WMG / Deltarune

• W.D. Gaster/The narrator
• Kris/Chara/The SOUL/The Vessel
• The Fun Gang/The Heroes
• The Dark Worlds/The Darkners
• The Lightners
• The Angel/The Knight
• Other

The Titans/The Roaring

The Roaring will begin, but it can be stopped, and doing so will be part of the final chapter(s).

Just mentioning the Titans at all is just screaming "you're gonna fight these guys at some point" to any attentive player.

So I'm calling it now. The endgame will be fighting the Titans, with the main one in the middle (with the eyes we've seen elsewhere) being the Final Boss.

As for why it will end this particular way? Until I actually thought about it before adding this paragraph, I've been subconsciously thinking of Hercules the whole time and how the world wasn't automatically screwed if that movie's Titans got out, since they could be defeated and put back in their can if they managed to get out.

The Dark World save points are formless Titans.

The Titans seem to all have a save point-like symbol on their head. We know from Lemon Bread that beings can assume the shape of a save point. The save points in the Dark World are generally suspicious. They are white instead of golden, even though, according to the Undertale demo manual, save points are made of determination, so their color should always be the same. Determination is brought up in Deltarune but never associated with save points, unlike in Undertale. The Dark World save points seem to run on some vague "power", which is very strange. Maybe the Roaring will assemble them into the Titans?

The area before Ralsei's Castle is a dormant Titan.

One of the Titans we see has the same crossed-out eye symbols scattered across this area.

The fountain in Ralsei's Castle will cause the Roaring.

It supposedly will grow stronger the more Darkners we bring there. One particularly powerful fountain could tip the edge in favor of the darkness. One of the titans we see is larger than the rest and has the same crossed-out eye symbols, which could be the titan spawned by Ralsei's fountain.

The Roaring will start the moment 3 fountains exist at once.

In the cutscene depicting the Roaring, we see 3 fountains and 3 Titans. Ralsei also acts like Berdly and Noelle creating a third fountain would directly cause the Roaring instead of just contributing to it.

• Wasn't it more 'Opening a Dark Fountain while already inside a Dark World' that he was worried about?

Ralsei is immune to the Roaring.

He's been shown to be able to freely move between Dark Worlds, and can even move through the Light world. If the Roaring does petrify Darkners, it's possible that he would be immune to it like he can ignore the effects of other things Darkners have to deal with. In fact, the only thing he would have to deal with would be the Light world becoming covered in darkness — which is something he's already used to, as a Darkner.

The Roaring already happened.

Linking into the above theory, what if the Roaring is a repeating event? If Ralsei is immune to the effects of the Roaring, then it's possible that he's already lived through it — and that his dark world is the old version of the Light world.

• This would explain why the prophecy cutscenes are in the same style as Undertale's flashbacks, because those are scenes that have happened in the past.

The Titans take form in the real world as well.

As each Dark World is only a room in the Light World, a giant being in the Dark World would take the form of a normal-sized person that will blend in with others. If there really is a dead Titan in the first Dark World, then a body is hidden in the supply closet.

Ralsei is a Titan, or an entity that will turn into one.

That would explain why he's so invested in closing off all of the fountains outside of his own, yet is so secretive about the exact nature of the threat to such a degree that he didn't even mention the Titans at all until he was forced to. Maybe he's afraid that his friends might decide that killing him or closing his fountain would be an easier and safer way to stop him from turning into a Titan at some point if they knew the full truth. Additionally, several features of the primary Titan that appears in the prophecy part of Chapter 2's normal path have been pointed out as being linked to Ralsei or his realm: namely, the general shape of the silhouette greatly resembles a boss monster (like what Ralsei appears as), and the barren unknown area leading into the Castle Town has the exact same eye markings seen on the Titan's body.

The Titans are or correspond to the three save files.

They all have save point-like symbols on their head. Gaster says "PREPARATIONS ARE COMPLETE." if you fill all three save slots by copying before ever having completed chapter 1, which could mean all save slots must be filled to reach the ending.

We are a Titan…

The Titans have save point symbols on their heads and we can save. Ralsei's town is named after our name, and the eye symbols in the area before it are seen on the largest Titan.

The Roaring will occur if anyone attempts to spawn a Dark Fountain within any Dark World besides Castle Town.

Based off Berdly and Noelle almost doing such, and as an alternative to an above guess, an overlap between two Dark World locations will cause the shadows to spread across the Earth. The contradictory manifestations will not only weave immense destruction, but will turn practically all Darkners into stone, as none of them are compatible with both "worlds". (Castle Town is a between-chapter hub in which more Dark Fountains are impossible to create at all.)

It will be possible to prevent the Roaring entirely, but failure to do so will prevent the world from ever being restored.

