| 1 | %% This work page and its sub-pages are being updated to make spoiler-tagged content more accessible to non-fans of the work. |
| 2 | %% Please reference Administrivia/HandlingSpoilers and Administrivia/SelfFulfillingSpoiler for more details on this. |
| 3 | %% |
| 4 | %% Administrivia.ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them. |
| 5 | %% |
| 6 | %% Note: The route for the worst ending, aka the "No Mercy" route, aka the "Genocide" Route, does NOT have an official name. Therefore, call it whatever you want. To avoid edit wars, please don't make edits that do nothing but change one term to the other. The wiki isn't the official source of information for the game. |
| 7 | %% |
| 8 | ->You can view the main article [[VideoGame/{{Undertale}} here.]] |
| 9 | -->Tropes A '''here''' |
| 10 | -->Tropes B [[Undertale/TropesB here.]] |
| 11 | -->Tropes C-F [[Undertale/TropesCToF here.]] |
| 12 | -->Tropes G-N [[Undertale/TropesGToN here.]] |
| 13 | -->Tropes O-Z [[Undertale/TropesOToZ here.]] |
| 14 | |
| 15 | ->Note: "No Mercy" and "Genocide" are two names for the same, officially unnamed, route of the game. |
| 16 | ---- |
| 17 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 18 | |
| 19 | [[folder:Trope #]] |
| 20 | * HundredPercentCompletion: {{Deconstructed|Trope}}. If you want to see everything the game has to offer, you'll have to play through the game several times and take different actions, which is par for the course for most games with multiple endings; however, both ''Undertale'' and its characters remember your previous runs… |
| 21 | ** Certain [=NPCs=] will notice that you've played the game before. And will "point out" the illogicalities of HundredPercentCompletion in the context of the world, to put it lightly. |
| 22 | ** This is outright discussed on the No Mercy run during the segment in New Home. [[spoiler:Flowey points out that he tried helping everyone, but eventually that got boring, so he tried killing everyone. He did everything he could differently in every way he could think of until he exhausted every possible outcome and began to see the people of the underground as predictable, scripted actors repeating the same dialogue over and over, so he mostly sat around waiting for something to happen. This makes him a pretty clear in-universe stand-in for the type of player who plays a game to death just to squeeze every ounce of gameplay and dialogue out of it, no matter how callous or cruel the actions they take are. Eventually, even Sans calls you out for doing this not because it's fun or challenging, but because you ''can'' – taking the No Mercy route removes most [=NPCs=], changes the fun music to slow, ominous chords, removes all the minigames, and makes all minor battles stunningly easy; in short, it takes away everything about the game that makes people want to play it and makes it actively demoralizing, so Sans knows that the ''only'' reason anyone would have gotten this far is because they want the 100%.]] |
| 23 | ** The game ''does'' provide a pacifist completionist goal, however; in the true credits, monster names will be either yellow or white depending on if you've fulfilled a specific condition to make them especially happy or took an easy way out. To make every monster's name yellow, one has to encounter every monster — with some exceptions, such as [[OptionalBoss So Sorry]] — at least once and fulfill all of their conditions. There's no special bonuses to this, but a yellow name run can be considered a reverse genocide run; while in the latter you intentionally find every last monster in order to hunt them down and slaughter them, in the former [[VideoGameCaringPotential you intentionally find every last monster in order to be nice to each one individually]]. |
| 24 | %%** Also mocked with the trophies in the Platform/PlayStation4 and Platform/PlayStationVita versions. |
| 25 | * TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: It's an easy to miss detail, but with the reveal that [[spoiler:the human seen falling into Mt. Ebott in the intro is Chara (or whatever you named them), it also means that Frisk didn't end up in the Underground in 201X, they ended up in there ''far'' later. In spite of this, the surface looks just like the PresentDay, though the time period may explain why the monsters were able to develop advanced machinery (such as Mettaton's body)]]. |
| 26 | * EleventhHourSuperpower: During the final boss fight in the pacifist run, [[spoiler:if you run out of HP, your determination stops you from dying and [[AutoRevive you revive with full HP]]. The second phase starts off hopeless, with you unable to do anything. Even saving the game is impossible, but then you realize you can save something else. Your ACT command then turns into SAVE, with a new icon and flashing colors, which allows you to reach inside Asriel and "save" the souls he's absorbed and eventually Asriel himself]]. |
| 27 | [[/folder]] |
| 28 | |
| 29 | [[folder:Trope Ab-Al]] |
| 30 | * AbilityMixing: When two or three monsters attack at once, their attacks mix together. Migosp and [[SupportPartyMember Jerry]] are built around this. |
| 31 | * AbnormalAllergy: The Temmies are enemies whose only "attack" is that they trigger the player character's allergies when they try to cuddle. That's reasonable. Where it gets ridiculous is when you speak to one of them in Temmie Village, and she admits that she's also allergic to Temmies... including herself. [[PuffOfLogic She breaks out in hives immediately after saying that]]. |
| 32 | * AbsoluteXenophobe: The humans of this world in general seem to be this. [[GreatOffscreenWar The War of Humans and Monsters]] was caused because the humans were paranoid about monsters stealing their souls, and according to [[spoiler:Asriel]], [[BoomerangBigot Chara hated humanity]]. The PlayerCharacter [[AllLovingHero seems to be the only exception]] (on the [[GoldenEnding True Pacifist Route]], [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential anyway...]]). |
| 33 | * AbsurdlyHighLevelCap: [[invoked]] The level cap is 20, in a game where it's entirely possible (and [[GoldenEnding encouraged]]) [[LowLevelRun to win at level 1]]. Getting to the maximum level requires killing every enemy in the game, including the FinalBoss, at which point there's no one left to fight. |
| 34 | * AbsurdlyIneffectiveBarricade: Papyrus's fences, which are built with posts much too far apart to stop you. One hopes that they're close enough together to at least stop ''Papyrus'', given how much bigger he is than you, but since he's a skeleton it's unlikely. |
| 35 | * AbsurdlySharpBlade: [[ExaggeratedTrope Exaggerated]]. You can [[ApocalypseHow destroy the world]] with a dagger. |
| 36 | * AccentUponTheWrongSyllable: |
| 37 | ** The Temmies speak in this manner, which is an impressive feat given that they only get speech blips instead of voiced lines. This is probably the least weird thing about their speech patterns. |
| 38 | ** In a random event in Snowdin, you can get called and hear the "Wrong Number Song". It isn't voiced, and the simplistic nature of the composition makes it difficult to tell where the downbeat is. If one assumes the song ''starts'' on the downbeat, the word emphasis gets very strange[[note]]For a more fitting emphasis, one might consider the ''second'' syllable of the song to be on the downbeat rather than the first[[/note]]: |
| 39 | --->Oh it's the wrong numBER, THE wrong number song. We're veRY veRY sorRY that we got it wrong! |
| 40 | ** During Mettaton's musical number, again only clear via the music: |
| 41 | --->'''Mettaton:''' They'll put you / in the dunGEON... |
| 42 | * AccessoryWearingCartoonAnimal: |
| 43 | ** There’s a mouse in Snowdin Town only wearing a scarf. |
| 44 | ** In a puzzle room in Hotland, there’s a fox ([[LosingYourHead head]]) that wears sunglasses. |
| 45 | ** There’s a cat monster in MTT Resort wearing shoes and glasses. |
| 46 | ** [[PunnyName Snowdrake’s]] father in MTT Resort wears glasses, a bow tie, and shoes. |
| 47 | ** A mole can found in the resort wearing a hard hat. |
| 48 | ** [[SatelliteCharacter Chilldrake]], an enemy who only shows up if Snowdrake dies, basically looks like Snowy wearing [[CoolShades sunglasses]]. |
| 49 | ** Gyftrot wears all sorts of things, though this isn’t its choice. |
| 50 | ** [[OptionalBoss So Sorry]] can wear random hats if you encounter him. |
| 51 | * AccidentalMurder: |
| 52 | ** Some of the monsters are really not trying to kill you in their encounters, but their bullet patterns happen to be lethal (at least to humans, which you are). |
| 53 | ** Toriel only wants to scare you into backing down and returning to the house in the Ruins, as she plans to destroy the entrance to Snowdin to protect you from the monsters. She will react with MyGodWhatHaveIDone if she accidentally kills you during the fight with her, but [[FreezeFrameBonus it's only noticeable for a split second before the game cuts to the Game Over screen.]] |
| 54 | ** Players experienced with RolePlayingGames in general will get a [[WrongGenreSavvy rude awakening]] during the first boss fight. The standard method of 'proving' your strength[=/=]worth is to beat the opponent to a sliver of their health, then spare them. The first boss is designed to be instantly killed the moment her health reaches about 30%. Most players feel like a scumbag, reload, and then get ''[[YouBastard another]]'' rude awakening, unless they've been going for the No Mercy route. |
| 55 | * AccidentalPublicConfession: Multiple: |
| 56 | ** When [[ItMakesSenseInContext you’re roleplaying with Alphys to help her practice confessing to Undyne]] she gets carried away and loudly professes her love for Undyne out loud...and then Undyne runs in. The look on her face says it all. |
| 57 | ** In the PlayableEpilogue, if you ask Bratty and Catty about their opinion on cats, you get this gem: |
| 58 | --->'''Bratty & Catty:''' Me? Yeah, I LOVE cats?\ |
| 59 | '''Bratty:''' They’re, like, SO tasty!!\ |
| 60 | ''[{{beat}}]''\ |
| 61 | '''Catty:''' Bratty NOOOO!!!\ |
| 62 | '''Bratty:''' [[JustJokingJustification I’m just kidding]]! Kind of. |
| 63 | * AchievementMockery: Toby makes his disdain for achievements and trophies very obvious in the Sony systems’ trophy list. Once you earn them to make them visible, that is. |
| 64 | * AchievementsInIgnorance: At the end of the [[GoldenEnding True Pacifist Route]], Napstablook is the only one who doesn’t know your name. Why? [[spoiler:[[ItMakesSenseInContext When they saw the “flash of light” (presumably Asriel’s power) make the snails on the farm disappear]],]] they just closed the blinds and went on with what they were doing. |
| 65 | * AchievementSystem: In the Sony versions of Undertale. [[AchievementMockery Not that it’s taken seriously.]] |
| 66 | * AchillesHeel: Mettaton in his normal form is impossible to damage, and his lasers can immediately halve your health (and possibly more). However, just flip that switch, and he goes into his EX form. [[AwesomeButImpractical It does have flashier attacks and looks fabulous, but he can’t hit nearly as hard, you can now dodge his attacks, you can damage him, and he has insufficient power supply.]] Heck, even his EX form has an AchillesHeel: [[AttackItsWeakPoint his heart-shaped core is his weak point]]. |
| 67 | * AcmeProducts: There are a lot of MTT-brand products in the underground. |
| 68 | * ActionBar: In the battle menu, there is one at the bottom, showing the FIGHT, ACT, ITEM, and MERCY options. |
| 69 | * ActionCommands: When attacking, an eye-like meter will appear over the menu, and a bar will run across it. Confirm the attack when the bar is near the middle, and you do more damage. Don't press anything, and you won't attack. Most weapons change this system a bit, such as requiring mashing of the attack button to deal more damage (Tough Glove) or sending multiple bars at once (Ballet Shoes). |
| 70 | * ActionFigureSpeech: Some of the mouthless [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]] do this. |
| 71 | * ActionGirl: |
| 72 | ** UNDYNE. [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Everything. About. Undyne.]] She is living anime. She’s a foreboding BlackKnight at first, but once she reveals herself, she reveals herself to be a HotBlooded StockShonenHero who does everything with passion and [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal maximum]] [[LargeHam monologuing]]! She even makes [[MundaneMadeAwesome cooking awesome!]] |
| 73 | ** Dogaressa is an axe-wielding member of the Snowdin Canine Unit who, [[BattleCouple along with her husband Dogamy]], puts up one of the harder fights in the Snowdin area. She gets even more dangerous if you kill her husband, as she becomes enraged and her attacks become faster. |
| 74 | ** [[PunnyName Knight Knight]] is a mercenary hired by Mettaton who the PlayerCharacter can encounter in the CORE. She attacks with her “[[{{Pun}} Good Morningstar]],” as well as with astral-themed attacks, such as a meteor shower, and can take a decent amount of hits. |
| 75 | * ActuallyPrettyFunny: Quite a few examples. |
| 76 | ** During the first encounter with [[MinionWithAnFInEvil Papyrus]], he is trying to get [[PungeonMaster Sans]] to work on his puzzles, but Sans keeps blowing him off hilariously. |
| 77 | --->'''Sans:''' hey, take it easy. i've gotten a [[gold:ton]] of work done today. a skele-[[gold:ton]].\ |
| 78 | '''Papyrus:''' SANS!!!\ |
| 79 | '''Sans:''' come on. you're smiling.\ |
| 80 | '''Papyrus:''' I AM AND I HATE IT! |
