Long ago, two races ruled over Earth;
HUMANS and MONSTERS.
For many years, the two races lived together in harmony.
Until one day, a war broke out between the two races.
No one knows who started it.
Maybe the humans were envious of the monsters' magic...
Maybe the monsters were envious of the humans' SOULs.
But, after a long battle, the humans ended up being victorious.
They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell.
They cast away the light of day to all monsterkind.
Many years later...
MT EBOTT
201X
They say whoever encounters a little white dog on the mountain...
Will encounter a world never seen before.
They say that the little white dog is quite annoying.
They say that the little white dog is a prankster.
They say that the little white dog has powers never thought of.
They say that the little white dog created an entire game in GameMaker through bark to speech.
Wait...
What's going on here?
UNDERTALE is an Indie Video Game from 2015, made by the guy everyone knows now, Robert 'Tobiath' 'Radiation' 'Annoying Dog' Fox, of well-known Homestuck music fame! Back 4 years before it's release, he had the wildest fever dream about the ending of a video game, and he swore himself to complete it. This isn't that game. This, the (assumably) most influential indie game of all time, is just a practice run for the guy.
And, boy, he can sure make a fuckin' video game.
The basic plot follows a human child of unknown age wandering around the Underground! The home of all monsterkind after they were banished from the surface for whatever reason, we don't know! However, subverting 'normal' RPG mechanics, which are now NOT second nature to me, you can kill or spare your enemies. Such a wild concept! I sure hope other games were like this, so I didn't have to beat up crows and dogs in EarthBound! (Thanks, Toby Fox.)
With this being said, you can already assume that FIGHTing is not the answer, as hammered in time and time again in the game. First thing you do when you meet someone who isn't trying to kill you, they immediately tell you not to fight and instead befriend enemies. Each time you whip out your weapon against a monster, the game will make you remember eventually. Eventually. All in due time.
So, your choices matter? What now?! Multiple routes, with a bad ending and a good ending?
There are only 3 main routes of the game, with many, many slightly different routes, despite some stark differences, are grouped into one catagory.
I just told you that. Some random ass kid walked up a mountain and fell into the underground.
Oh, you meant pre-canon? Well, if you're reading this, then you must know that I'm going to go through everything! And SPOIL EVERYTHING! And be ANNOYING WITH BOLDED COLOURS! Hope you like YELLOW.
Back when all monsterkind got yoited down to the underground, their king, KING ASGORE, set up shop there. He called the place they landed in, the RUINS, 'HOME'.
He's not very good with names.
Anyway, later on, the rest of the Underground was explored. People ventured out into the unknown and found more caves to live in. Thus began the residences of SNOWDIN, WATERFALL and HOTLAND, then, finally, NEW HOME. There, they found the barrier, sealing all of them away.
I, personally, don't know when the First Fallen Human arrived. It was most likely a while after the time that they had founded new home, but KING ASGORE and QUEEN TORIEL had a child called ASRIEL. When the fallen human arrived, they were about the same age. Around 10-ish.
Why did they climb the mountain? To disappear? Most likely, they never liked humanity. And, now they were here, living with the monsters as the other child of the royal family. Again, we don't know how much time passed down there with the fallen human and Asriel, but eventually, the fallen human got an idea to kill themself, give their SOUL to Asriel, cross through the barrier, and collect enough human SOULs to break it. A symbol of humans' and monsters' unity.
It didn't go well.
That's putting it lightly. Both of them bit the dust. Literally. Monsters turn to dust after they die because their SOULs are too weak to persist after death, and their body is made up of magic. The fallen human was buried where they initially landed, and Asriel's dust was spread over the throne room floor. Later on, some buttercups would begin to bloom there.
Toriel left Asgore after he swore war on the human race for killing their child. Toriel swore, inversely, to never let a human who falls down to the underground to be met with that fate.
Now that we've covered early history, let's get to some more exciting events!
Some more humans fall down. About 6 before your human falls. When? I'm not sure. But they made a fan-game about one of them!
Eventually, the CORE is built! Who made it? ...I don't quite remember.