In the final chapter, taking the right actions will make sure the worst never comes true, and a Happy Ending is earned. However, if the Roaring is to occur, the game will play around with the player via several Hope Spots, but will eventually employ a heartrending subversion of the "the apocalypse occurs in all its horror but the people as a whole live on" plot.

Building off the "Ralsei is hiding their true form theories" and the "Ralsei is a titan theories", Ralsei is the son of the blind eye Titan seen in the Roaring cutscene.

Their are many small inconsistencies in Ralsei's silhouetted form to his goat form that leave me to believe the people who pegged him as an illusionist are spot on. Biggest of all, however, is his ears, which go from short and spiky to long and fluffy. A complete contradiction. Now look at the blind eye titan, they have horns, seem to be vaguely animalistic, but also seem to have shot spiky hair that could be ears. Their Silhouette bares far more than a striking resemblance to Ralsei's hatted one, and if we assume they made the kingdom and fountain he resides in, that would make him the King of the Dark World in a sense, making his son the prince.

A monster that has absorbed 7 human SOULs is just as powerful as (or only slightly less powerful than) a Titan.

Jevil knows about the Roaring

He does mention how "hell's roar will bubble from the depths".

Spamton witnessed a Titan

This could be why he's obsessed with becoming "big".

We, the Player, will kill the Titans.

We, the actual player, not just the tiny soul we puppet, will manifest to fight off the Titans, similar to how Giygas dies in EarthBound.

Destroying all fountains will cause an event similar to the Roaring.

There's a contradiction between the Prophecy and Ralsei's description of the Roaring: The prophecy says balance must be upheld, while the description of the Roaring says that only the dark overtaking the light has negative consequences. In order for the prophecy to be correct, there must be equivalent consequences for the light overtaking the dark as well.

• Follow-up theory: Such an event occurred in the past of the Undertale universe. While the Lightners managed to pull together and rebuild After the End, the aftermath of the event sowed seeds of doubt between the humans and monsters that ultimately led to all-out war between the two and then the monsters' banishment.

Kris is possessed by the power of a Titan.

• Save Points only exist in the Dark World, and the Titans have Save Points for faces. When you first Save the game, you overwrite Kris's file with your own, which suggests that they have been to the Dark World before. A lot of the Save Points comment that "you are filled with the power of <something relevant to the current situation>" or that "the power of <something relevant> shines within you".
• Kris jumps in front of Susie to protect her from the King's attacks during Chapter 1, and during Chapter 2's Weird route, they are noted as looking distraught after Noelle is goaded into killing Berdly, which, combined with the Lightners' descriptions of them suggests that while they're mean-spirited, they don't actually want to hurt anyone. This, coupled with hints that Kris likes Susie the most out of all their friends, makes it extremely unlikely that they'd open a Dark Fountain right next to her and place her in danger.
• Every time you use a Save Point, a portion of the Titans' power fills Kris. In the Light World, that power allows the Titans to take over Kris's body, tearing your SOUL from them so you can't see what they're making Kris do (and presumably so you can't take control back). The reason Kris moves so jerkily when this happens is because they're trying to resist the Titans' control, but can't.
• The Titans don't destroy your SOUL because they need you to bring Kris to the Save Points. Kris keeps your SOUL around because to them, you're the lesser of two evils: They may not like being puppeted around, but being made to act out of character is miles better than being forced to endanger everyone.

The Knight is (at least partially) a Titan

Queen does call them a "Roaring Knight" despite her not knowing about the Roaring beforehand. Plus it would explain the Knight's motivation somewhat (trying to bring their species back to life?).

Sans is a survivor of a previous Roaring

Based on how it's implied in Undertale that he's from another world, maybe he's an escapee from a world that got destroyed by Titans (either Deltarune or a different world).

The Titans are based off of adults stopping others from playing.

Darkners are primarily based off of toys and tools that enable the Lightners who use them to escape the mundane through Escapism and the power of imagination. They fear being stripped of their purpose… and what, then, would be more terrifying than somebody barging in and forbidding others from using them? Like an adult insisting that it's high time you 'grow up' and abandon childish interests, or taking the choice out of their hands by taking their things away, selling them off, throwing them out into the trash, or even destroying them outright.

This does not necessary mean that any Lightner adult will be automatically transformed into a Titan. It hinges more upon how they respond to the Dark Worlds. Somebody more accepting and receptive would be fine; the problem comes when adults reject the positive aspects of playtime, or attempt to enforce their views and values onto others. This would prove apocalyptic to both the Dark Worlds and the Lightners being forced to 'give up' on their dreams and fantasies.

Ralsei is either a mortal incarnation of the Titan sleeping near his kingdom, or a herald of some sort for it. He is using Kris NOT to prevent The Roaring, but to make it happen in a way favorable to him, which will happen at the end of Chapter 7.

