Nightmaretale
is a Undertale AU comic created by xxMileikaIvanaxx.
Nightmaretale is set two-years post-Pacifist Route; where the monsters live upon the surface with monsters happily. Frisk lives with Toriel, Sans, and Papyrus. All is well, however, happiness does not last. Over the course of a few weeks, Frisk had been experiencing traumatic nightmares of their Genocide Route in the previous timelines. The nightmares progressively get worse and Frisk learns that the nightmares are influenced by Chara and their magic.
Frisk, therefore, begins to experience post-traumatic symptoms of the memories of the Genocide Route (both from their own actions and their judgment from Sans). Sans learns the nightmares are initiated by Chara when they become powerful enough to manipulate Frisk's physical actions. He and Frisk begin to look for answers as to how and why this is happening. In this emotional journey, Frisk has to confront their past actions, and Chara, for the sake of their family's safety.
Nightmaretale contains examples of:
- Afraid of Their Own Strength: Chara points out Frisk is scared of harming their friends and family with their abilities. Especially because they've already done that.
- Art Evolution: Has gone through a pretty big one, especially if one compares Chapters 1 and 7.
- The Atoner: Frisk feels guilty over the Genocide Routes they committed, and in Chapter 5, is quick to go face their consequences.
- Turns out Chara too wants to atone for both they and Frisk's mistake, and Frisk's broken vow.
- Barrier Warrior: Alex can create defensive orange shields. They use it as they fight along with Frisk and Chara with Memoryhead inside Charalgamate's mind.
- Batman Grabs a Gun: After having their body manipulated to kill Sans, for the first time in two years, Frisk does a minor reset to bring him Back from the Dead despite their determination wavering due to Chara's influence.
- Big Bad: Chara is built up to be this, only to turn out that they are a pawn for the real big bad, Memoryhead.
- Body Horror: When we see Chara in flesh and bones, turns out half of their body is taken by a greyish mass (later explained to actually be Memoryhead), one of their eyes is pure black and there's a gaping hole on their chest showing their soul.
- Break Them by Talking: Chara tries this every time they appear to Frisk to convince them to accept their ideas. The one from Chapter 4 seems to be the one that digs under Frisk's skin the most, even if they still refuse.
- Can't Live Without You: Memoryhead points out that if he dies, so will Gaster, as they're the same being, with the former embodying the latter's negative traits.
- Catapult Nightmare: Frisk's reaction to the first nightmare we see in the comic.
- Cooldown Hug: Frisk gives one to Chara to convince them they are not the psycho they make themselves out to be. Chara later returns the favor after Memoryhead damages Frisk's soul and Sans has to hold it from falling apart with his telekinesis, while reminding them they fought tougher people together.
- Comical Overreacting: Flowey does this once Frisk informs him that they learned the pretty impressive fight moves they managed to pull off against Chara with Undyne... and anime.
- Defusing The Tykebomb: Frisk, and soon enough Alex as well, try to reach out for Reluctant Psycho Chara as they try to push them away by justifying they are a monster doing what they can to save their adoptive brother even if he plus everyone else hates them. It comes to a Cooldown Hug from Frisk that helps in destroying Alex and Chara's black mass restraints and stops Charalgamate from executing Sans.
- Dynamic Entry: Flowey does one by destroying the ERASE option with his vines.
- Fair-Play Villain: Chara gives a normal knife to Frisk to keep things "a bit more interesting."
- Forgiveness: Alex wholeheartedly accepts Chara's apology over being dragged into the whole situation. Fittingly, their soul trait is Magnanimity.
- Fusion Dance: It's revealed in Chapter 5 that the current Chara (nicknamed Charalgamate) is Chara possessing the body of Alex, a gender-neutral human they manipulated to gain the trust of and be able to possess while unnoticed and also fused with a determination-injected Memoryhead. Later, Gaster undoes it and Alex can have their body back.
- While Gaster delivers his speech to Memoryhead, Chara and Frisk's red souls become one.
- Enemy Mine: Flowey joins forces with Frisk to fight Chara. He later joins Sans and Gaster to save Frisk.
- Hallucinations: Charalgamate can inflict those on others, mostly based on nasty experiences of the target's past. They are powerful enough that only the victim's Heroic Willpower and/or someone else reaching out for them can stop the illusion.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Gaster willingly fights Memoryhead even if he knows existing without him is impossible and, after the fight, he becomes too unstable to be part of the timeline. He also restores the timeline and sends Sans, Flowey, Alex, and Frisk and Chara's combined soul back to it even if now Sans can never visit him again, while holding onto the hope of one day there being a way of them being together.
- Heroes Prefer Swords: Frisk's red blade has a more sword-like shape, contrasting with Chara's knives.
- Hidden Eyes: Frisk plays it for angst and Chara for creepiness. Later, however, Chara also plays it for angst.