After something... happened. Alphys became the Royal Scientist! She made a body for a robot, passing it off as an artificial SOUL of sorts, and got the job in researching DETERMINATION, the will that keeps humans' SOULs strong. Utilising the already-present DETERMINATION of the human SOULs they already had, they got patients who had 'fallen down', the stage of a monsters life right before their death, and injected them with it. To make them not die.
You get the gist of it, it doesn't go down well. Especially with the first subject of these experiments, the first golden flower that bloomed in the throne room after Asriel died there.
So, the flower is alive because of the DETERMINATION injected into it. Creepy shit, right? Well, due to the fact it doesn't have a SOUL, it doesn't have emotion. Oh, yeah! And you know how Asriel's dust was spread over this flower? Well, because of that, his mind was tranferred over to it.
This flower is Asriel.
So, Asriel-Flower panics and reveals himself to his parents, and eventually kills himself.
He wakes up again, where he left off. Seems like DETERMINATION allows you to DE-TERMINATE back to where you had left off, from somewhere SAVED in space and time!
So, he goes back and repeats what he did, only to learn that everyone doesn't remember! Only some had a sense of deja-vu, but they don't remember!
Asriel-Flower can remember resets. That's what they're called. So, he begins to go by the name, FLOWEY. Flowey the FLOWER. Guess he got his naming skills from his father! That's what I'm going to call him now for the time being.
So, with this new found GOD-LIKE power, what does he do?
Well, he tries being benevolent at first! He travels around the Underground, doing good deeds, befriending everyone, being an overall nice guy. Even if he can't feel anything. Reset after reset, Flowey played the good guy. Again, and again. After some time, this would become boring? So, what would you do if you saw all the ways you could make one happy?
Well, you'd make them upset. You'd make them scared. You'd kill them in cold blood.
So, that's what he did.
And each time, it became easier. Almost like a LEVEL of VIOLENCE was being raised each time he suffocated an innocent, tore through a child, killed that comedian's brother.
Which would be a mistake. Despite how unmotivated the funny bone man was, he always knew about Flowey. Like some anomaly in space-time.
Sans Undertale.
Hold your applause.
First up, I must address some things.
The next time I try to see MeGaLoVania incorperated into a Sans theme, I am going to SCREAM. Or anyone else's theme!
Plus, this song had a reputation in meme culture so large that it managed to get so overrated, it wasn't considered good anymore.
IT'S A GOOD FUCKING SONG!!!!!!!!
Another thing, Sans Undertale cannot remember resets. No matter what anyone says. It is implied that the amount of DETERMINATION determines if they can remember time-space jumps or not. Toriel has some semblance of remembering, Asgore does too, Flowey can remember fully, but Sans? He is too unmotivated to remember anything. SANS CANNOT REMEMBER RESETS. YOU GOT DUNKED ON. YOU GOT TRICKED BY HIM.
It's never really said, but it's implied that Sans is too smart for his own good. He must have had a massive history in STEM to know about and study time-space anomalies in general, but to make a mysterious machine tucked away in his basement. What's the machine for? I don't know, but maybe it has something to do with his genocide fight.
* let's just get to the point
* our reports showed a massive anomaly in the spacetime continuum
* timelines jumping left and right, stopping and starting...
* until suddenly, everything ends.
* you can't understand how this feels.
* knowing that one day, without any warning...
* it's all going to reset.
* we'll just end up right back here, without any memory of it, right?
It's pretty probable that the machine in his basement could read timelines. Why doesn't he use it anymore, and why is it covered up? Who knows. All that we really know is that his brother, Papyrus, doesn't seem to be involved in it. Or at least acting like he doesn't.
Anyway, it's also implied that Alphys and Sans have a history. Maybe in science? Well, he's had connections to the previous royal scientist, whoever that was, based on some file names. They are friends, they must have known each other for a while, especially when it's implied that Sans is close enough to her to know about the whole thing with DETERMINATION.
I will fight you if you don't like Papyrus.
I like both the skeleton bros.
They both resonate with me.
So, you get my point? Sans doesn't remember RESETs, but he does know about them.
Well, I've mentioned Papyrus. You should know about him. He's Sans' brother! They moved into Snowdin together from somewhere not specific nor mentioned. It may have been somewhere with a sun, because Sans knows what that is, but that's pretty much a baseless theory because we all know the funny bone man is a nerd. Should call him the nerdy bone man.