| 81 | ** If you ask [[DungeonShop Gerson]] about the Delta Rune, he calls [[NamesToRunAWayFromReallyFast Asgore Dreemurr]] “Ol’ [[FluffyTheTerrible King Fluffybuns]].” If you ask him about it, he says it’s a great story, but he doesn’t remember it. However, you can get the story in the PlayableEpilogue of the GoldenEnding: One day, during the King and Queen’s monthly address, after Toriel finished her part, as she was passing the microphone to Asgore, [[IsThisThingStillOn she accidentally said into it]], “Your turn, Fluffybuns.” As the whole audience burst into laughter, Asgore rose his arms to silence the room, then said, “I, King Fluffybuns...” |
| 82 | ** During the fight with [[spoiler:[[ThatOneBoss Sans]]]] on the Genocide Route, there is a MidBattleTeaBreak, and he offers to spare you, saying he still believes there’s a good person inside of you. If you accept the offer, he commends you for it and asks for a hug… before slamming you with an undodgeable attack that kills you, [[spoiler:[[ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine the same way you killed his brother]].]] He then [[GameOverMan speaks to you in the Game Over screen]] and drops his iconic line: “geeettttttt dunked on!” It’s supposed to trigger a RageQuit and you still have to redo the fight, but the music and the way the line is delivered is drop-dead hilarious. |
| 83 | * ActualPacifist: The player can be this if they choose to. After all, that’s the whole point of the game: you can defeat your enemies [[BreakThemByTalking by talking instead of fighting]]. While you do have to fall into TechnicalPacifist territory to get the Neutral Ending (and by extension, the GoldenEnding) due to the fact that [[ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption you have to attack Asgore to progress]], you load your SAVE file afterward, which undoes the fight with the king, allowing you to beat the game without harming anyone. |
| 84 | * AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: The spider goods in Hotland are 9999G apiece. This is especially ridiculous when there are two other shops in Hotland. You can even get spider goods in the Ruins, so you have no reason at all to buy this food. |
| 85 | * AdaptationInducedPlotHole: An extremely minor example. Since the [=PlayStation=] versions replace all dialogue referring to the F4 key, the "secret fourth frog" BrickJoke during the PlayableEpilogue comes off as completely random. Then again, if you haven't been told about the "secret fourth frog" in the early game, it's absurdly unlikely that you'll find it to begin with, so it's even less of an issue than one might think. |
| 86 | * AddedAlliterativeAppeal: During Papyrus' spiel about capturing a human, he gets so excited he breaks into alliteration. |
| 87 | -->'''Papyrus:''' POWERFUL! POPULAR! PRESTIGIOUS!!! THAT'S PAPYRUS!!! |
| 88 | * AdjacentToThisCompleteBreakfast: The E3 announcement of ''Undertale'' being ported to [=PlayStation=] 4 and [=PlayStation=] Vita jokingly stated that the game was part of a complete breakfast, which consisted of cereal, waffles, and four glasses of orange juice. |
| 89 | * AdoptTheDog: The player can do this at several points, depending on how they play. For example, the PlayerCharacter could go through the Ruins killing monsters like a normal RPG, feel guilty when called out by Flowey, and reset to do the Ruins again without hurting anyone. |
| 90 | * AdoptingTheGenderBinary: Ghosts, such as Napstablook, are genderless by default and use they/them pronouns. However, some ghosts take on binary gendered identities once they possess a physical body, such as [[spoiler:Mettaton]], who went from they/them to he/him, and [[spoiler:Mad Mew Mew (formerly known as the Mad Dummy)]], who went from they/them to she/her. |
| 91 | * AdvancingWallOfDoom: Mettaton’s multicolored tile puzzle has a [[{{Pun}} firewall]] that moves toward you. However, if you don’t win, Alphys will deactivate it before it actually harms you. |
| 92 | * AerithAndBob: The monsters' names. Toriel, Asgore, Undyne, Sans, Papyrus, Napstablook… ''Aaron'' and ''Jerry''. And, of course, there's the Temmie that is literally named Bob. And, of course, the player character can be [[HelloInsertNameHere named whatever you want]], although the CanonName of [[spoiler:Frisk and Chara]] is an example as well, as [[spoiler:Frisk [[WhoNamesTheirKidDude barely sounds like a name]], while Chara ''is'' a more reasonable-sounding one (even if it's actually short for "Character," it sounds similar to the actual name Kara)]]. |
| 93 | * AffectionateGestureToTheHead: |
| 94 | ** Toriel gently pets the player on the head when they first enter her house and she shows them their new room. |
| 95 | ** [[ParodiedTrope Parodied]] during [[spoiler:the "date" with Alphys. Undyne hugs a depressed Alphys and pats her on the head… then tosses her into a trash can like a basketball before shouting an encouraging speech at her]]. |
| 96 | ** In an EasterEgg in [[spoiler:the True Lab, lying down in one of the beds causes a ghostly creature to appear beside it, and slowly reach out to Frisk… to reach down to tuck them in, and pat them on the head]]. [[spoiler:[[CreepyCute It would be cute, if it weren't creepy as well.]]]] |
| 97 | * AfterBossRecovery: [[DiscOneFinalBoss Toriel]], [[ZeroEffortBoss Papyrus]], [[WakeUpCallBoss Undyne]], [[RecurringBoss Mettaton]], and the [[MiniBoss Mad Dummy]] all have a HealingCheckpoint right after their fights. |
| 98 | * AlchemicElementals: There are three fire monsters in the game: Grillby, Heats Flamesman, and the unnamed green schoolgirl in Hotland. |
| 99 | * AlignmentBasedEndings: There is the Neutral Route, the [[GoldenEnding True Pacifist Route]], and the [[CharactersDroppingLikeFlies Genocide Route]]. The first of those has several variations, largely based on who you did and didn't kill. |
| 100 | * AllIsWellThatEndsWell: |
| 101 | ** If you [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential kill Papyrus]] on a Neutral Route, he will say, “AT LEAST I STILL HAVE MY HEAD!” and dies happy. |
| 102 | ** If you kill Mettaton on a Neutral Route, he admits he was wrong about you and is happy with the fact that he still got to perform for a human. |
| 103 | ** If you kill Flowey after [[spoiler:[[EldritchAbomination his boss fight]]]], he sports [[SlasherSmile one of his creepiest facial expressions in the game]] and goes LaughingMad knowing that [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim the human has the guts to kill after all]]. |
| 104 | * AllLovingHero: |
| 105 | ** The PlayerCharacter can be this on a [[GoldenEnding True Pacifist Route]]. No matter how much the monsters do to you, no matter how many times you die, you still forgive them, showing the game’s WhiteAndGreyMorality. |
| 106 | ** Papyrus is a well-meaning, heroic character, never mind that [[MinionWithAnFInEvil he's trying to capture you]]. He's friendly and compassionate to everyone (even though the [[AuthorAvatar Annoying Dog]], well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin annoys him]]) and he really doesn't have any inclination towards nastiness, quite the opposite in fact: he’s willing to forgive an OmnicidalManiac because he thinks they just want friends. |
| 107 | * AllLowercaseLetters: Sans and Napstablook speak in this way. For Sans, it's to show his laziness and apathy, especially when contrasted with Papyrus, who has NoIndoorVoice. For Napstablook, it's to show that they're timid and are always speaking softly. |
| 108 | * AllNaturalGemPolish: |
| 109 | ** In Waterfall, there are gems in the ceiling that are so shiny, they’re the Underground’s equivalent to stars. |
| 110 | ** There are luminescent gemstones in one room that were apparently used by monsters for light sources in the early days of the Underground. |
| 111 | * AllThereInTheManual: |
| 112 | ** The demo for ''Undertale'' included a 19-page instruction manual about the characters featured in the demo (being [[BigBad Flowey]], [[MiniBoss Napstablook]], and [[DiscOneFinalBoss Toriel]]), how to attack, credits, and more. On the page that describes the enemy's turn, almost the entire page is scribbled over. Flowey appears at the bottom of the page, saying some people vandalized the page. The only thing readable on the page is the phrase 'friendliness pellets.' Another notable feature is the final page, which reads, 'a note from your friend.' It shows Flowey, smiling, introducing himself, looking forward to meet you in the game. |
| 113 | ** If the player chooses to play the True Pacifist Route, the final page changes to a note from Flowey that simply reads: "Don't get too cocky." |
| 114 | ** If the player chooses the Neutral Route where they decide to kill Toriel, the final page changes to Flowey with an evil smile, laughing about how you decided to murder her. |
| 115 | ** If the player chooses the Genocide Route, almost every page changes to the last thing seen before the player quits the game, which is the ''Undertale'' title screen, and underneath it, it reads in red text: "That was fun. [[WhamLine Let's finish the job.]]" The last picture changes to a picture of Flowey without a face. |
| 116 | * AllThereInTheScript: |
| 117 | ** The sprite filenames are labeled "gasterblaster" for one type of bullet used by a certain late-game boss. [[spoiler:It's the laser cannon that Sans uses, and is one of the clues hinting at a relation to W.D. Gaster.]] |
| 118 | ** The canon name of [[spoiler:Photoshop Flowey]] is only given within the credits. |
| 119 | ** The humanoid figure that is seen in Reaper Bird's attacks has its sprite labled Everyman. |
| 120 | * AllThereInTheStinger: Oftentimes after a Genocide Route, a player will do the GoldenEnding to [[TheAtoner make up for it]]. [[spoiler:[[DoNotCelebrateJustYet However]], TheStinger will either show [[CanonName Frisk]] become possessed by [[ShadowArchetype the Fallen Child]] and giving one of the most unnerving [[EvilLaugh evil laughs]] in video game history, or [[InferredHolocaust shows a picture of the main cast with their faces crossed out]] and the Fallen Child standing where the PlayerCharacter should be. Either way, it shows [[SuddenDownerEnding you cannot escape the consequences of the Genocide Route]] and you can never get the GoldenEnding again… unless, of course, you mess with the files.]] |
| 121 | * AllWebbedUp: On your way through the Hotland, you find an area that's full of spiderwebs. [[StupidityIsTheOnlyOption You have to try and cross the one that blankets the entire path in order to proceed]], and the result is… predictable. During the fight against [[MiniBoss Muffet]], your soul indicator is restricted to jumping from one "web" to the next, and one of the ACT options is "struggle", which just makes her laugh. |
| 122 | * AllWorkVsAllPlay: Papyrus and Sans, or at least it seems so at first. Papyrus is a {{Workaholic}} who doesn’t even sleep, while Sans is a chill, lazy PungeonMaster who hardly does any work and knows everyone. His favorite activity is doing nothing. Somewhat [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], as Papyrus still has time to hang out and cook with Undyne, as well as actively watching MTT and interacting on Undernet. As for Sans, it is implied that [[PromotionToParent he may have raised Papyrus]] and could have even been an engineer, and he has at least four confirmed jobs InUniverse (albeit sleeping on duty and taking frequent breaks). |
| 123 | * AllYourColorsCombined: The souls of the other six humans who fell into the Underground are ColorCodedForYourConvenience. If you play the snowball-golf game just right, it will reveal that each of them corresponds to a specific virtue: Patience (aqua), Bravery (orange), Integrity (blue), Perseverance (purple), Kindness (green), and Justice (yellow), as well as the soul of the PlayerCharacter, which is red. At the climax of the game's initial run, [[spoiler:[[BigBad Flowey]] absorbs the souls and uses their power [[DiscOneFinalBoss to]] [[GodhoodSeeker become godlike]]. During the battle, you call out to each of them one by one, and once they've each come to your aid, they rebel against Flowey, reducing him to his original form]]. And of course, the power of all seven of them together is capable of shattering the barrier, freeing the monsters from their underground prison. |
| 124 | * AllYourPowersCombined: |
| 125 | ** In the fight with [[spoiler:[[OneWingedAngel Asriel Dreemurr]]]] at the end of the True Pacifist Route, [[spoiler:he summons the BrainwashedAndCrazy Lost Souls of your friends, using their powerful attacks against you once again]]. |
| 126 | ** Some of [[spoiler:[[DiscOneFinalBoss Photoshop Flowey’s]]]] attacks are based on the equippable weapons the PlayerCharacter can find in game. |
| 127 | * AllergicToEvil: A monster's body and soul are interconnected, so their mental state is directly tied to their physical strength. As such, a person with a particularly strong KillingIntent is capable of dealing incredible damage to a monster's body. [[spoiler:This is why killing monsters makes you stronger; [[ItGetsEasier you become more distant emotionally]] and treat them more as obstacles.]] |
| 128 | * AlliterativeName: |
| 129 | ** [[OptionalBoss Mad Mew Mew]] |
| 130 | ** [[spoiler:[[AlchemicElementals Undyne]] the Undying]] |
| 131 | ** [[PunnyName So Sorry]] |
| 132 | ** Final [[ALizardNamedLiz Froggit]] |
| 133 | ** [[BlackKnight Knight Knight]] |
| 134 | * AlmostDeadGuy: Every single major boss after dealing the final blow. All of them hang in long enough to gasp out their last words to you, either encouraging you to keep going or damning you for what you've done to them. |
| 135 | * AlmostKiss: [[spoiler:Undyne and Alphys almost get to share a kiss near the end of the True Pacifist run, but Toriel interrupts them because the human is watching.]] |