Ralsei just happens to look like Kris's brother at a younger age, and is pretty much the main source of information about The Dark Worlds… yet he only spoonfeeds this information as it becomes necessary and very clearly knows more than what he lets on. To paraphrase his statements to an extreme degree:

• "We need you to stop this other Dark Fountain cuz it'll be bad if too much Darkness manifests itself. But you should be nice to people along the way because it's the right thing to do."
• "Oh, right, by the way, sealing the other Dark Fountain makes that whole part of The Dark World go away, but don't worry, everyone you befriended along the way can stay here in my previously empty kingdom, don't worry about it."
• "Oh, right, maybe don't bring other Darkners with you to the Light World… but apparently I can travel to other Dark Worlds somehow, it's not worth dwelling on!"
• "Oh, right, if worst comes to worst, maybe it's ok to not be nice to absolutely everyone… y'know, now that I think about it. You might get stronger for it."
• "Oh, right, Darkners turn to stone if they go to other Dark Worlds… except My Kingdom, which is great! Also, I'm immune to this because… actually no, I'm not going to address that."
• "Oh, right, the REASON other Dark Fountains being made is bad is because it might trigger an apocalypse with these Giant Titans waking up if there's too much Dark Power… but having everyone come to MY Dark World is still fine!"
• "Hey don't forget to SAVE now that I've got what I need — I mean, now that WE'VE got everything done…"

Also worth noting are the two occasions where Ralsei diverts the player's attention to Susie, who is elsewhere, and uses that time to talk to Kris about… something… while the player isn't paying attention. Perhaps he is telling Kris to open more Dark Fountains so that they and The Player can find more Darkners to bring back to Ralsei's Kingdom, and increase his powerbase. Kris seems to be okay with this, although some aspects of their reactions seem to suggest being a little bit weirded out by Ralsei.

So, yeah, seems like Ralsei might be trying to amass power in his own Dark World and, probably, its corresponding fountain. It doesn't seem like a huge stretch of the imagination to think that, while too many Dark Fountains may cause The Roaring to occur, one Fountain becoming too powerful may cause The Roaring (or something similar) to occur… but possibly with only the one Titan awakening, allowing said Titan to be the one to… remake the world in their own image, or whatever.

It is possible there are obstacles in Ralsei's way that he needs to work around. Perhaps he is unable or unwilling to directly deceive Kris or The Player, either due to a curse or some aspect of his nature, or he's simply being pragmatic, and figures it's easier to believe a fluffy childlike being who looks like Kris's brother and who only tells verifiable truths AND generally encourages you to be kind to others. Y'know… if Mr. Rogers told you to go out and make friends and try to peacefully stop the thing that's threatening the world… wouldn't you be inclined to believe him?

A final possibility is that the first seven chapters of Deltarune will all be more or less what we're expecting: fun adventures in various Dark Worlds with our three supposed heroes with the occasional… worrying… thing. Then, at Chapter 7's end, Ralsei plays his trump card and makes his true intentions known. The Chapter ends with Ralsei's version of The Roaring happening and the Light World fading away to give way to… whatever it is Ralsei is trying to create.

Then, in the main menu, Chapter 0 unlocks. It will give background information that was missing… I have no idea what most of it will be, but by the end, a way to fight back against Ralsei and his Titan self/overlord will be presented. This will involve finding all of the Shadow Crystals, which you will need to jump back into your previous chapter save files to do. Maybe an easier way to find them will be unlocked, just in case beating the superbosses that hide them is too much for some players. When at least one save file in every chapter has their respective Shadow Crystal, Chapter 8 will unlock, in which Kris, Susie, and The Player are able to regroup and… work out the oddities in their relationship with each other… in the world Ralsei and the Titan have created and rally to fight back. Chapter 9 will then unlock and depict the fight against Ralsei after hunting him down. Maybe there will be a way to win Ralsei back to your side (assuming he is indeed a seperate being from The Titan). Toby Fox is known for that sort of thing. Either way, Chapter 10 will depict the final battle against The Titan, and, depending on how kind you were in previous chapters, the final battle may be made easier or more difficult, with a playthrough full of Snowgrave-like actions being more difficult than anything else we have seen in Deltarune or Undertale. Alternately, if Ralsei and The Titan are one and the same, maybe Chapter 9 will involve rallying whatever Lightners (and Darkners, if any are left) to fight against The Titan and Chapter 10 will still be The Final Battle, or perhaps Chapter 9 will be The Final Battle, and Chapter 10 will simply be the ending. On that note…

Toby has said that the ending will be the same no matter what, so I will assume as much to be true. I wouldn't put it past him to have the ending be broadly the same with differences depending on your actions, though, since… he does a lot of that.