The current captain of the ROYAL GUARD, UNDYNE THE UNDYING, or just Undyne. Don't feel intimidated by her, she has a well-meaning heart and thinks anime is real. She may try to kill the human kid, but she's pretty much a stereotype of the normal heroic protagonist who is also a doofus.
I've already been through Alphys, but that robot? That's METTATON. He's the resident star of the Underground, and its only star, raking in a whopping 10 viewers on average.
Okay, I think that's about everyone...!
Watch a playthrough or play it yourself. Despite the spoilers above, I cannot put into words how great this game is. Go through the plot yourself, experience it first-hand. You'll see how great this game is.
In the fandom, one which I am now kind of not part of due to a lack of social media presence, tends to hyperfixate on the TRUE PACIFIST and GENOCIDE routes. They tend to put all of their energy into theorising about, oh what happens if THIS guy was the final boss, or what happens after everyone is out of the underground? Despite the fact that I've only really done True Pacifist routes, because of the large focus on it, and it being the 'correct and true' route, I've recently gained a fascination with all of the neutral routes! And, trust me...
There are a lot of neutral routes.
So many that there is, in fact, a graph! Thanks to the folks at the Undertale Wiki, probably! Maybe tomat.dev? I'm not sure. I'll be cataloging it here.
And, each time it begins, we get a glimpse of our old friend, the nerdy bone man.
This one, everyone gets if they are aiming for the fastest True Pacifist route. Everyone knows the gist of it.
Toriel returns from the Ruins to become queen. Hopes are down, while she states that humans must be treated as friends, re-enforcing her beliefs on the matter.
Everyone is left alive, except for Asgore.
Papyrus joins on the call, with Undyne if you two are friends, and they chat about where they are in life. The Royal Guard had disbanded, because theres no need for it anymore. In the rare case where you have dated Alphys, it seems, she joins on the call, too! Toriel declines to speak, however. Doesn't seem like you'll see your mother any time soon. Everyone says goodbye, and the phone clicks off.
So, you killed some people! Don't worry, we all make that mistake. Probably.
You may have changed your mind about being nice after you left the Ruins, leaving Toriel alone to live in peace.
That's what were going off here.
Papyrus gets off scot free in these endings, he's (mostly) unscated. The others not so much. Undyne is hurting, even if you were friends. If you touched that star-like robot, then Alphys won't be there either. For extra salt in the wound for Undyne.
Papyrus ends the phone call, after talking about Undyne.
Say, you killed a bit more?
Well, turns out no one really likes you, and they react negatively to the statement of peace. So much so that Toriel is exiled once again. People have gone missing in your wake, maybe some random citizens, maybe Undyne, or maybe Papyrus. None that really matters anymore. If Undyne is still there, she becomes the ruler, and turns her back on the policy of peace and swearing full vengance on you. If not, the Underground is in an uneasy anarchy.
If Sans has nothing else, then he may aswell leave Snowdin. His brother won't be there anyway, he leaves for the Ruins with Toriel. He can't tell Toriel about your actions, though.
No one knows what happened to Toriel after she left the Underground's eye. And no one will ever know. Except for the one calling you.
So far, the Underground is going about normally in terms of leadership. Undyne is in charge now, and following Asgore's plan of human annihilation almost perfectly. I say almost, because she's really bad at it. And, boy, you are really high on her hit-list. Once they escape, of course.
If our greatest boy is still around, Papyrus is promoted to the MOST IMPORTANT ROYAL POSITION, which is just to exist. Alive. He knows about the things you did, there's no avoiding that issue, and despite Undyne's hatred for you, we welcomes you back to the Underground. If you would ever return.
If he isn't, Sans tells you to watch yourself.
Which you should.
So, the former queen has fallen for no one to hear, and the hero has fallen in the spotlight. Her body melted away, fighting against her own mortality, but it was her DETERMINATION that was the final piece of the puzzle, the final act of her death.
So, in the leaders' and heroine's place, the star of the Underground rises through the ranks to begin a cult of personality!
With the skeleton brothers right by his side.
However, without Undyne to keep everyone in line, Mettaton goes a bit overboard. He doesn't really know how to rule, snatching the phone off Sans and elaborating on the new state of the Underground.