| 136 | * AlmostLethalWeapons: This runs through all combat in the entire game. The stick you attack with at the beginning of the game can destroy the world with one strike, while the PlayerCharacter at the end of the Genocide Route can survive [[spoiler:being repeatedly slammed into bones and blasted by WaveMotionGuns]]. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], however, because monsters are AllergicToEvil and KillingIntent cuts through them like butter, while humans are much more hardy and full of determination. |
| 137 | * AloneWithThePsycho: |
| 138 | ** Nearly every time you interact with [[BigBad Flowey]], though thankfully he usually uses these occasions to make some sort of speech. |
| 139 | ** Pretty much anytime you interact with [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]] one on one on the Genocide Route. Especially with Monster Kid, who unknowingly walks alone through Waterfall with a SerialKiller. This is an interesting example because you're ''playing'' as the [[VillainProtagonist psycho]]. |
| 140 | * AlreadyDoneForYou: Several puzzles are done for you on the Genocide Route. It is implied that [[FoulFlower Flowey]] is the one behind it, due to the fact that one switch is depressed with vines. Yes, [[OmnicidalManiac you]] are so evil on the Genocide Route that even [[BigBad FLOWEY]] is helping you. |
| 141 | * AlternateAnimalAffection: Nuzzling noses is apparently a common display of affection among the monsters, to the point where they even made a competitive event out of it. A BattleCouple you encounter were the runners-up one year. [[spoiler:[[SickeninglySweethearts Asgore and Toriel]] were the multi-year, undisputed winners until their divorce. With them out of the way, Dogamy and Dogaressa finally took the title.]] |
| 142 | * AlternateTimeline: Each time the player resets the game, starts a new playthrough, or reloads, they're creating a new timeline. Oh, and some characters have RippleEffectProofMemory. |
| 143 | * AlwaysAccurateAttack: |
| 144 | ** Unlike most [=RPGs=], there's no accuracy or evasion stats; if you pull off the attack, it ''will'' hit, though a few enemies can NoSell it. This is because, while monsters attack your [=SOUL=] with dodge-able bullets, you attack them directly and they don't try to avoid it (likely out of MookChivalry or ignorance to human methods of fighting), which is just one thing that makes you very powerful if you take advantage of it. In fact, one of the most startling things in the game is when [[spoiler:Sans, the final boss of the Genocide Route, casually ''dodges your attack''. No, he doesn't block it or anything, he just steps to the side as if it was nothing]]. [[spoiler:After all, [[YouHaveResearchedBreathing why should he stand there and take it if everyone else who did so died?]]]] |
| 145 | ** Flowey's signature attack is to surround you with a dense ring of bullets that is completely impossible to escape, which he then contracts either very quickly or painfully slowly. He uses it in cutscenes many times throughout the game, but something always stops him from dealing the killing blow, [[spoiler:at least when he's using it against you]]. He turns it up to eleven in one cutscene by instead shrinking the playfield to the exact size of your heart, so you cannot move. |
| 146 | ** The No Mercy route's final boss' last [[spoiler:actual]] attack, [[spoiler:smacking you silly against the borders of the box,]] also deals unavoidable damage. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for him, [[HPToOne it also can't kill you]]. He also has a box-covering attack which he uses when you try to spare him, and this one '''''will''''' kill you.]] |
| 147 | ** The TrueFinalBoss has an attack that covers literally the entire screen. [[spoiler:Fortunately for you, it's only an HPToOne attack. He will later pull off another unavoidable attack that reduces you to a ''fraction'' of an HP.]] |
| 148 | *** It's actually possible to dodge the former attack, but it requires some luck and involves dodging giant projectiles during a moment when you can't even see anything ''and'' your movement range is limited, so it may have been intended to be unavoidable. The latter literally covers your entire movement area, so there's no dodging it. |
| 149 | * AlwaysCheckBehindTheChair: Several examples. |
| 150 | ** There is a [[ALizardNamedLiz Froggit]] in the Ruins who tells the PlayerCharacter that pressing F4 will give one a full screen. However, he believes F4 stands for “four frogs” and is nervous because he’s only seen up to three frogs in the room. However, there actually is a fourth frog, albeit the size of an ant, that you can find by checking a specific spot on the north wall. Later, the first Froggit [[BrickJoke asks if you ever found the fourth frog]], implying he eventually found it. |
| 151 | ** There are several cameras in Snowdin and Waterfall that you later learn are used by Alphys to watch you. |
| 152 | ** One of [[MinionWithAnFInEvil Papyrus’]] puzzles has a switch on a nearby tree that will solve the puzzle for you. |
| 153 | ** [[HiddenDepths Sans]] has a workshop hidden behind his and Papyrus’ house. To access it, however, you need the key in Sans’ room, which in turn is unlocked by another key, which Sans will give to you [[spoiler:if you haven’t killed anyone and you load your SAVE to see Sans’ judgement multiple times]]. |
| 154 | ** There is a room behind [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment a waterfall in Waterfall]] that contains the Old Tutu. |
| 155 | ** In the second Bridge Seed puzzle, if you cross the pond on the right, there is a hidden healing item, the Abandoned Quiche. |
| 156 | ** [[PlanetOfSteves Temmie Village]] is found on a hidden path in Waterfall. |
| 157 | ** On the second level of Hotland, there is a hidden room where one can fight [[OptionalBoss So Sorry]] if their computer’s time setting is set on October 8, at 8:00-8:59 p.m. On the Nintendo Switch version, it is accessible for the whole day. |
| 158 | ** In MTT Resort, there is a hidden sign [[ItMakesSenseInContext inside a wall]] that gives you a hint about finding So Sorry. |
| 159 | [[/folder]] |
| 160 | |
| 161 | [[folder:Trope Am-An]] |
| 162 | * AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: [[spoiler:Toriel]] and Asgore were this to Asriel and Chara, but in a different way than what this trope usually is. The two of them were SickeninglySweethearts who were constantly cuddling and [[AlternateAnimalAffection nuzzling noses]], enough that Gerson was almost glad for Toriel to leave Asgore. |
| 163 | * AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield: The first phase of the TrueFinalBoss of the Pacifist Route has the background as a changing wave of colors while the boss moves around it. The second phase has the boss' wings with moving colors as well. |
| 164 | * AmbidextrousSprite: When [[ActionGirl Undyne’s]] sprite is facing left, her [[EyepatchOfPower eyepatch]] disappears. |
| 165 | * AmbiguousEnding: It’s not entirely clear what is happening at the end of the Neutral Route. From what Sans and others say in the call, it seems as if you’ve escaped the Underground, but the thing is, electronic signals can’t pass through the Barrier, so how are they calling you in the first place? Not only that, but how would you have gotten out? [[spoiler:Asgore’s [[KickTheDog soul was destroyed]] by [[BigBad Flowey]], and [[TheSoulless Flowey doesn’t have a soul at all.]]]] Did you even escape the Underground at all? [[AndIMustScream Are you trapped in the Barrier?]] What’s going on? |
| 166 | * AmbiguousGender: The PlayerCharacter [[spoiler:and [[ShadowArchetype Chara]]]] is only referred to in gender-neutral pronouns or as "The Human". This also applies to Monster Kid, as well as any [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghost]] without a proper body. |
| 167 | * AmbiguousGenderIdentity: See AmbiguousGender above. It should be noted that the PlayerCharacter is willing to wear an [[DanceBattler old tutu]], and that they’re willing to “date” both Papyrus and Alphys. |
| 168 | * AmbiguousInnocence: The entire game is a five-hour waltz with the many, many ways innocence can be [[PlayingWithATrope played with]]. The obvious example is [[BigBad Flowey]] [[FoulFlower the]] [[FauxAffablyEvil Flower]], but this quickly turns into a [[SubvertedTrope subversion]]. Flowey is well aware that he's doing terrible things. He just doesn't care. |
| 169 | ** The first [[PlayedStraight straight]] example in the game is [[spoiler:[[CanonName Frisk]], the PlayerCharacter. Frisk's actions can range from [[MessianicArchetype Messianic]] heroism to [[OmnicidalManiac slaughtering]] every [[EarnYourBadEnding monster]] in existence, and it's never clear how much of that is their choice and how much is the result of [[DemonicPossession outside influence]]...]] |
| 170 | ** The second example is [[{{Pun}} yet darker]]: [[spoiler:[[ShadowArchetype Chara]], the first child to fall into the Underground. Ever-smiling, Chara appears to be completely disconnected from morality, driven solely by amusement. They only appear in the flesh after you help them seize full control of Frisk's body by [[YouBastard slaughtering every monster in the Underground]], and most of their character is [[NothingIsScarier unnervingly]] [[AmbiguouslyEvil vague]]. Was the character [[EvilAllAlong always this heartless]]? [[HumanoidAbomination Was the character ever even mortal to begin with]]? [[BreakTheCutie Did YOU do this]]?]] |
| 171 | * AmbiguouslyBi: |
| 172 | ** Papyrus claims that Mettaton is his [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative "favorite sexy rectangle"]], and, while he ultimately turns them down, he makes zero comment on the player’s AmbiguousGender when he thinks they're asking him on a date. Though it's hard to tell how much he means either one, considering WordOfGod on his [[CloudCuckoolander ditziness]]. |
| 173 | ** The PlayerCharacter themself will flirt with tons of strange monsters, including Toriel after calling her mom and ''gelatin''. Other than that, the human is willing to date both Papyrus and Alphys. |
| 174 | * AmbiguouslyRelated: [[ADogNamedDog Monster Kid]] and [[SatelliteCharacter Goner Kid]]. |
| 175 | * AmbiguousSituation: With the uncertain level of PlayerAndProtagonistIntegration, "you" becomes a rather imprecise pronoun, and a few conversations take advantage of this. |
| 176 | ** At the end of a Neutral run, if you spared Flowey, he'll speak to you. But it's not clear whether he's speaking to "you" as in the player, or "you" as in the player ''character''. It is at least clear that he's not speaking to [[spoiler:the Fallen Child]], as if you do this enough times, he'll derisively point out that they were his OnlyFriend, and you aren't going to change that. |
| 177 | ** If you boot up the game again after a True Pacifist run, Flowey will appear and beg you not to True Reset. Again, it's unclear which "you" he's addressing: [[spoiler:"you" the player, or "you" the Fallen Child. But since he pleads you to "let Frisk live their life", we at least know he doesn't mean them]]. |
| 178 | ** At the end of a No Mercy run, [[spoiler:the Fallen Child will speak to you, giving you credit for their decision to devote their resurrection to killing. And if you boot the game up afterward, they'll eventually ask for your SOUL in exchange for resetting the world]]. Again, it's unclear whether they mean "you" the player, or "you" the player character. It's even possible they're invoking this trope, meaning "you" in one way and hoping you'll interpret it in the other. |
| 179 | * AmbiguousSyntax: An actual plot point. [[spoiler:The opening of the game asks you to "name the fallen human". Most people would think that this is referring to the PlayerCharacter. You're actually naming the Fallen Child, the human that fell down the mountain all those years ago. The protagonist is a separate person from the Fallen Child.]] |
| 180 | * AmbiguousTimePeriod: 201X doesn't give the greatest sense of time, except telling us that the time period the game takes place in is in the New Millennium. [[spoiler:This also, probably intentionally, muddies the water about how many decades or even centuries have passed between the opening cutscene and the beginning of the game.]] However, at the dawn of 2020 Toby Fox made [[https://twitter.com/tobyfox/status/1212868916881563648 a tweet]] confirming that though the exact year is ambiguous, the 201X time period means it was some point in TheNewTens. |
| 181 | * AmenBreak: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDZ1eHLPuEU Your Best Nightmare/Finale]]". |
| 182 | * AmicableExes: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] and then possibly PlayedStraight with [[spoiler:Toriel and Asgore]]. In the events that happened before the game, Toriel abandons Asgore after he declares war on humanity [[MomentOfWeakness when his son was killed by humans]]. In the final leg of the True Pacifist Route, Toriel and Asgore meet up again after a long time, but [[AccuserOfTheBrethren Toriel still hates her ex's guts]] for what he did and finds it near impossible to forgive him, especially after it's heavily implied that [[WouldHurtAChild Asgore killed several children]] to [[PoweredByAForsakenChild harvest their souls]] so that he could break the barrier keeping his people trapped and go through with his plan. In the GoldenEnding afterwards, Asgore wants to make amends and he can be seen trimming the hedges at Toriel's school, implying that the two of them may be working things out. |