• What's the explanation for Lancer knowing the prophecy then, in this scenario?
• Ralsei and the Titans are also both associated with Flowey, the Titans by virtue of Your Best Nightmare appearing as a leitmotif in The Dark Truth, Ralsei by virtue of him quoting Flowey.

The Original Starwalker is a weakened Titan.

Not only is he shaped like one of the Titans in the cutscene explaining the Roaring, but he is also able to travel to other Dark Worlds without turning to stone. There’s also the fact that neither he nor the other Starwalker seem to be based on anything in the Light World.

While this could just be chalked up to him being a joke character, I believe it is a sign that he’s not truly a normal Darkner.

The Secret Bosses are Titans

Or will become Titans, or have the potential to become Titans.

The Titans are sealed underground similar to the monsters in Undertale.

That's why the large Titan is shown coming from a crevace in the Earth and why the Roaring causes crevices in the Earth in the first place. Creating a fountain means creating a crack deep enough to reach the barrier containing them and poking a hole into it. The soul can seal holes in the barrier because it or something like it was used to create the barrier. What makes Ralsei's fountain "grand" is just that it's a bigger hole.

The Roaring is an allegory of losing oneself in Escapism

As another theory above said, the Dark Worlds and the Darkners are all based in activities used for escapism, and the power of imagination. So it's fiable to say that the Knight is someone looking up to spice up Hometown's dull, suburbian existance by creating more and more Dark Worlds. But dwelling too much into fantasy can make you lose sight of reality (endless darkness), eventually the things you used to enjoy become routine and you lose interest (endless despair) and the things you used to cherish become useless to you (Darkners become stone).

That's the reason why only Ralsei's Fountain is the only one meant to exist: its location is a storage closet, a place where you can safely deposit as many things as toys, laptops, books, etc. and you can safely return to them whenever you need them. Just like in Toy Story 3, where even though the toys don't find the attic appealing, they're willing to endure it to "be there for Andy."

There is a Light Fountain, and the Angel's Heaven is the result of it somehow over taking the Dark Fountain(s) and/or too many extra Light Fountains being created.

Basically, the Angel's Heaven is the Hallow to the Roaring's Corruption or Crimson, and if it's triggered, the Lightners will be Raptured away while the Darkners are left to deal with an eye-searingly bright world that is literally trying to kill them.

Lancer is actually the prince in the prophecy

Perhaps Ralsei is actually evil. Or perhaps, as shown in the Chapter 1 Bose Fight, Ralsei is TOO nice to fulfill the prophecy and not able to do some necessary things other more scrupulous characters may be able to do. Or perhaps Ralsei simply is not an actual prince, and therefore can’t be part of the prophecy. Cue Lancer taking the role of the prince in the prophecy.

Titans are actually just ordinary Darkners.

The real issue with the Roaring is the "Darkness covers the world" part. All the Darkners we've seen thus far are normal person scale because the Dark Worlds are constrained to individual rooms. Once the entire world is one big Dark World, entire buildings and bits of infrastructure will be turned into giant Darkners, threatening both Lightners and smaller Darkners.

The Titans will be named after angelic beings to tie with the Angel prophecy

And will also have Neon Genesis Evangelion references in their fully visible designs, to tie with being cosmic kaiju who herald the death of worlds. Also ties in neatly with the idea Ralsei is actually a Titan in Darkner form, if it turns out his real name is Raziel, after the Angel of Secrets - and he's a knowledgable sort.

Jossed

In the second chapter, we will control the birdcage.

I mean, the SOUL we control is in there. Maybe we can just wheel ourselves through the game in the cart.

• In Undertale, when you flee from a fight, your SOUL literally grows legs to escape. Perhaps we'll be able to grow legs in the next chapter in order to move our SOUL around and escape the cage.

The Knight and Queen are, respectively, Kris' uncle and biological mother.

Going by the 'Knight and Queen are humans' idea, this would make a possible relation between them and Kris possible. And it would make them a villainous Brother–Sister Team. And if the Queen knew her child would become one of the destined Delta Warriors and thwart her schemes, it would mean she abandoned her child and left them to die (unaware they'd survive and get adopted by the Dreemurrs) in an effort to subvert the prophecy.

• I like this idea. Perhaps the Knight and Queen will end up attempting to kill Kris for the purpose of preventing the prophecy from coming true once they’ve found out that they’re still alive? Either of them could be the “angel” mentioned in the prophecy.
• Alternatively, this can present a contrasting dynamic between the Knight and the Queen. While the Queen would want Kris dead at any cost, The Knight may try to reach out to his 'sibling's child' in an effort to invoke We Can Rule Together by claiming to have rejected The Queen's desire to kill Kris, and the Knight may even use the Hometown inhabitants' treatment toward Kris as leverage to encourage Kris to turn on their adoptive home. While Kris may suffer a temporary Heroic BSoD upon learning their origins, they may ultimately reject "Uncle Knight's" proposal, mostly because of the simple fact what the Knight's been doing is evil, but partially due to Kris not buying sincerity in the Knight's words.