Which doesn't really sound all that good.
There was a statue built to celebrate his 'creator', despite her not really being seen anymore.
If Papyrus is there, he gets a say in things! In the phone call, I mean. A lot of people had disappeared, especially people who didn't like Mettaton's shows. Which is a tad concerning, but it's fine.
Maybe Undyne was part of that, he thinks. He tells you to say 'hi' to her in any case.
With the star gone, the heroine slain, and no appearance of anyone suitable to rule, Papyrus is nominated as the new king by process of elimination.
Despite his new-found power, he doesn't truly know what happened to everyone. He thinks they're all on some vacation or something, possibly told by Sans? He's upset about them all being gone, he misses Undyne, especially, and he has decided to judge the fallen humans on a case-by-case basis. Additionally, Sans is helping out in an unusual manner. He 'strangely' seems to be working hard. Probably just looking out for his brother, we can't have him too stress about his new responsibilities.
Behind his back, however, he's trying to keep everyone's spirits up. It doesn't seem to be sticking, but he remains mostly hopeful.
At least he's cheerful enough to end the call on a laugh!
Without anyone to points fingers at, especially with the process-of-elimination candidate gone, our old friend comes to rule! What does he do? He just sleeps there, doing nothing.
Which seems to be working tremendously! There are no fights, no taxes, no politics, just DOG.
The ANNOYING DOG.
Thanks, Toby Radiation Fox.
Well, without many people left to rule, you would assume that Sans would take up the position.
He doesn't. He's too lazy for that.
What now? The Underground is left in gloom, the crowds have thinned, and everyone is trapped in the darkness.
No hope is left for them.
What if you could take away hope that wasn't there? A human on the cusp of a genociding deciding to spare one. Well, with the bravery of the royal scientist in the evacuations that managed to work, she becomes the new queen of the Underground.
She takes the lead on the phone call. Sans is gone, he doesn't want to talk.
Alphys says that despite all that's happened, that hardship made her stronger. She used to be stuck to the screen, watching you harm everyone without being able to stop you. She used to sit there in guilt, waiting for you to kill her, too.
But before the heroine died, her hope and grit called her to do something. To keep everyone else safe. It's almost a corny story, in a way. But it's one with a bit of hope in the dark. Everyone knew her failings in the past, and accepted her for it, becoming the new ruler of the Underground. She's trying her best, but despite all that, she can't help to feel a bit of regret.
She really should have killed that human when she had the chance.
Where is that human anyway? How would they cross the barrier? They don't have a monster's soul. Who is even answering the phone, if the human is gone? How would it even reach them? That's the thing. We don't know, as these endings are cast aside into nothingness. Cast into obscurity. To not be remembered for their choices. Only two choices matter now, to do good, or to do evil.
To be a pacifist, or to use your fists.
So, you beat PHOTOSHOP FLOWEY, you heard all about the legend of UNDERTALE, you've decided to go on a date with Alphys! And, now, she's run off.
Welcome to the TRUE LAB. Here you will find the results of Alphys' previously mentioned expressions, the AMAGALMATES. They're kind of dead... but not quite. They're somewhere inbetween. You roam around, finding keys, learning things about the Dreemurr family. Oh, yeah. That's the royal family name, I forgot to mention that.
Anyway, once you meet up with Alphys again, she explains the situation and swears to bring everyone back home. By everyone, she means the Amalgamates. And so, you head off to the elevator to return to your perfectly normal end of the route, totally neutral and nothing weird or out of the ordinary to happen!
You can tell that was sarcasm. You get a phone call asking if 'you' are there, and someone on the other end swearing to see them soon. Then the elevator brings you to new home in a very dangerous manner and vines block off the elevator back.
I'm not going to elaborate on the entire AGSORE fight cutscene but Toriel is back! Yippee! Yahoo! She pelts Asgore with a fireball, similar to the first time you encounter Flowey, and everyone arrives eventually to all chat and be together in the power of friendship!
Anyway, Flowey shows up with the human SOULs, he traps everyone, absorbs ALL the souls, (all of them) and becomes the GOD OF HYPERDEATH!