| 183 | * AnatomyOfTheSoul: The game goes into this a bit. According to [[BigBad Flowey]], one’s soul is “the culmination of [their] being.” We also know that a single human soul has power equal to nearly the entire race of monster souls, a human or monster cannot absorb a soul from their own race, monster souls disappear immediately after death (except for Boss Monsters, whose souls last for a few moments), and humans have determination in their souls. |
| 184 | * AndNinetyNineCents: The [[ArmorOfInvincibility Temmie Armor]] and the spider goods in Hotland are worth 9999G. |
| 185 | * AndCallHimGeorge: In an encounter with a [[TheDitz Temmie]], [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext she will try to pet]] the PlayerCharacter. However, the human is allergic and this harms them. |
| 186 | %%* AndHereHeComesNow: See the first example in AccidentalPublicConfession. |
| 187 | * AndIMustScream: |
| 188 | ** In the Pacifist run, [[spoiler:the True Lab's Amalgamates cannot talk at first, and the player character doesn't even know their names. Their only contact with the outside world is Alphys, who feeds them and hides them from their families]]. |
| 189 | ** This happened to Flowey [[spoiler:when he first woke up as a flower. He woke up inside a flower, unable to move or feel emotions, with no memory of what happened to him. When he called out for his mother and father to help him...]] |
| 190 | --->[[spoiler:''"But nobody came."'']] |
| 191 | ** The six [=SOULs=] that Asgore keeps in his palace. They were once children that Toriel raised, and they are not allowed to go beyond. During the fight [[spoiler:with Photoshop Flowey, he uses them to attain godlike status, but they help by healing the player character and rebelling against their owner]]. |
| 192 | ** [[spoiler:In the best ending, every monster plans on vacating the underground to live on the surface. Except for Asriel, who will eventually transform back into Flowey. Keep in mind, Flowey can apparently live a long time (perhaps forever), and it's not specified whether or not he can (or even if he wants to) get out of the Underground, although the Alarm Clock dialogue from 2020 indicates that he eventually left. He can move around on his own, that much is certain (he can be briefly seen following Frisk at several points in the game if Frisk backtracks), but it's not known to what extent.]] |
| 193 | * AndThatsTerrible: “[[BlackComedy You thought about telling Toriel you watched her die. But... That’s creepy.]]” |
| 194 | * AngerBornOfWorry: |
| 195 | ** [[MyBelovedSmother Toriel]] is angry with the PlayerCharacter for wanting to leave the Ruins. However, this is because she doesn’t want to lose you like she lost the other humans, especially since you are [[PoweredByAForsakenChild the last soul Asgore needs]] to break the barrier. She’s even [[WouldHurtAChild willing to fight you and beat you within an inch of your life to keep you with her]]. |
| 196 | ** Papyrus admits that the reason he gets so mad at Sans all the time is because he cares about him. [[spoiler:[[LivingEmotionalCrutch He’s]] doing more than he realizes...]] |
| 197 | * AnimalEyes: Several characters have these, such as [[FishPeople Undyne]] and [[CatFolk Catty]]. |
| 198 | * AnimalFacialHair: |
| 199 | ** The king of the Underground, Asgore, is a [[spoiler:goat person]] with a beard. |
| 200 | ** [[CoolOldGuy Gerson]] is a turtle with a beard. |
| 201 | ** A faun monster in Snowdin Forest seems to have a goatee. |
| 202 | ** One of the snails on Blook Acres has a mustache. |
| 203 | ** Dogamy has a thin broom mustache. |
| 204 | * AnimalSpeciesAccent: |
| 205 | ** In a rather unusual case, there is a snail on Blook Acres that speaks by [[PokemonSpeak saying “snail”]]. |
| 206 | ** Froggits in the Ruins [[AnimalTalk speak through ribbits.]] |
| 207 | * AnimalStereotypes: |
| 208 | ** [[CoolOldGuy Gerson]] is a wise turtle. |
| 209 | ** The Snowdin Canine Unit and Ice Wolf are simple-minded, big, and loyal dogs. |
| 210 | * AnimalisticAbomination: |
| 211 | ** There is a receptionist at MTT Resort that looks [[FishPeople some kind of ungodly fish]]. |
| 212 | ** Gyftrot is a deer-like monster with horns resembling trees and a very strange vertical jaw. |
| 213 | ** [[spoiler:[[BodyHorror Endogeny and Reaper Bird]] are demented versions of a dog and bird, respectively.]] |
| 214 | * AnimateInanimateObject: Quite a few. |
| 215 | ** The BigBad, [[FoulFlower Flowey]], [[spoiler:was a regular flower before being sprinkled with Asriel's dust and injected with Determination]]. |
| 216 | ** There is a rock in the Ruins that protests against being pushed around. |
| 217 | ** There is a talking snowman in Snowdin Forest. |
| 218 | ** There is a family of [[BlobMonster slime monsters]] in Snowdin Town, as well as a different type of slime in MTT Resort, and the janitor working there. |
| 219 | ** The [[MeaningfulName Vulkins]] are talking volcanoes. |
| 220 | ** The two dummies. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in this case, as there are ghosts possessing the dummies. |
| 221 | ** The Moldsmals and Moldbyggs are gelatin monsters. |
| 222 | ** [[ALizardNamedLiz Tsunderplane]] is a SentientVehicle. |
| 223 | ** [[MeaningfulName Pyrope]] is a flaming rope. |
| 224 | * AnimatingArtifact: [[spoiler:As revealed in the True Lab, [[{{Phlebotinum}} determination]] is not only a personality trait, but an actual substance that can be found in the souls of humans. It’s ambiguously described as being the will to live/change fate. Throughout the game, it is shown to have interesting effects on dead or dying beings, such as bringing back the Amalgamates, and, after mixing with the dust left from Asriel’s death, reincarnating the dead prince in the body of the flower covered with said dust.]] |
| 225 | -->[[spoiler:'''Alphys:''' What happens when something without a SOUL gains the will to live?]] |
| 226 | * {{Animeland}}: [[LargeHam Undyne]] thinks the surface world is this, due to Alphys telling her anime is human history. The player can tell her the truth at the end of the date with Alphys, much to her dismay. |
| 227 | * {{Animesque}}: {{Invoked|Trope}}. |
| 228 | ** [[OptionalBoss Mad Mew Mew]]. This is because the boss is a ghost possessing an animatronic from [[CovertPervert Alphys’]] lab that depicts the main character from her favorite anime. |
| 229 | ** [[MeaningfulName Onionsan’s]] face clearly references anime, and their personality is based off the typical [[ShrinkingViolet shy girl]] archetype, which is very common in anime. |
| 230 | ** [[LargeHam Undyne]] bases her whole way of living and fighting on anime. See ActionGirl for more details. |
| 231 | ** [[AgentPeacock Mettaton’s]] [[MrFanservice EX and NEO forms]]. It’s very likely that Alphys based these forms on anime characters. |
| 232 | ** The TrueFinalBoss invokes this due to who he is rather than trying to emulate anime style. [[spoiler:The FinalBoss, Asriel Dreemurr, had died when he was a child. When he, as [[FoulFlower Flowey]], [[PoweredByAForsakenChild absorbs all 6 human souls]] and the souls of every single monster, he regains his [[OneWingedAngel true form]] which looks like something that came from an anime. The psychedelic background, the music, and the name of his attacks (as well as CallingYourAttacks) just screams cliched JRPG, but it makes total sense for it to happen since Asriel is still a child at heart and most children think anime and comic books are darn cool.]] |
| 233 | * AntagonistAbilities: |
| 234 | ** [[spoiler:[[DiscOneFinalBoss Photoshop Flowey]] [[InterfaceScrew gets rid of the battle interface completely,]] forcing the character to find the FIGHT and ACT buttons among his attacks. He also [[SaveScumming takes control of the player’s SAVE file]], which means he could kill the PlayerCharacter permanently (if he wasn’t sadistic enough to try and kill you multiple times).]] |
| 235 | ** [[spoiler:[[ThatOneBoss Sans]] gets rid of invincibility frames, poisons the player, attacks you on your turn, and [[YouHaveResearchedBreathing dodges your attacks]]. It’s a bad time, indeed...]] |
| 236 | * AntagonisticOffspring: [[spoiler:The Dreemurr parents, Asgore and Toriel, have two children: Asriel and [[HelloInsertNameHere Chara]]. Asriel is reincarnated as [[BigBad Flowey]] who has performed Genocide Routes of his own in alternate timelines, will kill Asgore if you spare him on your first Neutral Route, and attempts to steal both parents’ souls on the [[GoldenEnding True Pacifist Route]]. Meanwhile, Chara is reincarnated as [[OmnicidalManiac the Fallen Child]], and kills all the monsters with the PlayerCharacter on the Genocide Route, destroying the world (and you, if you try to stop them) at the end.]] |
| 237 | * {{Antepiece}}: An odd example. Whenever your SOUL mechanics are changed, you almost always have a chance to get used to them before the bosses throw their most dangerous attacks. Same with attack colors; blue attacks are first used by a mini-boss that is explicitly said to only be able to see moving things, while orange attacks are first seen as field obstacles. The only exception is the final battle of the Genocide run, who will happily turn your SOUL a new color and use difficult attacks despite the fact that you don't encounter this mechanic anywhere else in the run. |
| 238 | ** Probably intentionally done with the aforementioned final battle of the Genocide run (against [[spoiler:Sans]]) to punish the player for doing a Genocide run before a Neutral or Pacifist run. In those runs, the same mechanic is introduced early on in the fight with [[spoiler:Papyrus]], and it follows the pattern as above. In a Genocide run, though, you heartlessly murder [[spoiler:Papyrus]] without ever fighting him, and therefore the battle with [[spoiler:Sans]] will likely catch you completely off-guard. Likely also due to the fact that [[spoiler:Sans]] (if you're heartless enough to push him to fight you at all) is the only CombatPragmatist in the game with genuine reason to kill you, while it's strongly implied that, even though the others say they want to kill you, most of them have never killed and don't fully understand or enjoy the reality of what it entails. |
| 239 | * AnthropomorphicFood: |
| 240 | ** Snails are commonly eaten by Toriel. There is a sapient snail on Blook Acres. |
| 241 | ** The [[ALizardNamedLiz Vegetoids]] in the Ruins are sapient carrots. |
| 242 | ** The Moldsmals and Moldbyggs are lime gelatin monsters. |
| 243 | * AntiClimacticParent: A minor example. If you laugh at [[PungeonMaster Snowdrake’s]] puns, he says, “Dad was wrong!” This makes father out to be a bit of a jerk. However, you can meet his father in MTT Resort, and while he is a bit rude about his son, [[JerkassRealization he’s mostly just sad and wants his son back]]. |
| 244 | -->'''Snowdrake’s Father:''' I’m a terrible fathah. Ha ha ha ha... That’s not funny. |
| 245 | * AntiClimax: |
| 246 | ** PlayedForLaughs with the instant noodles: if used in battle, they take a ''hilariously'' long time to prepare with no option to skip the text, including taste-testing them and adding the flavoring packets... [[spoiler:all this for a healing item that restores 2-4 health, not enough to be worth it even on a Pacifist run (where you have really low max HP)]]. Subverted if you eat the noodles in "serious mode" (fighting Toriel, [[spoiler:Asgore, Asriel, or ''anyone'' on the Genocide route]]), in which case you eat the noodles raw (skipping the preparation sequence) and regain a respectable amount of HP. |
| 247 | ** Learning the secret of Sans's bedroom, which is [[GuideDangIt incredibly obtuse]]. You enter his room and walk through a long, pitch-black darkness for half a minute, a loud droning noise getting closer and closer, suddenly everything goes black… [[spoiler:and Papyrus turns on the bedroom light to show that his room is more or less normal (aside from the the self-sustaining trash tornado in the corner) and you've just been running on a treadmill; the entire thing was a prank. Double-subverted, though, because you find the key to the room behind his house where Sans keeps the broken time machine, a hint towards his unsaid backstory that's the reason he has such a depressed disposition]]. |
| 248 | * AntiEscapeMechanism: Undyne’s [[WakeUpCallBoss boss fight]] is one of the few that actually allows you to flee the battle. However, you cannot flee if Undyne turns your soul green, which removes the flee option, among other things. You have wait for her turn it back to red in order to run away and progress the fight. |
| 249 | -->'''Undyne:''' As long as you’re [[green:GREEN]] you [[red:CAN’T ESCAPE]]! |
| 250 | * AntiFrustrationFeatures: |
| 251 | ** In the Snowdin Forest, Papyrus presents three pathing puzzles. The second one, while not being very difficult in and of itself, has a solution that's only ''slightly'' less obvious than the other two. If you "absolutely, dapsolutely want the solution", Papyrus will reveal that instead of solving the puzzle proper, you can just flip a switch hidden in a tree. |
| 252 | ** In Temmie Village, if you buy the "item" that pays for college, it unlocks a new item called Temmie Armor. It has such high defense that Temmie repeatedly insists it makes the game too easy. It's extremely expensive, but the price lowers every time you die, so it's there as a last resort. |
| 253 | ** If you lose during Mettaton's final encounter, you can skip his opening monologue when you retry, which also applies to any subsequent playthroughs. Many other pre-boss cutscenes are similarly cut short if you have to retry, and both Undyne and Asgore conveniently let you save ''after'' they give their big speeches. |
| 254 | ** The "don't step on the leaves" puzzle in the Ruins will eventually just turn the entire floor solid if you fail at it enough times. |