The fight against the Knight and Queen will be a colossal Tear Jerker.

Because after the straight, proudly evil Spades King, it'd be a subversion if it turns out his superiors are both Anti Villains (going by the theory that secondary Fountains of Darkness cause inanimate objects to come to life in their own new kingdoms, the Queen could be a human girl who brought her toys to life using Darkner magic, with the Knight being her favorite; more mother and child than mistress and servant). When you encounter the Knight, he (going by the theory that he is a brother of Seam and Jevil, Rule of Three and all) turns out to be a Noble Top Enforcer who apologizes to Lancer for his father having been so corrupted by power and is generally a Friendly Enemy until he realizes you want to close his zone's Fountain. It turns out you don't have a choice, as a secondary Fountain will devastate both worlds by summoning the Angel, but he reveals that if he defeats you, he can create a new band of heroes that will fight for the sake of the new Fountains (making the Game Over a Bittersweet Ending — the Light world is gone, but the Queen was able to cover the world in darkness — ie, create dozens of new kingdoms for her subjects and save them from the Angel). He loses, and commits Suicide by Cop rather than live knowing he failed his Queen and everyone in his guarded kingdom. She finds out, and swears eternal revenge, which pretty much derails any attempt to Pacify her (in fact, she gets enraged and unleashes a free attack when you "insult his memory" by trying to show mercy).

"Dark World Noelle" in this tweet is actually Noelle's Darkner counterpart

Not only that, but also the Darkner form of the angel doll in Rudy's hospital room. Maybe they're facing backwards because Toby's hiding their lack of a face (just like the angel doll). Sure, the tweet itself says "Noelle", but that could just be referring to how the song in the video is her theme (and may be used for her Darkner counterpart too).

It's also worth noting that unlike Kris and Susie whose skin changes color when they're in the Dark World, "Noelle" in the video has the same fur color as Light World Noelle with just their hair color being different, similar to how Ralsei has the same white fur as Asriel except with a bit of pink at the tip of his hair fluff (along with pink horns instead of white).

Bonus points if this Darkner's name is an anagram of Noelle.

• Jossed, that is Noelle. Though it's still possible for the angel doll's Darkner form to resemble Noelle (or even Dess).

We will get to control the rest of the fallen humans in the next chapters (one human per chapter)

Kris only threw out the red SOUL at the end of the game because, as someone whose main trait is patience, they were able to wait the whole day for the right opportunity to do so. The other humans, however, will be much more resistant to the red SOUL's control.

• Orange: They will sometimes recklessly rush through overworld projectiles, attack enemies, and make any other choices without your input.
• Blue: There will be a "forced near-Genocide run" where they actually kill enemies, though they hopefully won't kill anyone who's as nice as Toriel.
• Purple: They won't leave an area until they've checked everything and took notes on them, including things you've already checked in previous chapters.
• Green: They will refuse to attack their enemies (or at least let their enemies' health reach 0), and won't make any "mean" choices either.
• Yellow: They will either spare or attack enemies based on which ones they've deemed good or bad, not letting you try to do the opposite.
• Some/all of them might try to pull out the red SOUL before you even finish playing the chapter.

This, of course, will further reinforce the game's main theme of "your choices don't matter".

The Queen is the Spade King's wife.

What? It's obvious.

• Alternatively: The Queen's husband is a simple pawn, as in chess rules: "Because the queen is the strongest piece, a pawn is promoted to a queen in the vast majority of cases."

The Queen is Noelle's older sister, Dess.

To elaborate, "Dess" is an off-screen character mentioned by both Noelle and Rudy very briefly, known for helping make the angel figure seen in Rudy's hospital room and for punishing Kris for one of their many pranks on Noelle. Despite that being the only info we have on Dess, we can infer plenty of things by the way they're mentioned, alongside supplementary materials from Undertale media.