Well, if you're reading this, you most likely know what's coming next. Asriel (because he's Asriel, remember?) has a mental breakdown about his best friend being dead, crys a bit, gets a hug (if you aren't a BITCH) and breaks the Barrier!
You also learn that the fallen human's name is not that of the first fallen human, but, instead, FRISK! And everyone knows that now. I guess.
And so, everyone returns to the surface and meet a daring sunset. They all chat about meeting human civilisation for the first time. Toriel stays behind for you, and you can choose to stay with her, or go. Despite your choice, everyone lives happily ever after.
I lied.
Turns out the last thing holding back their happy ending is you. And your excessive amounts of DETERMINATION. The same DETERMINATION that freed the lost SOULs from a mourning child, can be the thing to take all hope away from the Underground.
All you have to do is RESET.
All you have to do is RESET.
All you have to do is RESET.
All you have to do is RESET.
All you have to do is RESET.
All you have to do is RESET.
All you have to do is RESET.
All you have to do is
Back a long time ago, there was a prophecy in the Underground. One of an ANGEL descending from the surface to let the Underground run empty. This has been interpreted many ways over the years, most likely this saviour of sorts would break the barrier and let everyone free.
Or, maybe, something more sinister. One who will run it empty with dust. Who knew at that point?
So, again, once one is bored of playing with some toys, wouldn't the logical next step be to break them? See what makes them tick, and if they can come back together.
And that's what you do.
Each monster is just a number. Each number must go up. Up to the maximum. The highest it can go, just for fun. Dust piles under your fingernails, skin becoming harder and harder under each weapon. It never stops.
The only way the rampage of a monster is a hero. And, of course, a hero stands up to fight.
After clearing out the Ruins and killing Toriel, she says that she not protecting you from them, but them from you, before she keels over and her SOUL shatters on your screen. Later on, you encounter the skeletons. Despite your lack of emotion, they try to engage you with puzzles, to little success. Before you enter Snowdin Town, Sans leaves you a warning. If you keep this up, you're going to have a bad time.
Papyrus is, again, one hit away from his death. Despite all he's seen you do, and your hostility, he still hopes up until his death that you can change.
But you won't.
Things get interesting in Waterfall. It all starts the same, but Undyne stops your genocide at the last second, to save the Monster Kid.
She manages to get a powerup from all of her DETERMINATION, but even that isn't enough. The hero of the Underground now struck down, there's only one more choice to make. To evacuate. But that won't be an issue for you.
You're much more DETERMINED than her.
In Hotland, the cycle doesn't change. Even Mettaton, in his NEO state, is specifically designed in the game to make him no match for you.
Flowey accompanies you through New Home, recounting his days back when he was the most DETERMINED in the Underground. It ends with him realising that, no matter what, being like you two wouldn't hesitate to kill each other if they got in each other's way.
Flowey realises what he's said.
You would certainly do that.
So, why wouldn't you do that now?
Flowey leaves before you can do anything.
* heya
* you've been busy, huh?
You sure have.
Maybe, in the most dire of scenarios, the most un-motivated person can get up and do their job. That job? Try to get a genocide to cease, even if it is nearly done. All Sans has to do is tire you out. Mess with you enough for a RESET, and everyone won't die. That's all he has to do.
I will admit, I have never beaten Sans Undertale's boss fight. I've tried, sure. I have the perfect save backed up for me to practice, but I've never gone through all of it.
Maybe, one day, I will beat him. My genocide would be complete. But for now, he's won against me.
So, in the case one were to win, all you would have to do is keep attacking, and keep dodging. A dance of avoiding attacks until one falters. It's almost a metaphor. Sans, the one with only a temporary chance, has only one hit points, while you with your infinte tries have ann abundance of hit points. It's a losing battle, and one you must win.
After all of that, the rest of it is just continuing on. Asgore is killed automatically, no input needed. He wasn't even trying to fight. Flowey finishes the job, stating he can still be of use to you.
He isn't. Asriel is disposed of.
The route ends with a cutscene. The first fallen human, one named after what you put in on that title screen, the name you haven't been able to change without completely removing your save file or true-RESETting. The one who comes when their name is called.
They offer you a deal. You can leave this world behind in exchange for your SOUL, or simply do not.
There's no choice in the matter.
This world is erased. And you move onto the next.