| 255 | ** The "change in perspective" puzzle in the Ruins will tell you where the first switch is and clue you into the pillar-hiding mechanic if you walk past the pillar three times without figuring it out. |
| 256 | ** The pacifist run's final battle against [[spoiler:Asriel]] will never take you into a game over screen at all, and has checkpoints every few rounds. It's a good thing for two reasons — the battle is preceded by 10 minutes worth of cutscenes, and there's a portion where you can't heal for 5 turns after an attack that takes most people down to 1HP and has a pattern that's almost impossible to dodge. |
| 257 | ** The game will hold your hand in some boss fights if it becomes clear that you are having difficulty trying to spare them. |
| 258 | *** If you kill Toriel, Flowey will sarcastically hint that you can go back and try again if you want to save her. If you do this, the battle descriptions will drop very heavy hints about the correct path to get past her. |
| 259 | *** If you try to talk to Toriel three times, the game will outright tell you that [=TALKing=] doesn't seem to be the solution. |
| 260 | *** The game will tell you that you cannot escalate Papyrus's fight by [=ACTing=] if you continue to try. |
| 261 | *** During Undyne's boss fight, she'll eventually keep repeating that you won't escape from her, hinting that you have to do so in order to spare her. |
| 262 | *** [[spoiler:If you are particularly stubborn in being merciful to Asgore, the game will eventually tell you that "All you can do is FIGHT".]] |
| 263 | ** During the fight against [[spoiler:Photoshop Flowey]], you won't take any damage no matter how many times you get hit during the [[spoiler:SOUL segments]]. Also, after a certain point, [[spoiler:the game just closes down immediately when your HP reaches 0 instead of making you watch the Game Over screen again]]. |
| 264 | ** [[spoiler:The distance to the Undyne fight on a No Mercy route from the nearest save point (Temmie Village) is a long way. To circumvent this, a new save point will be placed on the screen right before the one you fight her on. In addition, when you load after dying, she simply says, "You're gonna have to try a little harder than THAT!" instead of going through her whole speech again. The game will also forbid you from progressing towards the bridge until all encounters in Waterfall are killed. Dummy and Shyren can count to this if the kill counter isn't already exhausted as well.]] |
| 265 | ** If you do a No Mercy route, you won't be able to get the phone upgrades that let you access your Dimensional Box at any time on the map or give you access to a second Dimensional Box. To make up for this, the physical box will appear in a few places where it won't on other routes, such as the hotel, [[spoiler:New Home]], and the corridor right before the FinalBoss. |
| 266 | ** If you're going for a no-save run, [[https://www.reddit.com/r/Undertale/comments/npclbt/autosave_points_for_nosave_pacifist_route/ there are various points throughout the game]] where it creates an autosave. With the exception of [[spoiler:the Photoshop Flowey fight]], these are deleted whenever the game is closed; their main purpose is to save having to restart the entire game if you die. The majority of autosaves are made during Hotland, the CORE, and [[spoiler:the True Lab]], where there are more difficult encounters that often take multiple [=ACTs=] to spare. |
| 267 | ** If you do a perfect Pacifist run on your ''first'' playthrough of the game, you're able to entirely skip [[spoiler:replaying it to avoid killing anyone]] and can instead go right into the route for the True Pacifist ending without having to [[spoiler:start a new game at all. Flowey will even tell you what to do next rather than asking you not to kill anyone next time as he normally does]]. |
| 268 | * AntiGrinding: If you keep killing the RandomEncounters, eventually the area will run out of monsters, limiting how much EXP you can earn. However, nothing stops you from repeatedly sparing monsters for Gold, other than [[MoneyForNothing the fact that you don't really need to]] unless you want the Temmie Armor. |
| 269 | * AntiHero: |
| 270 | ** [[spoiler:[[FoulFlower Flowey]] is left as one in the GoldenEnding.]] |
| 271 | ** The PlayerCharacter can be this depending on their actions. |
| 272 | ** [[AgentPeacock Mettaton]] is iffy on the [[GreyAndGreyMorality morality scale]], as he is willing to take the [[PlayerCharacter human’s]] [[PoweredByAForsakenChild soul]] for himself to go to the surface and leave all the other monsters behind. However, [[spoiler:he is firmly against waging war on humanity or allowing Asgore to do so]]; furthermore, he does care about [[ShrinkingViolet Alphys]] and is reminded of how much he values his fans at the end of his fight. |
| 273 | * AntiLoveSong: The lyrics to Oh!Dungeon fit: |
| 274 | -->'''Mettaton:''' Oh my love has fallen down! Now in tears we all will drown! Colored tiles make them a fool! If only they still knew the rules! Well, that was a sorry try... Now let’s watch them fry! |
| 275 | * AntiMutiny: [[spoiler:After the death of both his children, Asgore, in a MomentOfWeakness, declares war against humanity. However, after Toriel leaves him due to her pacifistic beliefs, the king realizes that it’s a horrible idea, but the monsters still want him to do it.]] |
| 276 | * AntiSmotherLoveTalk: [[MyBelovedSmother Toriel]] is ProperlyParanoid about the PlayerCharacter leaving the Ruins, for fear of their soul being taken by Asgore. In this case, the player actually has to fight her, either killing her and showing you are powerful enough to survive, or sparing her and allowing her to come to the conclusion herself. |
| 277 | * AnyoneCanDie: A key part of the story. [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration Almost all characters are fought at some point and can be killed in battle]]. Killing every possible character nets you the infamous Genocide Route, and killing most will get you a DownerEnding where the few who escaped your rampage are struggling to survive and hate you more than anything in the world. |
| 278 | * AnyoneRememberPogs: Sans has a pet rock. Papyrus even “feeds” it with sprinkles. |
| 279 | * AnywhereButTheirLips: [[ZigzaggedTrope Zigzagged]]. [[spoiler:[[ActionGirl Undyne]] and [[AmazonChaser Alphys]] prepare to kiss on the lips towards the end of the GoldenEnding, but [[MyBelovedSmother Toriel stops them]]. Undyne finally kisses Alphys on the cheek during the credits, causing her to faint.]] |
| 280 | [[/folder]] |
| 281 | |
| 282 | [[folder:Trope Ap-Ar]] |
| 283 | * ApeShallNeverKillApe: The monsters are normally pacifistic and kind to each other, but [[WouldHurtAChild have no qualms about attacking a human child]]. |
| 284 | * ApocalypseAnarchy: In some [[AlignmentBasedEndings Neutral Routes]], the Underground is left as this. [[spoiler:This is one of the few ways one can break [[StepfordSmiler Sans]]’ TranquilFury policy and see him noticeably angry at you.]] |
| 285 | -->[[spoiler:'''Sans:''']] [[YouBastard go to hell]]. |
| 286 | * ApocalypseHow: [[spoiler:The Genocide ending starts with you ''personally'' going for the extinction of all monsters, and ends with the Fallen Child pulling off something between Total Extinction of the Underground and Universal Physical Annihilation, in ''one attack''. The only thing we know for sure is that, when you load up the game afterward, all that's left is a black void and a howling wind.]] |
| 287 | * ApocalypticLog: Two of them, both in the same hidden location. The True Laboratory has the written logs from Alphys and the audio tapes from before the deaths of Asgore's children. |
| 288 | * ApologeticAttacker: |
| 289 | ** The early RandomEncounter [[ShrinkingViolet Whimsun]] doesn't want to fight, but feels it has to. Its battle dialogue consists of a lot of apologies, it can be spared right off the bat, and its attacks don't even try to hit you. |
| 290 | ** The OptionalBoss "[[PunnyName So Sorry]]", [[MeaningfulName as per his name]], [[ApologizesALot apologizes for everything]]. He's not even trying to attack you at all, he's just incredibly clumsy. |
| 291 | ** [[spoiler:Asgore]] manages to be a [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] version in his normal boss fight; he's less direct about it, but he still makes it clear that he really does not want to fight the protagonist. [[spoiler:His [[BrainwashedAndCrazy Lost Soul]] in the TrueFinalBoss fight has lines like "Forgive me for this" and "This is my duty".]] |
| 292 | * AppliedPhlebotinum: A twist revealed near the end of the Pacifist route (but implied in other routes) is that [[spoiler:there's actually a difference between being determined as a personality trait and actually possessing a thing called Determination. It's vaguely defined as "the will to keep living; the resolve to change fate" and apparently exists in some kind of distillable form like a chemical or hormone. Humans possess it in abundance and it's the reason you're able to SAVE and never die permanently, while monsters can only handle a certain amount before succumbing to a [[BodyHorror horrifying]] PhlebotinumOverdose since they're "made mostly of magic" and lack the physical matter to process it.]] |
| 293 | * AppointmentTelevision: [[AgentPeacock Mettaton’s]] show is this for many monsters in the Underground, since there isn’t much else to do. |
| 294 | * ArbitrarilyLargeBankAccount: The Tem Shop will pay infinite gold to buy your items, including enough to send her to college. This humorously implies she already had enough money to go to college, she was just [[TooDumbToLive too dense to realize it]]. |
| 295 | * ArbitraryAugmentationLimit: [[ZigzaggedTrope Zigzagged]]. InUniverse, [[spoiler:Sans]] says that [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration LV 20 is the maximum amount of LOVE a person can get]], and, indeed, this is true in game, but this is because by the time the Fallen Child is at LV 20, everyone is dead, including the FinalBoss, so [[AbsurdlyHighLevelCap there’s no one left to fight]]. |
| 296 | * ArcSymbol: |
| 297 | ** A strange symbol that is composed of three triangles and a circle with what appear to be wings coming out of it repeatedly pops up throughout the game, such as in shops and on Toriel's robe. In Waterfall, Gerson explains that this is called the "Delta Rune", and is a symbol of monsters since ancient times. According to a prophecy, the winged circle is an "angel" that will free the monsters (which are represented by the triangles) from the Underground. Others believe it's an angel of death that will slaughter them all. At the end of the True Ending, [[spoiler:Asriel at first wears a robe very similar to his mother's, and eventually transforms into a horrific creature that bears a striking resemblance to the Delta Rune. At the end of the fight, he shatters the barrier and fulfills the prophecy]]. The "Angel" is also noted to have been to the surface, returning to free the monsters. [[spoiler:Asriel is the only monster in the underground who had been to the surface, after the barrier was placed. Considering that he died soon after, it also makes him a literal angel upon his return in the game, when he shatters the barrier.]] |
| 298 | ** There's another recurring shape that — for the most part — isn't seen until late in the game. [[spoiler:The unique shape of the determination extractor pops up in Photoshop Flowey's body, Sans's Gaster Blasters, and Asriel's Hyper Goner. It appears to be based on a goat skull.]] |
| 299 | ** Eyes seem to be significant, with the left eye possibly representing violence. The meter that appears when attacking is shaped like an eye, and [[spoiler:on the No Mercy route, we not only see that Mettaton appears to be missing his right eye, but both Undyne and Sans get a brightly glowing left socket]]. When Sans is joking around on a normal route, he will wink by closing his left eye, but when he winks during [[spoiler:his boss battle]], he closes the right eye, leaving his left open. And finally, the player's attack option is always on the left and mercy is always on the right. |
| 300 | ** Flowers, although they don't carry the usual connotations of innocence (as Flowey demonstrates). The golden flowers are especially important. Their bright color contrasts with the muted palette; they have significance to Toriel [[spoiler:and Asgore]], and they twice save the PlayerCharacter from a fatal fall. (The second time they appear in a very unlikely place.) Flowers seem to be associated with wishes, e.g. the echo flowers, and/or heartache. [[spoiler:There's also a distinctly ''different'' "golden flower" involved in the backstory — the buttercups that the Fallen Child poisoned themself with.]] |
| 301 | ** Lastly, there's a ''smiley face,'' of all things. Associated with Flowey, [[spoiler:the Amalgamates and the Fallen Child]]. While the symbolism isn't exactly clear, all the things associated with it are demonstrations of what happens when Determination [[GoneHorriblyWrong goes horribly wrong]]. |
| 302 | * ArcVillain: Quite a few. |
| 303 | ** [[MinionWithAnFInEvil Papyrus]] is the main antagonist of Snowdin, though “villain” isn’t as accurate. [[BigBadWannabe He’s completely incompetent]], and [[AbsurdlyIneffectiveBarricade his traps and puzzles]] pose no threat at all, barring one exception. He does, however, put up a decent boss fight with his blue attack, which causes your soul to be affected by gravity. However, this difficulty is thrown away because if you lose the fight three times, Papyrus will just let you pass out of pity. Afterwards, the PlayerCharacter can [[DefeatEqualsFriendship befriend him]]. |