• Hints that Noelle has a sister in Deltarune:
  • Rudy's counterpart in Undertale was mentioned by Asgore's Winter Alarm Clock Dialogue as having more than one daughter, with the youngest one being described as having a kind face and a tendency to shyly hide behind a corner during one of Asgore's visits. It fits Noelle the best, and as many characters in Undertale have a counterpart in Deltarune's universe, Noelle must have a sister to match.
  • Observing the angel doll has Rudy point out that Noelle and Dess made it in a youth group together, implying that their ages are close enough to make them students of the same school. The doll itself couldn't have been a class-assigned project, since Kris and Asriel only thought to make their own angel in response to seeing Noelle and Dess' idea, and didn't even finish past their wing designs.
  • Rudy mentions Asriel and Kris making their own attempt at an angel doll in the same anecdote about Noelle and Dess. With Asriel being the older sibling and away at college, this suggests a dynamic of the "big kids" being paired with the younger grade-schoolers during that time, which in turn implies Dess to be around Asriel's age group. And if Kris and Asriel decided they'd work best by being a sibling team, the same might have been believed for Noelle and Dess.
  • Like Asriel, she's an off-screen character and only known from second-hand recollection, but Asriel's character gets explanations from several townsfolk thanks to his reputation as the "town hero". Dess so far only gets mentioned by Rudy and Noelle, who'd find it important to mention her because she's family. She might even share the Holidays' Family Theme Naming of Christmas, with "Dess" being short for "December".
• Why Dess wouldn't be her mother:
  • While work on the angel doll in youth group could be a case of a mom helping her daughter, like how Kris usually had Toriel act as their partner, Noelle is shown to have no trouble finding partners and thus wouldn't have to do the same. Even Kris was able to partner with their older brother Asriel during that time.
  • Noelle refers to Dess by her first name instead of calling her "mom". She doesn't do the same for Rudy, calling him "dad". It also wouldn't be a sign of disrespect toward her, since she and Dess are close enough to work on arts and crafts together.
  • If you tell Noelle that Susie eats chalk, Noelle initially thinks they're joking, like the time they scared her by claiming that ICE-E eats kids when they were both younger. Dess apparently responded by hitting Kris with a wiffle bat to make them admit they were just messing with Noelle. Not the sort of behavior expected from a parent, but rather a really protective older sibling.
• Why Dess would be the Queen:
  • Jevil describes the Queen as eventually returning, comparing her arrival to a bubbling roar from Hell. Dess is known to be capable of violence… in the form of whacking Kris with a wiffle bat, and only to be protective of Noelle. Still, they align in behavior enough, especially when considering the Darkners' penchant for theatrics and view of Lightners. Additionally, as we've speculated her to be around Asriel's age and possibly a peer of his, she could be making a trip home around the same time Asriel comes back from college. It'd also be why we can't find her in town, unlike Catty, Bratty, and Burgerpants, who were all friends with Asriel growing up.
  • Speaking of Asriel, Dess could be something of a Foil or counterpart to him. Both are mentioned in secondhand anecdotes, and they're known as the extroverted counterparts to their more introverted younger siblings, but Asriel is loved and recognized by the entire town while Dess is barely brought up, and only by her family. If we work with what we inferred from the youth group stories, they both must have graduated high school as peers, yet when Asriel left for college, Dess' status is currently unknown. Since Rudy's left wondering if Asriel's doing any partying at college, it's also unlikely for them to be attending the same school (if Dess even decided to go to college at all). Otherwise, his own daughter would be there to tell him how they're both doing. With Asriel being a sort of All-Loving Hero, Dess could make the final contrast by being an antagonist.
  • Dess and Noelle both had a hand in making the angel doll with an "unsettling" lack of facial features, a trinket their father holds sentimental value in. As Noelle has been shown to be both connected to the Fun Gang and capable of entering the Dark World, coupling this with the prophecy about "banishing the Angel's Heaven" only raises suspicion towards what Dess' importance could be.
  • With the implication that something bad will happen to Noelle to make her the "Lost Girl", it sounds reasonable to assume Dess might end up inflicting a Roaring Rampage of Revenge to help or save her sister, and maybe while not understanding the powers the Dark World grants her.

The Dark World plotline is a Red Herring and the Dark World doesn't exist.

The Dark Kingdom plot was just Toby trolling the player by presenting them with and hooking them into a huge Big-Lipped Alligator Moment so that the Wham Shot at the ending would take them by surprise even harder. The Dark World and all of the events therein were a shared dream of Kris and Susie induced by the card games in the room they fell unconscious in. Lancer, Ralsei, the Darkners, the Kings, and the Prophecy and its three heroes don't exist. Kris and Susie will never return to the Dark World and no event that happened inside it will affect the true plot, which is Kris' ripping out their SOUL; seemingly possessed by something. (Although it might tie into the true plot thematically and/or through symbolism.)

Evidence #1: After Kris and Susie returned from the Dark World, they were in a closet full of card games. The Dark World is card game themed. 'nuff said. As a bonus, this ending is a reference to Through the Looking Glass, where everything was All Just a Dream.

• They were in a classroom full of card games, not a closet. And when they exit the only door in said classroom, it's shown to be a different door than the closet they entered.

Evidence #2: The Dark World clashes with the world building of Undertale. Even considering that this game is an Elseworld, the Dark World Story Arc just doesn't fit in. Why is there a third race of people? Since when was the "balance of light and dark" important to the world of Undertale? Why are plot-critical pieces of worldbuilding like SAVE files, determination, and SOULs that were omnipresent in the original game never mentioned by any Dark World characters? Why is the Delta Rune, a symbol created by monsters, Sigil Spammed everywhere in the darkling kingdom? Why does Ralsei resemble Asriel when they're not even the same race?

