start of the chapter to join Queen as one of her mini-bosses. He just as quickly returns to the side of good after being thwarted by Kris and Ralsei (being turned to stone from the neck down doesn't give him many other options), and his new-and-improved Thrash Machine is ultimately what saves the day.
• I Fight for the Strongest Side!: When it becomes clear that the heroes are strong enough and smart enough to conquer anything he throws at them, he lies that he was on their side the whole time, and was just testing their strength. He even Lampshades this when asked why he is selling to heroes after defeating K. Round.
  Rouxls Kaard: Rouxls is ALWAYS on the winning side! Thou can bet on that!!!
• Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain:
  • He certainly has more drive to be evil than Lancer does, but he's utterly inept at actually posing a threat. All of his puzzles can be solved with no effort at all, and his last resort is to summon a boss that you fought earlier in the game that goes down with even less difficulty.
  • Chapter 2 continues this. While he'll actually try to put up a fight this time, his house-claiming minigame is utterly pointless, and he clears the way upon turning to stone, regardless of whether he wins or not. If you built the Thrash Machine as a duck back in Chapter 1, his plans are even more shot thanks to how useless it is. Before that, he spent time running around Queen's mansion trying to force himself into their ranks and got beaten up and kicked out for his troubles.
• Informed Attractiveness: He is referred to as a hunk more than once. One of Clover's heads says "RK came by...what a hunk!" and when going back to where his first block puzzle was, a Rudinn will say "(Sigh...) Rouxls Kaard was standing here...I think making block-pushing puzzles is a totally hunky hobby..."
• Intentional Engrish for Funny: His dramatic theme in the game's music files is titled "ruruskaado", and many files pertaining to him and his sprites are titled "rurus".
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Mocks and impedes the heroes at every turn (or at least he attempts to). When asked about Lancer, he'll go on a tirade about how annoying it is that Lancer keeps wasting his time and talking about stuff Rouxls isn't interested in... then finishes by asking the heroes how Lancer is doing, indicating that he still cares about the king's son, even if he's annoying. In Chapter 2, when Ralsei tells Roulxs that Lancer isn't well, he responds worriedly asking they've tried burping him or giving him a sip of ginger ale before quickly getting back on topic.
• Large Ham: The faux-Elizabethan speech definitely makes him a lot more over-the-top than most of the Card Kingdom's residents. This is compounded by his grandiose, if very short leitmotif, drawing some parallels with Mettaton NEO from the original game.
• Leitmotif: "Rouxls Kaard". It's an elaborate and impressive-sounding orchestral theme, but it actually only lasts for a few seconds—much like how Rouxls himself puts on a huge show about how he's going to stop you, but has no skill to back it up. His boss fight in Chapter 2 uses a lengthened remix of the song, "It's Pronounced 'Rules'".
• Limited Animation: His overworld sprite never actually moves, it just slides at increasingly high speeds and always shows its front even if spoken to from the side. It fits with what little power he actually has for all his bluster, and how ridiculous he actually is once things leave the (extremely flimsy) rails. The most animation that he actually has in Chapter 1 is an extra sprite for when he's talking. He gains one more sprite in Chapter 2's battle against him, but it's only used briefly in the introduction and when he uses a specific attack.
• Live Item: He briefly enters your inventory before ditching you while entering Cyber World. He returns as an item after sealing the fountain. Just like Lancer, he turns into a regular playing card when brought into the Light World.
• Meaningful Name: "Rules Card", as in the card in a deck that explains how the rules of a game are played. Fitting for someone who loves puzzles, and makes puzzles that are really easy. The rules card is also sometimes used as a punchline, referring to something completely useless, like finding the rules card in a hand of poker. Which is also fitting with how ineffectual and unwanted he tends to be.
• Meaningless Villain Victory: His fight in Chapter 2 can very likely turn into him having more real estate by the end, thus winning the fight under the rules he imposed. He gloats over this though it is short lived when Ralsei's basically points out he had no plan on what to do should he win coupled by most of his body turning to stone before he could do anything.
• Minion Shipping: Parodied. He tried to make himself the minion of fellow Dark World mini-boss Tasque Manager, mistaking her to be the ruler. She electrocuted him in response.