| 304 | ** [[ActionGirl Undyne]] is the main antagonist of Waterfall, and several times more competent than [[ZeroEffortBoss Papyrus]]. She chases down the human multiple times with magical spears, and she nearly kills them (the human would have died if golden flowers didn’t break their fall). [[WakeUpCallBoss She is also the hardest fight in the game at that point, and is often many players’ first Game Over.]] The final fight with her concludes the first thematic half of the game. |
| 305 | ** [[AntiHero Mettaton]] is the main antagonist of Hotland, and one of the most [[LargeHam hammy]] characters in the game. [[VillainWithGoodPublicity He is very popular within the underground]] and [[AcmeProducts his brand is everywhere]], especially Hotland. He confronts the human [[RecurringBoss no less than five times]], and his paid minions also cause the player grief. His final battle in the CORE gives him [[MrFanservice a new form]], and he [[DanceBattler dances]] as he throws bombs, legs, disco lasers, and mini-Mettatons at you. If he is spared, he finally realizes the value of his audience and allows the player to pass, concluding the second thematic half of the game and segwaying into the end. |
| 306 | ** [[FoulFlower Flowey]] is the main antagonist of the Neutral and True Pacifist Route, in a rare case of being both this and the BigBad. The Genocide Route reveals the Fallen Child as the BigBad, making Flowey this. |
| 307 | * ArcWords: |
| 308 | ** The word "[[{{Determinator}} Determination]]" comes up several times throughout the story in relation to the protagonist as well as humanity. Over the course of the game, the player comes to learn exactly what Determination is, how it makes humans and monsters different, and what the different parties involved in the story want from it. |
| 309 | ** "[[NothingIsScarier But nobody came.]]" The phrase not only appears in a couple specific instances of the Pacifist/Neutral route (such as when you fight [[spoiler:the three Memoryheads]]), but seeing that phrase in the encounter screen is a sign that you could be in a No Mercy run[[note]]It means that you've cleared an area of random encounters, which is a major ''goal'' of a No Mercy run but can happen on a particularly dusty Neutral run[[/note]]. If you make a call immediately after Toriel dies, you will get this as a message instead. [[spoiler:It also crops up when Flowey talks about when he first woke up as a flower.]] |
| 310 | --->[[spoiler:'''Flowey:''' "Mom! Dad! Somebody help me!" I called out.]]\ |
| 311 | [[spoiler:'''Flowey:''' But nobody came.]] |
| 312 | ** "Don't you have anything better to do?" It's mostly just a catchphrase for Flowey, but it's present in a few other places as well, and ties in with one of the game's major themes. |
| 313 | ** Most of the characters in the game have at least one moment where they say the sentence "Here we are." The two noteworthy things about this phrase is that it's the title of track 83 of the game's soundtrack, the theme of the True Lab, and it's the text that appears when the player uses the Check action on the Real Knife in the No Mercy route. |
| 314 | ** "Hopes and dreams" comes up a lot. Undyne uses this phrase multiple times in all variations of her pre-battle monologue (except one) and during a neutral/pacifist battle. [[spoiler:"Hopes and Dreams" is also the title of Asriel's first battle theme]]. |
| 315 | ** "I can feel everyone's hearts beating as one" gets repeated a lot in certain battles. |
| 316 | ** "Humans. Monsters. Everyone." comes up in a few places, most notably in the boss fights against the final boss in a Neutral run and [[spoiler:Undyne the Undying]] in a No Mercy run. |
| 317 | * {{Arcadia}}: Snowdin is a rare tundra variant. [[NoobCave The Ruins]] could arguably count as this too, especially Toriel’s House. |
| 318 | * ArcadianInterlude: Snowdin is the second chapter of the game, and the first after the NoobCave. It definitely has a different vibe from the rest of the game, and it has separate [[{{Leitmotif}} Leitmotifs]] from the rest of the overworld themes. This is because [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration Snowdin is designed to encourage the Spare mechanic]]; the calm and homey town of Snowdin shows that the Underground is not as dangerous as [[MyBelovedSmother Toriel]] says it is. |
| 319 | * AreaOfEffect: Several enemy attacks work like this. |
| 320 | * AreYouSureYouWantToDoThat: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] example, PlayedForDrama. Sans gives us this during dinner with him at MTT Resort. |
| 321 | -->'''Sans:''' Down here you’ve got food, drink, friends... Is what you have to do... really worth it? |
| 322 | * AnArmAndALeg: During the final fight with [[AgentPeacock Mettaton EX]], you can blow his arms and legs off if you [[AttackItsWeakPoint shoot his heart enough]]. This lowers the required ratings needed to spare him. |
| 323 | * ArmlessBiped: |
| 324 | ** [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] with [[ADogNamedDog Monster Kid]]. They faceplant many times when running, and cannot hold their own umbrella. |
| 325 | ** There is a mouse wearing a large scarf in [[{{Arcadia}} Snowdin Town]] who doesn’t seem to have arms. They could be wrapped up in the scarf though. |
| 326 | ** Right next to the scarf mouse is a nacarat jester who also seems to be armless, but also could just have arms underneath their cloak. |
| 327 | ** There’s a Loox in the Snowdin library who doesn’t have arms. |
| 328 | ** Loren, a strange white monster in Waterfall, has no arms. |
| 329 | ** A strange, harpy-esque monster hovering on a hot dog next to Sans’ hot dog stand. |
| 330 | ** Charles, a monster resembling a mole in MTT Resort who works at the CORE |
| 331 | * ArmorIsUseless: There are some monsters covered in armor and checking their stats shows they got the defense to back it up. However, depending on what weapon you use and how high your LV is, you can take down those heavily armored monsters in just a few hits. It's explained InUniverse that [[AllergicToEvil someone with a ton of malice and hatred can easily destroy a monster's body and soul]] (sometimes in a single strike), even if said monster is supposed to be way stronger than the human that is attacking them. It is also explained that a monster is extremely sensitive to the emotions and feelings of those around them and they get weak if they face against someone who has a lot of negative energy. LV stands for Level of Violence (i.e. a stat for ItGetsEasier), which explains why you can easily OneHitKill almost anyone if it gets really high. |
| 332 | * ArmorOfInvincibility: |
| 333 | ** Near the end of a Genocide Route, you get the Locket, which makes your defense 99, theoretically making fights a complete cakewalk. However, the the sole remaining enemy in the game turns out to deal only ScratchDamage. [[DeathOfAThousandCuts A constant, unrelenting stream]] of ScratchDamage that bypasses your armor, your MercyInvincibility and applies a DamageOverTime effect that gets worse with each hit... Conversely, the enemy in question only has [[OneHitPointWonder 1 HP and 1 defense]], but [[NonchalantDodge casually dodges]] [[MarathonBoss every single one of your attacks]]. It's kind of like the game is mocking you for thinking that numbers equal power. |
| 334 | ** The Temmie Armor is a more straight example, however getting it first requires you to pay 1000G to help Temmie go to college, then [[AndNinetyNineCents 9999G]] to buy the actual armor, though the price goes down every time you die. |
| 335 | * ArmorPiercingQuestion: |
| 336 | ** [[AChatWithSatan One is delivered by]] [[spoiler:[[ShadowArchetype Chara]]]] when trying to start the game again after a [[ApocalypseHow Genocide Route]]. It’s phrased more as a statement than a question, but there is a yes/no prompt: |
| 337 | --->[[spoiler:'''Chara:''']] [[YouBastard You want to go back. You want to go back to the world, you destroyed. It was you who pushed everything to its edge. It was you who led the world to its destruction]]... You think you are above consequences. |
| 338 | ** During [[spoiler:Sans' judgement, if you've played through more than once and killed [[LivingEmotionalCrutch Papyrus]], he notices that you sometimes seem to know what will happen in advance and asks if you should use that power responsibly. If you answer "yes," he then asks "Then why'd you kill my brother?"]] |
| 339 | * ArmoredVillainsUnarmoredHeroes: The PlayerCharacter is a little kid wearing a what appears to be some kind of jumpsuit. They also face down many monsters in heavy armor, like Undyne or 01 and 02. However, this trope is downplayed in that the available armors actually increase your defense, while the armors of the monsters don't really protect them as they are affected by intent. This trope is also inverted if you are on a Genocide run, as you are now the villain of the equation. |
| 340 | * ArmsDealer: |
| 341 | ** The Snowdin Shopkeeper, though the only weapon she sells is the Tough Glove, and the PlayerCharacter can get one for free towards the beginning of Snowdin Forest, so most players never buy it. |
| 342 | ** [[CoolOldGuy Gerson]] sells the Torn Notebook in his DungeonShop. Again, most people never buy this due to obtaining the much harder hitting Ballet Shoes earlier in the area. |
| 343 | ** Bratty and [[ALizardNamedLiz Catty]] sell the Empty Gun. Unlike the other two examples, though, it's more useful given that it's the last chance to get a good weapon before the boss fight. |
| 344 | * ArrangeMode: In the Hard Mode, activated by naming the Fallen Human "[[spoiler:Frisk]]", several enemies in the Ruins are replaced either by exclusive enemies, or enemies that would appear in the CORE outside of Hard Mode[[note]]for example, Froggits are replaced with Final Froggits[[/note]]. [[spoiler:The end of Toriel's boss fight is interrupted by the Annoying Dog, and the game ends right there.]] |
| 345 | * ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: At one point in Snowdin, Papyrus sets up a gauntlet of traps including such dangerous weapons as a cannon, a flamethrower, a spiked ball-and-chain, a spear, and... the Annoying Dog dangling from a rope. |
| 346 | * ArtificialInsolence: The player character sometimes acts independently of the player to show that they're not merely a FeaturelessProtagonist. This is normally strongly {{Downplayed|Trope}}, like slowing down as they approach something frightening, but becomes more pronounced throughout a Genocide Run, culminating in them spontaneously killing [[spoiler:[[FinalBoss Asgore]] and [[BigBad Flowey]] as the Fallen Human [[DemonicPossession takes full possession]] of the Child.]] |
| 347 | * ArtShift: Most of the game is in a {{Retraux}}, ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994''-esque style with DeliberatelyMonochrome, white, pixel art enemies for the battle segments, but the FinalBoss of the Neutral Route is shown in a horrifying photomontage/glitch-art style with bullets to match. The fact that this boss is officially known as [[spoiler:[[EldritchAbomination Photoshop Flowey]]]] hints at this. |
| 348 | * ArtStyleDissonance: ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' goes the ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'' route of goofy, childish graphics (one of the [[BigBad big villains]] of the game is a talking [[FoulFlower flower]] for crying out loud) juxtaposed with dark themes such as [[spoiler:[[BodyHorror horrific scientific experiments]], [[WouldHurtAChild killing]] [[CreepyChild children]], [[AndIMustScream going insane after living life trapped in a body incapable of love]] and stuck in a GroundhogDayLoop, and potentially genocide and [[ApocalypseHow the destruction of all of existence]].]] In fact, if [[EarnYourBadEnding you go the Genocide Route]] it potentially gets even ''darker'' than ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}''. |
| 349 | * ArtifactDomination: Absorbing [[PoweredByAForsakenChild the soul of another being]] causes the host and the absorbed soul to share control of the body. [[spoiler:This is what happened with Asriel and Chara and the reason they were killed, due to the two of them fighting for control.]] |
| 350 | * ArtifactOfPower: Souls. More specifically, absorbing the soul of another being. A sign in Waterfall describes a human/monster fusion as “a horrible beast with incredible power.” [[spoiler:[[BigBad Flowey]] [[PoweredByAForsakenChild absorbs]] ''[[ExaggeratedTrope six of them]]'' to become [[EldritchAbomination Photoshop Flowey]] on the player’s first Neutral Route between True Resets and Genocide Routes, and he absorbs ''seven'' to take on his true form: [[OneWingedAngel Asriel Dreemurr]]. Both times, he gains control of the SAVE file and nearly kills off the PlayerCharacter ''[[KilledOffForReal permanently]]''.]] |
| 351 | * ArtisticAge: Not everyone’s ages are immediately apparent. For example, the PlayerCharacter is depicted in fanart anywhere from [[KidHero 5]] to almost 20. All we know is that they are a child. There’s also some InUniverse confusion about Sans and Papyrus’ age: |
| 352 | -->'''[[ADogNamedDog Monster Kid]]:''' I wonder if that weird skeleton is an adult or a kid. |
| 353 | * ArtisticLicenseBotany: Flowey's primary method of locomotion is that he dives into the ground, and then reappears in another spot, as shown during the moments he briefly submerges just as the player goes back to a previous screen. Flowey's capable of doing this during any of the stages of the world, including a perpetually covered snowland, and a melting hot volcano-area. No flower can adapt so well to so many different environments without dying instantly. |