- I Am Not Left-Handed: As soon as Frisk and Flowey gain an edge over them, Chara uses Memoryhead's powers to induce a guilt-tripping hallucination on Frisk and cut off Flowey from them while they are distracted.
- In Chapter 6, Memoryhead decides it's time to stop playing games and sends a powerful blast that knocks down all six of our heroes with ease.
- In-Series Nickname: Sans calls Chara-fused-with-Memoryhead "Charalgamate."
- Mythology Gag: In Chapter 5, when Chara offers Frisk to either give their soul willingly or to have it taken by force and be Forced to Watch as Chara destroys everything they love, the options are the same as in the Genocide Route finale, "ERASE" or "DO NOT". Before Frisk can choose, however, Flowey destroys the ERASE option.
- Nightmare Sequence: The comic starts up with one from Frisk induced by Chara. And it isn't the only one either... It has been going on for weeks before the comic began.
- Necessarily Evil: Chara feels like they have to take Frisk's soul and reset everything to fix their mistakes, even if they become the bad guy in the others' eyes.
- Painful Transformation: Chara describes fusing with a determination-injected Memoryhead as this. Also technically counts as Transformation Horror, as we can see how it happened.
- Parental Substitute: By Chapter 4, Frisk calls Sans their dad.
- Past Experience Nightmare: Frisk's nightmares are connected to their experiences in the multiple Genocide Routes they had.
- People Puppets: Chara's projection does this to Frisk, with red strings over their body for good measure. And Frisk is left aware of what their body is doing.
- Power Trio: Sans, Flowey, and Gaster form this in Chapter 6 to fight Charalgamate.
- Frisk, Chara, and Alex count as well.
- Shared Life-Meter: Memoryhead and Gaster share the same health meter. This clues the latter that, while the humans are separating the souls with their determination, his time is coming closer.
- Shout-Out: What Gaster says before severing the connection between Alex's body and Memoryhead? "You two should spend some time apart."
- Split-Personality Takeover: Can be assumed to have happened after The Reveal, as, during this period, Charalgamate stops speaking on behalf of Chara's Well-Intentioned Extremist goals and starts speaking and acting on Memoryhead's behalf.
- Stepford Smiler: Frisk tries to deny that they are unwell with the Chara nightmares, even with the obvious signs. Sometimes, however, the mask can crack, as shown in Chapter 3's beginning.
- Strike Me Down with All of Your Hatred!: Memoryhead!Charalgamate notices Sans' hesitation in shooting him down and taunts him to do so, pointing out that if he does, he'll kill Alex (an innocent child) and his own father, Gaster, due to the Can't Live Without You nature they share. Sans does follow through with Gaster's encouragement... But it is for naught, as Memoryhead twisted Sans' arm's direction so the Gaster Blaster would miss.
- Storm of Blades: Chara does one of their red knives as they fight Frisk and Flowey.
- Taking the Bullet: Chara prevented Alex's soul from participating in the merging with Memoryhead. Alex brings this up in their speech to show the two are the same and that Chara is good deep down.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: More one-sided, but Flowey is not reluctant to still call Frisk an idiot as they work together to fight Chara.
- The Reveal: Once Frisk comes into contact with Alex, they tell them that Chara genuinely wanted to bring Asriel back at all costs, including becoming the villain, and that Memoryhead is actually Gaster's Literal Split Personality containing his evilness, and that will gleefully feed on the suffering of others, even their hosts while seeking ways to reset to the point before Gaster could be erased from the timeline. Which means Chara is easy prey to their manipulations due to believing themselves to be a bad guy.
- Tragic Villain: All Chara really wanted to do was to atone for their and Frisk's sins and find a way to save Asriel. They did manipulate Alex to get a physical body, but they also protected their soul during the merging with Memoryhead, and it's shown being tormented by Memoryhead's words in spite of being an ally is not a pleasant experience.
- Voice of the Legion: After The Reveal, Chara and Memoryhead's voices begin to layer over each other.
- We Can Rule Together: Chara wanted Frisk to give them their soul so they could make a True Reset and start once again their mission of making everyone happy. Specifically, because they believe Frisk intentionally forgot about Asriel.
- Wrecked Weapon: Frisk's knife doesn't last in a struggle with Chara's red knife and is sliced in half.
- Wham Shot:
- In Chapter 1, Sans discovering that Frisk's nightmare has gone a ''bit'' far into reality... (partially also combined with Wham Line.)
Chara!Frisk: I'm the one in control...- In Chapter 5, Chara yanking out Frisk's soul. A relatively minor one in comparison is Sans meeting Gaster.
- In a similar vein, in Chapter 6, Memoryhead yanking Frisk's cracked yet still determined soul with the intent to kill them.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Frisk and Alex give this speech to Chara, who believes they have to be the bad guy to find a way to save Asriel even if the world hates them because Memoryhead told them so. It eventually gets through with a Cooldown Hug.
