WARNING!: Since this pair of animations are based on Deltarune and its Snowgrave route, it will assume you're familiar with the events that take place. As such, all spoilers up to Deltarune Chapter 2 and the aforementioned route are unmarked.
Animated by SpriterMike, What if Noelle Lost Herself?
is a fanmade animation for the video game, Deltarune, specifically concerning its Snowgrave route. This explores the long-term consequences of that route and how things take a horrible turn for the worst.
Its Lighter and Softer counterpart, "What if Noelle Lost Her Way?", which supposedly takes place during a normal route, can be watched here.
What if Noelle Lost Her Way? contains examples of the following:
- All Take and No Give: Berdly acknowledges that his friendship with Noelle has been rather one-sided, which is part of why he wants to help find her.
- Bittersweet Ending: Ultimately, Kris, Susie and Berdly are able to find and comfort Noelle, offering her support in the face of her devastating loss.
- Call-Back: The final line hearkens back to Undertale's Golden Ending, when Noelle admits that "I don't want to let go."
- Comically Missing the Point: When Susie points out that Berdly is clearly defying the adults by sneaking out to search for Noelle as well, declaring that she knows he doesn't live in the cemetery, Berdly's response is to ask "Susie... You know where I live?"
- Death by Adaptation: Rudolph, Noelle's father, had passed away in this set of events.
- Lighter and Softer: While still pretty glum, this animation doesn't quite come as close to being as dark as Lost Herself? does, essentially serving as its "Normal Route" counterpart.
- Locked Door: While the gateway to the cemetery is normally left open, the party finds that it was locked and rusted shut, with Berdly explaining precisely why this happened.
- Only Friend: Berdly admits that Noelle has basically been his only friend for years, as well as the fact that he hasn't been the greatest friend in return.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Toriel's willingness to ask Asgore to spend the evening looking after Kris is an immediate signal that something is seriously amiss. Though Asgore initially misinterprets it as something else entirely.
- Relationship-Salvaging Disaster: Asgore is rather transparently hoping that Toriel's willingness to ask him for help looking after Kris while she's busy with the search efforts is a sign that their relationship is on the mend. Toriel is... unimpressed, taking him outside and implicitly calling him out on his Skewed Priorities.
- Shoo Out the Clowns: Thanks to Toriel and her search party being at the school to look for Noelle, Kris going to Castle Town (inevitably having to meet Lancer or Queen again) and asking Ralsei for help is out of the question.
- Violence is the Only Option: Susie considers breaking down the cemetery gate, not seeing any other way to get past the rusted lock. However, Berdly stops her, pointing out that they'd risk alerting the adults to their location. He briefly reconsiders this while they're on the forest path, but they're too far through to turn back by that point.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are:
- Toriel encourages Alpyhs not to blame herself for Noelle's disappearance, pointing out that they can all help look for her missing student together.
- Similarly, Susie encourages Berdly when he has second thoughts about helping them find Noelle, as he's uncertain she'll actually want to see him after how he's treated her. Susie points out that his willingness to help alone is a sign that he's headed in the right direction.
- You Are Not Alone: Kris, Susie and Berdly give this to Noelle when she's grieving for her father, the three even going as far as to give her a much-needed group hug.
What if Noelle Lost Herself? contains examples of the following:
- And I Must Scream: As the game gives the option on whether or not to tell Susie the truth on what happened in the Dark World with Noelle, the options are "Nothing"... and "It wasn't me It wasn't me It wasn't me It wasn't me", with the second dialogue option implying Kris is desperately trying to tell Susie the truth of their situation with the player SOUL, only for the player to simply tell Susie "Nothing", with Kris unable to do anything.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Undyne silently berates herself for having wished that something would happen in their sleepy town.
- Call-Back:
- Anyone who's played Undertale will remember that Asgore suffered poisoning when Chara and Asriel put buttercups as an ingredient for a pie. This is instigated here as a means for Kris to leave, by pouring body spray that contains buttercup essence into Asgore's tea, forcing him into the bathroom.
- When Kris and Susie are at the frozen cemetery gates, the player continues the route by selecting "Proceed."
- Convicted by Public Opinion: While nobody in Hometown has any proof that Kris, Susie or Noelle was involved in Berdly's disappearance, Toriel has noticed that many residents have turned much frostier towards her and Kris, and she can't tell whether their icy stares are condemning or pitying.
- Darker and Edgier: Considering this is based on the Snowgrave route, this is a given, with things clearly not okay here.