| 354 | * ArtisticLicenseGeology: The fact that [[ConvectionSchmonvection not only is no one dying from the heat of Hotland]], but an entire civilization and a ''geothermal power plant'' have thrived in a volcano for millennia without so much as a tremor. |
| 355 | * ArtisticLicensePhysics: |
| 356 | ** All the humans survive a large fall into the Underground. Why? The flowers at the bottom of the pit broke their falls, of course! The PlayerCharacter survives ''two'' falls this way. |
| 357 | ** Papyrus seems to fly over the human after fighting them. [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment This is never addressed again]]. |
| 358 | * ArtisticTitle: The title sequence that plays every time the game is opened briefly explains the [[GreatOffscreenWar War of Humans and Monsters]], along with pictures, one of which showing [[ActionPolitician Asgore]] leading his armies against the humans. [[spoiler:When the game is opened after [[BigBad Flowey]] crashes the game, one picture is different and the entire sequence glitches out.]] |
| 359 | [[/folder]] |
| 360 | |
| 361 | [[folder:Trope As-Aw]] |
| 362 | * AsLethalAsItNeedsToBe: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]]. The amount of damage dealt to enemies corresponds to the KillingIntent of the PlayerCharacter and the monster. |
| 363 | * AscendedMeme: |
| 364 | ** The rumors that you could get a Real Knife in the demo become truth in the full version. [[spoiler:On a No Mercy route, it'll replace the Worn Dagger in New Home.]] |
| 365 | ** In 2018, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT6rJ88YLVI a fan made an animation]] of Sans doing the ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'' "Dance Moves" emote (aka the "default dance"). Two years later, when some dialogue orignally intended for an alarm clock app was published as a standalone work, Undyne talks about Sans doing "some kind of... finger-pointy arm-crossy dance" which Alphys derides as "cringe culture". |
| 366 | * ASCIIArt: If the player’s “fun” value is between 46 and 50, Alphys calls them in Snowdin to order pizza, and when trying to text toppings, accidentally sends ASCII art of an anime cat girl. |
| 367 | ** In the GoldenEnding, one of Toriel's messages is ASCII art of a snail. You don't see it, though; the narration just describes it. |
| 368 | * AshesToCrashes: When monsters die, their bodies dissolve into dust. When Asriel died, his dust spread over the golden flowers of Asgore’s garden. A monster’s dust is supposed to be spread on their favorite thing (meaning, if done properly, they would probably be spread on Chara’s body). [[spoiler:Alphys injects determination into one of the flowers with the dust on it, reincarnating the dead prince as [[BigBad Flowey]].]] |
| 369 | * AshFace: |
| 370 | ** When Papyrus is zapped by his electricity maze, he turns black and smoky. |
| 371 | ** In a True Pacifist Route, when [[MundaneMadeAwesome cooking with Undyne]], you turn up the heat too high and the stove explodes, turning her face sooty for a moment. |
| 372 | * AspectRatioSwitch: [[spoiler:Just before the fight with [[EldritchAbomination Photoshop Flowey]], the AspectRatio changes so that the PlayerCharacter can walk all the way to the sides of the screen. This is a hint that something’s wrong.]] |
| 373 | * AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: It’s all but outright stated that [[ActionGirl Undyne]] was made head of the Royal Guard simply because she could (and [[HotBlooded quite eagerly would]]) [[AlwaysGetsHisMan wipe the floor with any potential rival]]. |
| 374 | * AssKickingPose: Implied by one of the ACT menu options during the Mettaton fight. If you do it while low on HP, your audience finds it even more dramatic. |
| 375 | * AssholeVictim: |
| 376 | ** The PlayerCharacter can be this if they die, depending on their actions. Ultimately though, they will always come back (unless the player gives up). |
| 377 | ** [[BigBad Flowey]]. When killing him on the Neutral Route, you’ve just fought [[spoiler:[[EldritchAbomination Photoshop Flowey]]]] and, depending on the player’s actions, he also [[spoiler:[[KickTheDog killed Asgore when he finally felt hope again for the first time in years]]]] and has threatened to kill you and everyone you love. Even worse, when you finally do kill him, he sports [[NightmareFace one of his creepiest]] [[SlasherSmile expressions in the game]] and says: |
| 378 | --->'''Flowey:''' I knew you had it in you! |
| 379 | ** [[TheFriendNobodyLikes Jerry]]. It is joked by [[WordOfGod Toby Fox]] that Jerry is the only character with no good in him. When encountered, he is completely obnoxious and only cares for himself. [[SupportPartyMember Good thing he doesn’t have any combat capabilities.]] In fact, the game allows you and the other monsters to ditch him right off the bat. |
| 380 | * AssimilationBackfire: It happens [[spoiler:three times, all with the same character.]] |
| 381 | ** In the backstory, [[spoiler:Asriel says that when he absorbed Chara's soul, they both were able to control his body. Chara had wretched control from him until the humans attacked them, at which point Asriel managed to get his control back, refused to fight back and died because of his injuries.]] This makes it a twofer example, as [[spoiler:Chara's]] plans were completely spoiled as a result, but [[spoiler:Asriel died as a result of their combined actions.]] |
| 382 | ** In the fight against [[spoiler:Photoshop Flowey, he absorbs the six human souls and gains god-like power, removing the player's ability to access their save files, and even getting impossible stats and [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard getting the ability to use Save States]]. However, Frisk can ask the human souls for help, and they turn against him and heal Frisk, resulting in Flowey's defeat.]] |
| 383 | ** The [[spoiler:TrueFinalBoss of the GoldenEnding]] also falls victim to this, but in a... decisively odd way. Instead of the assimilation [[spoiler:of the human souls and all monster souls in the Underground]] harming the assimilator in some way, [[spoiler:it restored his ability to have feelings, and thus his compassion.]] The result is that the assimilator simply doesn't want to go through with the plan anymore. |
| 384 | * AssociatedComposer: Creator/TobyFox makes his own music for his projects, including ''Undertale''. |
| 385 | * AstralProjection: Humans can separate their souls from their bodies, as can be seen with the PlayerCharacter during battle. Boss Monster souls also remain for a few moments after death. |
| 386 | * {{AstroTurf}}: There are several positive reviews posted on the wall in MTT Resort. However, the PlayerCharacter easily deduces that they are all Mettaton, [[ComicallyMissingThePoint which defeats the purpose]] of AstroTurfing in the first place. |
| 387 | * AttackAnimal: |
| 388 | ** All members of the [[MinionWithAnFInEvil Snowdin Canine Unit]] ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg except for Doggo]]) have the [[AuthorAvatar Annoying Dog]] in their attacks. |
| 389 | ** One of [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Temmie’s]] attacks has another, crudely drawn Temmie. |
| 390 | ** The [[spoiler:[[BodyHorror Endogeny]] uses a creepier version of the Annoying Dog with an orifice where it’s face should be.]] |
| 391 | ** [[spoiler:[[AnamalisticAbomination Reaper Bird]] summons the [[SatelliteCharacter Everyman]], which has a disturbing resemblance to a bird embryo.]] |
| 392 | * AttackAttackAttack: |
| 393 | ** The PlayerCharacter can be this, especially on the Genocide Route. This is [[JustifiedTrope justified]], however, as the human can afford to be this reckless due to being [[SaveScumming effectively immortal]]. |
| 394 | ** [[BigBad Flowey]] also employs this strategy due to being one of the few characters capable of an AlwaysAccurateAttack. [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] in the fight with [[spoiler:[[EldritchAbomination Photoshop Flowey]], as while he is still technically using this trope, he could still [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim just]] [[OneHitKill straight up kill you]] [[KilledOffForReal permanently]] and [[JustToyingWithThem he’s just]] [[{{Sadist}} messing with you]].]] |
| 395 | ** [[ActionGirl Undyne]]'s strategy during battle is to attack and pursue the player until her body physically gives out, and actively refuses any attempts to spare her. If a player defeats her in a neutral run, she will continue to weakly attack to her last breath even as her body begins to melt and give out. |
| 396 | ** [[FinalBoss Asgore]] does this as well, because [[spoiler: he doesn’t want to kill the human and he doesn’t want to think about it]]. He [[InterfaceScrew destroys the player's Mercy button]], ensuring that the fight will only end with one of them dead. [[spoiler:Of course, if you defeat him, you can still choose to stay your hand at the last moment.]] |
| 397 | ** Migosp puts up this persona, screaming commands at its companions to attack you without mercy and refusing all attempts to reason with it or resolve the conflict peacefully as long as other monsters are present. |
| 398 | * AttackDrone: |
| 399 | ** Mad Dummy calls a small army of other Dummies against you, followed by a small army of robots. |
| 400 | ** [[spoiler:[[KillerRobot Mettaton EX]] summons mini-Mettatons that float down on umbrellas ''Film/MaryPoppins'' style and shoot hearts at the player.]] |
| 401 | ** During the fight against the TrueFinalBoss, [[spoiler:Lost Soul Alphys uses attacks identical to Mettaton's including the mini-Mettatons.]] |
| 402 | * AttackItsWeakPoint: [[spoiler:[[AgentPeacock Mettaton EX]]]] has a heart-shaped core, and attacking it will accelerate a pacifist’s fight greatly. |
| 403 | * AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: [[spoiler:The FinalBoss of the [[AlignmentBasedEndings Neutral Route]], [[OneWingedAngel Photoshop Flowey]], is the biggest thing in the game (a literal BigBad). Even the “[[EldritchAbomination whatever]]” part fits. Also a rare case of the whatever [[DeathFromAbove attacking from above]].]] |
| 404 | * AttentionDeficitDisciple: Ironically, ''[[StepfordSmiler Sans]]'' plays this role to ''[[MinionWithAnFInEvil Papyrus]]'' in Snowdin. Papyrus is the one acting all serious and focusing on capturing the human, while Sans doesn’t take it seriously at all and cares more about trolling his brother and the PlayerCharacter and [[PungeonMaster making lame puns]]. |
| 405 | -->'''Papyrus:''' IT’S BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN’T... [[PunctuatedForEmphasis RECALIBRATED. YOUR. PUZZLES!]] YOU GET LAZIER AND LAZIER EVERY DAY!\ |
| 406 | '''Sans''': hey, take it easy. i’ve got a ton of work done today. [[{{Pun}} a skele-ton]]. |
| 407 | * AttentionDeficitOohShiny: [[MinionWithAnFInEvil All members of the Snowdin Canine Unit]] can be instantly spared by throwing the Stick and playing fetch with them. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], as they are, after all, dogs. |
| 408 | * AttentionWhore: |
| 409 | ** [[BigBad Flowey]] is in a way. [[spoiler:He thinks that the PlayerCharacter is his late best friend, Chara ([[AmbiguousSituation which may or may not be true]]). He wants to trap the human in a GroundhogDayLoop [[CosmicHorrorStory for eternity]] so that [[ItsAllAboutMe he can play with his friend forever]].]] |
| 410 | ** [[SmallNameBigEgo Papyrus]], in his own words, wants to be “[[NoIndoorVoice POWERFUL]]! [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal POPULAR]]! [[PunctuatedForEmphasis PRESTIGIOUS]]!” [[BigBadWannabe He wants to capture the human]] because [[IJustWantToHaveFriends he wants people to like him]], and it’s heavily implied the human is the first friend he’s ever had (aside from [[ParentalSubstitute Sans]] and [[AFatherToHisMen Undyne]]). |
| 411 | ** [[AcquiredSituationalNarcissism Mettaton]]. ''Whoo boy''. Mettaton always wanted to be a star, and after [[spoiler:Alphys built him a body]], he could be one. He’s completely obsessed with himself, always hogging the spotlight and doing all kinds of random stuff on his show. [[AcmeProducts He has products all over the underground]] and [[spoiler:has no qualms about [[WouldHurtAChild stealing the soul of a child]] to go to the surface and get a new audience]]. |
| 412 | ** Ice Cap becomes very distressed if the player isn’t looking at its hat. This is because it has self-esteem issues and feels its hat forms its identity (because Ice Cap without its cap is only Ice). |
| 413 | ** Lesser Dog and Greater Dog both really want attention. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], they’re dogs who just want to play. |
| 414 | ** [[OptionalBoss Glyde]] is obsessed with itself and, unlike Ice Cap, is defeated by giving it attention. |
| 415 | * AttractivenessDiscrimination: A huge reason Mettaton is so successful is because many people find him absolutely gorgeous. [[AmbiguouslyBi Papyrus himself]] says that Mettaton is “[[OverlyNarrowSuperlative his favorite sexy rectangle]].” |
| 416 | * AudibleSharpness: The Stick, Toy Knife, and the Worn Dagger/Real Knife all make a cutting sound when attacking. This only really makes sense for [[AbsurdlySharpBlade the]] [[InfinityPlusOneSword latter]], though. |
| 417 | * AudienceParticipation: At the end of the fight with [[spoiler:[[AgentPeacock Mettaton EX]] (if spared)]], he has the viewers call in and comment on his [[spoiler:last]] show. [[spoiler:This is what eventually convinces him to stay underground and let the human pass.]] |
| 418 | * AudienceSurrogate: Surprisingly, ''three''. |