• Minion with an F in Evil: He's completely incompetent at creating puzzles. His first puzzle is pushing a block one space onto a button, and his "ultimate" puzzle is pushing a block two spaces onto a button.
• My Nayme Is: His name is a fanciful twist on "Rules Card".
• Non-Action Guy:
  • Never even tries to fight the trio in the Card Kingdom, instead trying to hinder them with puzzles and summoning a K. Round to fight them.
  • Double Subverted in Chapter 2. He'll challenge Kris and Ralsei in the acid tunnels with the Thrash Machine, and both he and the Machine have attacks. Still, he suggests they compete in a house-claiming minigame instead of a straight fight, insisting you focus on the houses whenever you attack him.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Within the Card Kingdom residents, who tend to be themed after toys or playing cards, Kaard looks almost human except for his blue palette which seems almost like a computer BSOD turned into a person, and his face, which seems to be... dripping?
• Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe: With heavy emphasis on the "butcherede" ("decidedesteth" comes to mind). He speaks like this with very few exceptions, an Affectionate Parody of all the characters from 90's-era translations who were given such speech patterns in earnest. He will frequently add "-eth" and an unnecessary "e" to the end of some of his words. In Chapter 2, he even tries to do this while attempting to Talk Like a Pirate, which annoys Ralsei to the point that he tells Rouxls Kaard to "stick to one accent".
• Parental Substitute: Implied to be seen as one by Lancer. He states that Lancer sometimes calls him "Lesser Dad", to his chagrin. Despite acting put-upon, though, he does hint that he actually care about him. With King imprisoned after the end of the first chapter, he's become Lancer's full-time caretaker, before being joined by Queen following the second chapter.
• Perpetual Smiler: He always has a massive grin on his face, even when he's distressed.
• Pitiful Worms: He'll call you worms at all given opportunities, right until he swaps to your side. It seems to be thematic in terms of insects and other "vermin", as he refers to Lancer as a "little water-beetle" and calls him more troublesome than a fistful of fleas.
• Playing Card Motifs: Like the rest of the Card Castle, though is a different example than usual. Many packs of playing cards come with a rules card that explains how to play various card games, but are typically discarded from the deck proper. This fits both his verbosity and his lack of function.
• Plot-Irrelevant Villain: Rouxls doesn't actually do anything in Chapter 1 and only serves as comic relief. In Chapter 2, however, this is subverted as he's the one who gave the Sweet Cap'n Cakes the blueprints they needed to make the Trash Machine at the end of Chapter 2.
• Precision F-Strike: There's some lesser vulgar language from Susie and other characters, mostly around asses being kicked, but when Rouxls's puzzles gets floundered...
  Rouxls: ...
  GOD
  DAMN IT
• Professional Butt-Kisser: The second he's under the threat of someone stronger than him, he quickly folds and swears allegiance. He suggests Castle Town get an Evil Overlord for him to serve, and also ventures out on his own across Cyber World in Chapter 2, hoping to make himself the ruler's "Left Hande Man".
• Pronouncing My Name for You: He does this in Chapter 2 when explaining the Rouxls (pronounced Rules) for his game.
• Puzzle Boss: The Pacifist solution to his boss fight is to beat him at a game where you and him take turns taking control of model houses on an island.
• Route Boss: He can only be fought during the normal route of Chapter 2. During the Weird route, he gets turned to stone before you meet him.
• Second-Hand Storytelling: He jumped out from your pocket and set off on his own adventure in Chapter 2:
  • Once the player reaches Queen's Mansion and asks Swatch about Rouxls, they will mention that he's been banned from entering the Color Cafe thanks to him barging in, spilling worms all over the floor, and demanding to be made "Butler Supremeth". It's implied that Swatch and the others had to forcefully drag him out.
  • If the player talks to Swatch again about Rouxls after defeating him in his house-taking game, they'll mention another incident where Rouxls mistook Tasque Manager for the Queen, threw a flower display he stole from the Cafe at her, and then asked to be made her "minion for life", before he was promptly electrocuted.
• Shoo Out the Clowns: During the Weird Route of Chapter 2, he turns to stone before his battle happens.
• Small Name, Big Ego: He'd like you to think he's the greatest puzzlesmith in all the land, but he's only got that title because all the others are either taxed into other professions or in the dungeons. He's utterly inept.