- Death by Adaptation:
- Downplayed in the case of Berdly. It's left up to interpretation in the SnowGrave route whether or not Berdly is actually dead or just comatose, though it does more to imply that he's actually dead. Here, it's made clear that Berdly was killed (to the point that Noelle's LV increased) and that his body turned to dust.
- As in Lost Her Way, Rudolph has passed on. Unlike Lost Her Way however, it's implied that Noelle put him out of his misery instead of letting him pass away from his illness.
- Didn't Think This Through: Discussed; Toriel admits to Asgore that she's been considering taking their family out of Hometown for a few days once Asriel returns, in order to escape how most of the residents have been treating her and Kris with suspicion. However, Asgore points out that this might be taken as a tacit admission of guilt.
- "Everyone Dies" Ending: Considering the Titans awaken thanks to Noelle creating another Dark Fountain, it's highly likely that it doomed everyone in Hometown AND in the remaining Dark Worlds.
- For Want Of A Nail: This animation is basically the post-Snowgrave route alternative to Lost Her Way:
- Berdly's mysterious disappearance has put the town further on edge, and many of the residents suspect Kris of having something to do with it.
- Asgore isn't inappropriately cheerful about Toriel asking him for help, so she doesn't ream him out for having Skewed Priorities.
- Alphys doesn't show up to help with the search efforts, as her Guilt Complex has only been amplified by having lost one of her students before Noelle disappeared.
- Without Berdly around to act as Mr. Exposition, Susie is left to guess and speculate about what's going on.
- Internal Reveal:
- Played With when Susie asks Kris just what happened while they were alone with Noelle. Kris replies with simply "Nothing"; however, Susie's reaction hints that she takes this as evidence enough that something went seriously wrong.
- At the end, Kris/the player tells Noelle how to open up new Dark Worlds, resulting in her triggering The Roaring.
- It Gets Easier: LV and EXP come back into play here, with Noelle's killing of Berdly helping to increase it. This results in Noelle being willing to kill Rudy (albeit a Mercy Kill, as Rudy was described to be in horrific pain), and not crying about it afterwards much to her own horror.
Noelle: "What is wrong with me...?"
- Mercy Kill: It's heavily implied that Noelle killed her father in order to put him out of his misery.
- No Body Left Behind: Downplayed and Played for Drama, as this fan work follows the theory that Lightner monsters who have fallen down turn to dust. As a result, nobody realized that Berdly was responsible for how everyone using the Librarby's computer lab were suddenly coughing and sneezing a lot more...
- Ominous Fog: Most of Hometown has been covered by one, which enables Kris and Susie to get close enough to witness Undyne's breakdown at the Librarby without being noticed by either her or Napstablook.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Kris and Susie see Undyne by the Librarby, she isn't acting anything like her normal self, consumed by anger and frustration over her failure to find Berdly alive like how she'd promised Noelle that she would.
- Painting the Medium: Near the end, Noelle doesn't have any character portraits, reflecting how she is still lost even after Kris finds her.
- Punch a Wall: After leaving the Librarby, Undyne punches the wall near the entrance with both hands.
- Relationship-Salvaging Disaster: Downplayed; unlike Lost Her Way, Asgore doesn't offend Toriel by blatantly implying that he sees being asked to look after Kris for the evening as a way to get his foot back in the proverbial door. As a result, Toriel confides more of her concerns in him, and it looks as though the two may be developing more of an Amicable Exes relationship. Until the ending, anyway.
- Shoo Out the Clowns: Much like in Lost Her Way, Kris can't go to Castle Town and meet any of the Darkners since the path to the school is blocked off. This is to Susie's detriment, as Ralsei being absent means that the injuries she sustains to her arms actually stay.
- Unable to Cry: Noelle laments that she hasn't been able to shed any tears over her father passing away.
- Violence is the Only Option: This is instigated when Susie attempts to bypass the frozen cemetery gate. While initially willing to go for it, she refuses to continue with it thanks to the gates injuring her hands, forcing them to find another way in.
- What Would X Do?: Played With. While trying to figure out a way to "smart their way into" the cemetery, Susie complains that "even Berdly" would have been able to come up with an idea before she has, before laughing to herself that he'd likely treat the whole situation like a video game. This leads her to realize that they should look for another way in.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Noelle ends up causing The Roaring after going through the Trauma Conga Line that is being forced by your childhood friend to kill people in a "dream", having to put your own father down after his terminal illness is too much for him to handle, not feeling anything after said father is dead and finally receiving the confirmation that said "dream" was very much real.