| 419 | ** The first one is just who you might think: the PlayerCharacter. They’re a classic HeroicMime, with [[AmbiguouslyBrown ambiguous]] [[AmbiguousGender features]] and a [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal perpetual]] [[TheStoic poker face]] to allow the player to put themself in the human’s shoes, and play the way they’d play. The character only acts independently a few times on the Genocide Route, [[spoiler:where there is [[EvilCounterpart another power]] fighting for control ([[AmbiguousSituation maybe]]). [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] on the [[GoldenEnding True Pacifist Route]], where the human tells Asriel their CanonName: [[WhoNamesTheirKidDude Frisk]], showing that they do have an identity separate from the player.]] |
| 420 | ** The second one is [[TheWoobie Flowey]]. [[spoiler:For a substantial portion of [[MultipleEndings any route]], he projects on Frisk, believing them to be his friend, the [[HelloInsertNameHere Fallen Child]], when they've never actually met; in the True Pacifist Route, as [[OneWingedAngel Asriel]], he plans to reset the entire timeline so he can [[GroundhogDayLoop keep having fun]] [[CosmicHorrorStory with his "friends"]]; and in the Genocide Route, he talks about how his own genocidal actions were motivated, in part, by [[AllergicToRoutine the repetitiveness of helping everyone]] and [[HundredPercentCompletion the realization that they were all scripted actors]]. All of this is set up to [[MirrorCharacter directly parallel the player's own motivations and actions]], especially if they took the anticipated path of doing a True Pacifist Route and resetting for the Genocide Route.]] |
| 421 | ** The third one is [[spoiler:the Fallen Child, who, as [[AbstractApotheosis an embodiment of completionism and powergaming]] during the Genocide Route, acts [[ShadowArchetype similarly to the player]]. Through the Fallen Child's actions, the player is shown just who they've been acting like: an OmnicidalManiac whom the lesser monsters fear and the more powerful ones die [[ArrogantGodVersusRagingMonster fighting]] [[TheApocalypseBringsOutTheBestInPeople heroically]]. As a bonus, if you decide to go against the Fallen Child, essentially who you were, at the last moment, you will be greeted by [[HoistByHisOwnPetard the same familiar determination]], [[ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine just on the other end of the stick]]]]. |
| 422 | * AuteurLicense: |
| 423 | ** Creator/TobyFox essentially did everything himself, so of course he gets to decide what goes in it. |
| 424 | ** InUniverse, it seems that Mettaton has this. |
| 425 | * AuthorAppeal: |
| 426 | ** InUniverse, if Mettaton is to be trusted, then [[ShrinkingViolet Alphys]] has written [[SelfInsertFic several fan fictions]] shipping herself [[AmazonChaser with Undyne]]. |
| 427 | ** [[{{Narcissist}} Mettaton]] himself stars in [[AcmeProducts everything MTT]], including ''twenty-eight movies'' about himself, and he seems to like the theme of rectangles as well (which are also associated with him). |
| 428 | ** Out of universe, during [[https://toby.fangamer.com/interviews/temmie/ a 2023 interview]], Toby mentioned that Creator/TemmieChang was a huge dog lover during ''Undertale''[='s=] development, and that she was likely the main reason why dogs are featured so prominently throughout the game. |
| 429 | * AuthorAvatar: |
| 430 | ** Creator/TobyFox makes an appearance as a small white dog that sleeps all the time and loves to annoy people ([[SitcomArchnemesis especially Papyrus]]). When ''Undertale'' won the audience award at 2016 IGF, Toby Fox, in lieu of a personal appearance, submitted a video in which the dog claims the award. |
| 431 | ** The [[PlanetOfSteves Temmies]] are this for sprite artist Temmie Chang. |
| 432 | * AuthorTract: The game is a TakeThat against video games where enemies are killed senselessly, as Creator/TobyFox dislikes those themes and wanted to create a game where you could persevere by [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe being kind to your enemies]] instead of [[ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption murdering them]]. |
| 433 | * AuthorUsurpation: ''Undertale'' and ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'' are Creator/TobyFox’s defining works and greatly overshadow his work in the ''VideoGame/TheHalloweenHack'' and ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''. |
| 434 | * AutobotsRockOut: The final boss themes from the Pacifist and Genocide routes, "Hopes and Dreams"/"Save The World" and "Megalovania", heavily feature the use of electric guitars in their composition. The latter piece can be seen as playing with the trope; since it only plays when the final boss of the Genocide route is trying to stop you, they're the one rocking out ''against you!'' |
| 435 | * AutomaticLevel: Because [[spoiler:Mettaton isn’t actually trying to kill you at first]], the PlayerCharacter can survive [[ItMakesSenseInContext the jetpack sequence of Cooking With A]] KillerRobot, the [[HavingABlast bomb sequence of MTT News]], and the [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience Multicolor Tile Puzzle]] [[WinsByDoingAbsolutelyNothing without doing anything]]. |
| 436 | * AutomaticNewGame: When playing the game for the first time, after playing the intro sequence, the game tells the player the controls and gives you access to the Joystick Config menu before throwing you right into creating a new SAVE file. |
| 437 | * AutoRevive: Whenever the PlayerCharacter dies in the fight with [[spoiler:[[OneWingedAngel Asriel]] [[TrueFinalBoss Dreemurr]]]], [[EleventhHourSuperpower they come back to life immediately]]. |
| 438 | -->But it refused. |
| 439 | * AutoScrollingLevel: The [[{{Antepiece}} second]] [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience Multicolor Tile Puzzle]]. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], as the PlayerCharacter is running away from a [[VisualPun fire]] [[AdvancingWallOfDoom wall]]. |
| 440 | * {{Autosave}}: This is used to [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou screw with the player's head]]. While not telling the player that it's happening, the game automatically saves after the player makes moral choices, most notably [[PetTheDog sparing]] or [[KickTheDog killing]] the bosses. These saves also persist across the player's save files, and certain [=NPCs=] will "[[RippleEffectProofMemory remember]]" what happened in previous saves. For instance, if the player kills the first boss, reloads the game, and spares the boss, [[BigBad Flowey]] the [[FoulFlower Flower]] will [[YouBastard call the player out on it]]. |
| 441 | * AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: |
| 442 | ** A platonic variant. [[spoiler:When Mettaton is inactive ([[VideoGameCrueltyPotential or dead]]), [[ShrinkingViolet Alphys]], who Mettaton just betrayed, checks on Mettaton to make sure he’s not dead.]] |
| 443 | ** [[spoiler:[[AccuserOfTheBrethren Toriel]] saves [[TheAtoner Asgore’s]] life at the end of the True Pacifist Route, even though she despises him for declaring war and [[WouldHurtAChild killing six of her children]].]] |
| 444 | --->[[spoiler:'''Toriel:''' As terrible as Asgore is... [[ThouShaltNotKill He deserves mercy, too]].]] |
| 445 | * AwakeningTheSleepingGiant: [[EarnYourBadEnding If you ride out the Genocide Route all the way to the end]], your [[FinalBoss final opponent]] is [[spoiler:[[AlmightyJanitor Sans, the lazy, affable skeleton]]]]. He [[YouBastard chides you for everything you've done]], stating he "[[NeutralNoLonger can't afford to not care anymore]]" and warns you that if you take another step, "[[BadassBoast You're going to have a bad time]],” and [[SNKBoss he isn't lying]]. |
| 446 | %%* AwardBaitSong: The track "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBhFHJMVfiI Undertale]]", which is played when the player is told the story of Asriel and the first human. Despite being an instrumental, it contains multiple criteria of an award bait song; it starts off mellow, gradually builds up, contains a {{modulation}} in the middle, and is used in a TearJerker context. Averted, though, mostly by the fact that it's not that different than the rest of the music and is crucial to giving that scene so much meaning and emotion rather than just being thrown in to get an award. |
| 447 | * AwesomeButImpractical: |
| 448 | ** Most weapons are useless on a Pacifist run, as you won't be attacking anything. The only weapons that will be of any use are the Torn Notebook (which increases MercyInvincibility), the Burnt Pan (which increases the power of healing items, but isn't bought), and the Stick (which can be used as an item to instantly pacify dogs). There's also [[spoiler:the Worn Dagger, which you may want on a Neutral-Pacifist run to fend off Asgore as well as possible, although even the Burnt Pan and especially the Empty Gun are technically stronger if the player is good at timing critical hits correctly]]. |
| 449 | ** Burgerpants sells some of the best healing items in the game... which are unnecessary in a Pacifist run, where you can only have 20 HP, and they are pretty expensive. For the record, you can get foods that heal more than 20 HP in Snowdin's store, far earlier for far less. [[spoiler:However, in a Pacifist run, the Mettaton EX fight encourages you to buy some of them, as eating them boosts your ratings and allows you to more efficiently spare him.]] |
| 450 | ** For an in-story example, there's Undyne's hot fridge, which heats food instead of cooling it because she hates cold food, despite that she has an oven, and a stove, and it would be more practical to use them instead. |
| 451 | * AwfulTruth: |
| 452 | ** The monsters along the player’s journey tell you a heartbreaking story. [[spoiler:Once upon a time, a child climbed Mount Ebott and fell through the barrier between the human world and the underworld. They were rescued by the king's son, Asriel, and HappilyAdopted [[AdoptedIntoRoyalty by his family]]. One day the child fell sick and, after begging to see the flowers of their village one last time, died, and Asriel [[MomentOfWeakness in his grief]] absorbed the child's soul. He broke through the barrier and brought the child's body to the village, but the villagers attacked him out of fear. Asriel [[ThouShaltNotKill refused to fight back]] and, mortally wounded, returned to the underworld where he too collapsed and died. From then on the king vowed that all humans who fell through the barrier were to be killed, and promised to destroy the barrier once and for all with [[PoweredByAForsakenChild seven human souls]].]] |
| 453 | ** The truth, which the PlayerCharacter discovers in the [[spoiler:[[BleakLevel True Lab]]]], is even worse: [[spoiler:the entire thing was a massive ThanatosGambit by the Fallen Child. [[HeroicSacrifice They deliberately killed themself]] by [[CruelAndUnusualDeath eating buttercup flowers]] and persuaded Asriel to absorb their soul, so that he could go to the surface with the Fallen Child's body and provoke a war with the humans. [[AmbiguousSituation It's not clear whether the Fallen Child only wanted six souls to break the barrier or wanted humanity wiped out entirely]], but Asriel himself says the Fallen Child was "[[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior not the nicest person]]".]] |
| 454 | * AxCrazy: |
| 455 | ** Mad Dummy is an extremely pissed off ghost that at first attacks you saying that you scared their cousin off... And they don't even remember that cousin's name. They're just a PsychoKnifeNut that's literally fuming with anger and tries to kill you just because. |
| 456 | ** [[VillainProtagonist The Fallen Child]], according to some people. The character is so obscenely crazy that they will try to ''[[ExaggeratedTrope attack empty space]]''. ''Repeatedly''. A complete and utter OmnicidalManiac and one of the most evil characters ever presented in video game history, with [[TheSociopath no love or compassion for other living things]]. Fittingly, as [[spoiler:the character is [[AbstractApotheosis an abstract incarnation of the player's desire for power]] and [[HundredPercentCompletion progress]] [[TheUnfettered even if it means killing absolutely everyone in their way]].]] However, this is [[AmbiguousSituation only one interpretation of their personality]]. [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation Other people prefer to portray them in a much more sympathetic light]]. |
| 457 | ** [[BigBad Flowey]] the [[FoulFlower Flower]]. He is a complete {{Sadist}} who has completed multiple Genocide Routes of his own. This is especially apparent in the battle with [[spoiler:[[EldritchAbomination Photoshop Flowey]], where he tries to trap the player in an [[GroundhogDayLoop eternal loop]] of being brutally murdered over and over. [[HoistByHisOwnPetard This actually comes back to bite him]], because he is never satisfied with [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim just killing the player permanently]], and him continually bringing the human back allows them to defeat him.]] |
| 458 | --->'''Flowey:''' [[spoiler:[[SaveScumming I’ll SAVE over your own death.]] So you can watch me tear you to bloody pieces... Over, and over, and over...]] |
| 459 | ** [[spoiler:YOU. Yes, [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou YOU]]. The person staring at the screen pressing the buttons. Just YOU. It is VERY possible for the entire Underground to [[CosmicHorrorStory fear you as a maniacal murderer who only wants to kill every living being.]] [[YouBastard And the game is a master at making you feel very, very bad about it.]]]] |
| 460 | [[/folder]] |
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