Broken Base cleanup (cannot add post to it for 24 hrs)

Here's what I've gotten from YMMV.Undertale:

• Broken Base:
  • The fanbase cannot agree on what name fits the Kill Em All route better. The more popular choice of name is the Genocide route, since this is exactly what the protagonist does; however, some of the fanbase feels the name is too much of a Spoiler, and call it the No Mercy route instead. Those who prefer the name "Genocide" argue back that the "No Mercy" name is too vague and fits other routes of the game better (such as the one where all the bosses are killed but none of the monsters, or one where all the bosses and some of the monsters are killed). A few Take a Third Option and call it "Max LV" (due to the latter resulting inthe player hitting the LV cap) or "having a bad time" (after a creepily-delivered line from an NPC warning the player not to continue their murderous ways).
  • There are those who are split on whether the game's story and overall message is amazing and refreshing or if it's average at best or poorly executed at worst. This is held especially true for the pacifist route regarding Asriel. On one side, you have people who feel that the story doesn't live up to the message of "don't kill and be kind to people" because Asriel was slain by humans after he tried to bring Chara's body back to them out of respect. On the other end, you have those that feel that the aspect of being and doing good is what matters the most rather than what the end result of it brings and how some people simply cannot be saved no matter what you do because that's how life is.
  • On a similar note, whether or not players should be encouraged to go for the Genocide Route. Many argue that it's a part of the game that must be played in order to get the full experience and not playing it is an injustice to the game. However, the fact that the game repeatedly discourages the player from doing this (especially after achieving the Golden Ending) and heavily guilt-trips them if they do and, as mentioned above, will permanently taint the game with a Happy Ending Override on any future Pacifist runs should they complete the Genocide route has led others to feel encouraging newer players to play the route is overly cruel. (Also, the Genocide route's messages hit the hardest for players going into it willingly.)
  • Discussing Mettaton's gender is often fuel for flame wars on a massive scale; while Mettaton is referred to as he in the game (unlike characters like the Human Child and the ghosts, who both in-game text and characters are content not to specify and the latter of which are actually the same species as Mettaton, making him the only ghost who's gendered in the game), his effeminate behavior and rather... flashy EX form have lead to many an instance of Viewer Gender Confusion among more casual fans and been played in arguments over just what he identifies as.
    • Relating to this, there's whether Mettaton "counts" as being transgender or not. His change from being a ghost to possessing a robot body is referred to in his diaries in similar terms as a gender transition might be, enough that if nothing else there's a case for him being a transgender allegory or trans equivalent of the Discount Lesbians trope of sorts, and is combined with his pronouns changing from a gender-neutral they/them/their into he/him/his - for some fans, this is enough for them to feel that he canonically counts as transgender representation, while others actively deny that gender is even an issue with his character. People on both sides can be incredibly aggressive about the whole thing.
  • There's a decent point of conflict within the fandom over Asriel and his ultimate fate in the Pacifist Run. Some fans argue that his actions as Flowey don't make him worth having his own happy ending, or believe that him staying in the underground as a redeemed but still emotionless flower is suitable penance, or that there needs to be one last moment of bittersweet to keep the ending from being insufferably Tastes Like Diabetes. The other side... well, the amount of Fix Fics that have Asriel saved, one way or another, should tell you that there's a massive crowd who thinks absolutely everyone should get their happy ending, even him.
  • Due to the immense amount of ambiguity involved practically everything about them including their true nature, motivation, and morality, another major point of contention is the Fallen Child/Chara. While fans initially more or less universally agreed that they were as Obviously Evil as the Genocide Route made them look, it didn't take long for a small but vocal sect of fans to start speculating and then firmly believing that they aren't. These ideas took root more and more until the colloquially-named "Chara Defense Squad" made up a very sizable portion of the fandom, pointing out evidence wthin the game that could be interpreted as evidence in favor of Chara being a good person, or at least, not the monster everybody was treating them like, and making fan material that downplayed the darker aspects of their character. Nowadays, there is a very sharp rift between the fans who aggressively believe that Chara has been subjected to an undeserved Ron the Death Eater treatment, and the fans who believe that these people are pulling an extreme case of Draco in Leather Pants, with both sides asserting that the other is anything from uninformed and ignorant to outright bullying and toxic. And this rift shows no signs of going away due to the fact that practically nothing can be said about Chara definitively and about 80% of the content that make up both sides' arguments are at least partially up to interpretation. Outside of these two extremes there are also people who believe that Chara is a character meant to directly represent the player in some fashion and, therefore, can't accurately be described as having a canonical morality/motivation, making this entire dichotomy pointless, as well as fans who believe that Chara's true identity is somewhere between the two extremes and that both sides are vastly oversimplifying them.
  • There's also the Internet Backdraft over Frisk's canonical identity. Is Frisk meant to be a Featureless Protagonist Player Avatar, and therefore whatever gender the player is? Or is Frisk always and only ever their own person who just doesn't state their gender?
  • Mentioning a sequel is usually a surefire way to get the fanbase fired up. One side believes that the game's Golden Ending should remain as is (thus no sequel), while the other side feels that the game can expand upon a sequel and that there's room for it.

Someone else had cleared up some of it's remaining examples on BrokenBase.Video Games and had stated about the Gender Issue.

edited 24th Dec '17 2:38:48 PM by FnafTale