• Sophisticated as Hell: Even if it's faux-sophistication, whenever he's flustered or even confused, he'll drop the Old Englisheth and just speak plainly. Exemplified by his Precision F-Strike outburst and the following:
  Rouxls: Come, knaves! Prepareth for battle with...!
  [presents K. Round]
  Rouxls: Whatever this is!!!
• Taken for Granite: After his fight in Chapter 2, he ends up turning into stone from the neck down, for the same reason as Lancer. He gets better during the epilogue, however. During the Weird Route, the party finds him already petrified when they arrive to Queen's mansion (and blocking the entrance to the shop).
• Tareme Eyes: His eyes droop at the corners, which (combined with his constant smile) gives him a manic or nervous expression at all times.
• Took a Level in Badass: His appearance in Chapter 2, while not hard, is a legitimate challenge (although the fact that he’s riding the Thrash Machine helps). In addition to being a regular battle where he fires bullets at your SOUL (and he does decent damage), his puzzle is a land-taking contest where the two of you have to claim the most houses, and the solution to the game isn't transparently obvious. So his appearance does require some planning and strategy, which is a lot better than could be said for his first appearance.^note That being said, it's still not a difficult fight, as using Ralsei's distract move and gathering enough TP to claim multiple houses means you can overtake him easily and you only need to capture five specific houses to ensure it is impossible for him to be able to access enough houses to win - this can potentially be done in just two turns, and if you have enough TP, there is literally nothing Rouxls can do to stop you from doing so. Really, the whole thing is rather stacked in your favor (unless you're terrible at grazing and strategy). Also, he doesn't actually know what to do next if he beats you and so the game continues as normal.
• The Unfought: In the first chapter, he summons K. Round to fight in his stead and switches sides once the heroes re-defeat it. Subverted when he actually fights the heroes in an attempt to impress Queen in Chapter 2.
  • Played straight in the Weird route, as by the time you get to Queen's castle, he's already turned to stone completely.
• Villainous Breakdown: About half his dialogue. The other half being him smugly informing the heroes that this time, they have no chance to defeat him.
• Villains Out Shopping: He's the shopkeep at the Card Castle, so he sells and buys items with the heroes and answers their questions (while still mocking them) despite trying to entrap them on the earlier floors.
• Villains Want Mercy: After defeating him in his boss battle in Chapter 2 and turning to stone from the neck down due to not being compatible with Cyber World, he calls out Kris and Ralsei for just leaving him where he lays. He then asks if they're at least going to show him the photograph they took.
• Voice Grunting: Curiously, he's the only Darkner with a dialogue portrait (excluding the characters with miniature dialogue portraits) not to have a unique sound effect for his dialogue. (He does have a voice in the game's files, which sounds like him saying "Dee Doo Dee", invokedbut it currently goes unused.)
• We Buy Anything: Like every shopkeeper, he's willing to purchase almost anything you can sell him so he'll make use of it against you—at least until he switches sides once you prove to be too strong for him to defeat.
• What the Hell Is That Accent?: Parodied. He speaks with an extreme form of Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe, then combines it with pirate speak in his Chapter 2 battle. He tones the latter down when Ralsei tells him to. Toby Fox claimed during the Undertale sixth anniversary stream that he envisioned Rouxls making up his accent on the fly.
• Zero-Effort Boss: Played With, but closer to the "zero" side. In the first chapter, he's not boss, but rather the guy who summons puzzles and challenges in your way. His puzzles are absolute jokes, but the K. Round he summons is somewhat more challenging (though it's effectively the same fight as earlier, except you can beat it quicker thanks to Susie cooperating this time around). In Chapter 2, he actually has a more reasonably difficult puzzle game in his boss fight if you go for the pacifist route (but for anyone who is even remotely skilled at stategy games the puzzle is basically a question of "in how few turns can you set up your spaces to completely lock him into his starting area and deny him access more than half the board, thus rendering him unable to win?") and his attacks do a reasonable amount of damage, but he uses the machine you designed in Chapter 1 for most of his attacks, meaning that if you build a duck, its attacks are absolute jokes, and Rouxls has barely more HP than Lancer in his first fight and you can still get Chapter 2's best ending even if you beat him violently.

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