Evidence #3: The themes brought up in the Dark World Story Arc clash with the themes of Undertale. Namely "Your choices don't matter" and "Violence is an option and sometimes the only one".

Evidence #4: The Dark World's existence doesn't make sense. How come there is an entire kingdom that declared war on both humans and monsters and nobody noticed? How come there is a portal to an alternate dimension in a closet in a school which teachers access daily and yet nobody ever went in or out the portal before.

• Ralsei seems to know Kris and Susie's names before they ever introduced themselves. Maybe the portal was opened specifically for them? Also, it may be possible that the Dark World is considered a myth by Hometown, hence why no one seems to bring it up.

Evidence #5: The Dark World doesn't appear to have anything to do with Kris ripping their SOUL out. If it was important to the true plot or at least real, it would have. You could do mental gymnastics that Chara is the Knight or the Queen, but since when was Chara card game or chess-themed?

• Kinda too early to tell, plus the Knight and Queen’s plan could involve Chara in some way, not that Chara is necessarily one of them.

Evidence #6: Kris and Susie leaving the Dark World had an aura of finality that wouldn't make sense if they ever had to return. The Kings were imprisoned and the fountain was destroyed. You could argue that the Knight and the Queen are still unfought and at large, but this is irrelevant because with the fountain's destruction, their plan already failed. It wouldn't make sense to drop that entire world out of the plot so soon unless it wasn't real.

• The Knight is implied to be the one who opens up the extra fountain. While that fountain may have been sealed, there's nothing indicating that they can't open up another one, so they and the Queen are still threats at least to an extent. Regarding the other points, considering that Deltarune is an Elseworld, that doesn’t mean it has to obey Undertale's rules. It can still be radically different from Undertale, since it's an alternate universe, and by that, not everything from the first game will operate the exact same here; in other words, Deltarune can have its own Worldbuilding that’s different from Undertale. Also, the themes aren’t just part of the Dark World, they’re the themes of Deltarune itself, meant to establish it as a Spiritual Antithesis to Undertale. Besides, Toby already gave us Ralsei and Lancer, two major characters who are generally well-liked by the fandom, so revealing them to not exist after all would be, well, a disappointment. Deltarune so far only has one chapter, so there’s still ways that the Dark World can come into play in the future.

Evidence #7: Susie states how no food consumed in the Dark World is able to reduce her hunger at all. Of course, food can't quench hunger if it doesn't exist.

• Or it could be referring to the possibility of Susie not having enough to eat at home, hence why she ate chalk before. Also, just wondering, how would you explain the egg? Kris can find a man behind a tree in the forest, and Kris can actually put this egg in Asgore's fridge. Kris didn't obtain the egg before, so how would they still have it in their inventory? Did Kris take it from Temmie or something? I would also like to note that Susie says “Let’s go back there tomorrow.” to Kris, which would be odd if the Dark World was just suddenly dropped. There’s also Susie's scar^note if it isn't just her pulling the bangs out of her eyes that appears on her portrait, which she gets from the battle against the Spades King. She still retains that feature even after exiting the Dark World.
• But why wouldn't the food be able to reduce her hunger at all, even if she normally doesn't eat enough? Unless she is starved to the point of her digestive system failing, which I doubt. She specifically states that this is a property of Dark World food. I didn't know about the egg and the scar. That is potentially theory-busting evidence. Maybe Kris grabbed the egg from the supply closet while hallucinating? As for the scar, I got nothing.
• Susie could be exaggerating, in that she's just really hungry, not that the Dark World food actually doesn't do anything. I’m not sure where in her dialogue she specifically states that the Dark World food cannot fill her up, because that could just be a hyperbole to exaggerate her hunger. I also wonder that if the Dark World wasn't real, wouldn't that mean that Susie's character development was pointless because Lancer didn’t actually exist? And why is Ralsei still on the menu screen? That implies that he’ll play a major role in the future, which wouldn’t make sense if the Dark World was just dropped out of the plot. That, and some are already attached to the characters introduced in the Dark World, so I feel like it would be an unwise move to just forget about them.
• How do you know Susie got a scar? Are you sure it's not simply her pulling the bangs out of her eyes? Monster magic can't physically harm, let alone cut. The sword, ax, and scarf can all cause a bit of physical pain. (Mainly the sword, because Kris uses pencils that turn into swords in the Dark World.)

• Previews of the rest of the game include Ralsei, apparently Jossing this WMG, at least for the moment.
  • Update: Chapter 2 completely Josses this.

Deltarune doesn't take place in a different timeline, it takes place in a different universe entirely: one that doesn't have DETERMINATION.

Rather than being an alternate timeline where everything was the same until a crucial point that skewed off into a tangent, it's a completely different universe that has no connection to the universe of Undertale beyond the existence of certain characters. There is no "place in the timeline" for Deltarune because it's another universe entirely: one where the power of Determination, the power to deny an ending (expressed as functional time-travel), does not exist. That's why in this world, no one gets to choose, and your choices don't matter.

• Jossed in Chapter 2. Queen explicitly refers to the power of Determination as a key factor in creating new Dark Fountains.

The playing cards motif will continue for the next three 'chapters' of the game, with each chapter having a specific suit and role.

The first chapter had the Spade suit (Lancer) and the King role (Lancer's father), along with the additional Joker (Jevil) and even a Rules Card (Rouxls Kaard). The next three chapters will have — in any order — the other three suits (Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs) and roles (Queen, Ace, and Jack). Each multi-area 'arc' of the following chapters will have at least two new characters — one to play the role of Lancer and the King, respectively. The 'Lancer'-type character will represent the suit in general, whereas the 'King'-type role will represent the aforementioned card roles.

Given Jevil's speech on a 'Queen' being a potentially bigger threat than even "the Knight" mentioned by the King himself, the Queen will perhaps be the final card role of the four, and given the Wonderland themes so far, maybe the respective suit will be the Heart suit, so as to make her… the Queen of Hearts herself. Needless to say, this would make the Heart the final suit to be represented, and its ultimate role would make sense given the importance of hearts in this series. It is the shape and color of the SOUL, after all.

But just because the Queen may be worse doesn't mean this supposed 'Knight' would be any less menacing, given that he seems to have power over even the King. Perhaps this would make him the boss of the penultimate area/arc…? But there's no Knight role in playing cards, so perhaps not…

Anyway, back to suits, maybe the 'Lancer'-type character of the Club suit will be named "Shamrock," given the plant's resemblance to said suit and that the "Clover" name has already been taken? Maybe the 'Jack' character's name will be some variation of 'Jack' (like "Jackie," "Jack-Jack," "Jackson," "Jackmond," "Jacqueline," et cetera).

• Chapter 1 already introduced the other three suits (Rudinns = diamonds, Hathys = hearts, Clover = clubs), though it's still possible that they'll get more focus in later chapters. There could even be two more chapters where one focuses on Jevil (and possibly another Joker) and the other on Rouxls Kaard.
• Jossed as of chapter 2, the Dark Worlds are revealed to be reflections of the area they came from, and Chapter 2's Dark World is computer-themed (having come from the Librarby).

Rouxls Kaard will be promoted to prince in the Pacifist Route

Lancer will do this because he doesn't know too well how royal ranks work and, now that he's the king, thinks someone else needs to be the prince and that Rouxls would be perfect for the second-highest rank. And yes, this will mean Rouxls will be one of the possible candidates for the third hero as a Prince from the Dark.

Kris is a boy

This is still a theory, not a fact. They might seem to lean more masculine, but the biggest piece of evidence for that interpretation appears to be the male scented soap. Which could’ve been for Asriel.

• Because, as we all know, men have a very specific smell, and using male-scented soap will instantly transform your gender.
• Deodorants and body washes etc. are marketed to specific genders because guys and girls (in general) secrete different quantities and types of bodily oils, so they need to be tailor-made to suit those needs. Nobody's being sexist or anything, that's just biology.
  • Either way, the deodorant point is irrelevant anyhow as checking it says that it hasn't been used. Even if it was Kris' at some point, nothing suggests that they bought it or own it mind you, it seems like they didn't feel comfortable using it.
• Either way, we see that Kris goes by they/them pronouns, like every other human. Theorising about what's in a kid's pants, even if they're fictional, is, frankly, kind of weird.
• Another point that not many have pointed out — we see that Kris and Asriel share a bedroom. While that's not unusual for for any combination of siblings while they're young children, it's usually considered invasive for opposite-sex siblings to share rooms once they're teenagers or older.
  • Kris has an established close relationship with Asriel though; if you're close enough, then sharing a bedroom really isn't much of an issue.

Muffet is the mayor

All we know about the mysterious mayor is that she's a woman and is uncharismatic but efficient. Of (Deltarune equivalents of) important female characters from Undertale, Muffet is conspicuously absent from Hometown. It's possible they're one and the same; Muffet could arguably be described as having "negative charisma" (using intimidation, extortion, and violence to carry out her will), but also as efficient (spiders are industrious, after all). It's also possible that Muffet has no place in Toby's plans for Deltarune given that she's not his creation, but she at least seems like a good candidate.

• Jossed, the Mayor is Mrs. Holiday.

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