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Deltarune's Characters and How They Take Apart The RPG

Had too big of a think about RPG Archetypes and how they appear in Deltarune so now I'm making this post. I have a lot I want to touch on so this is going to be more formatted compared to my usual Deltarune discussion posts (despite that it still is more just a collection of stray thoughts put together). Main post under the cut because I fear this will be long.

Let's start at the simplest character among the cast when it comes to the RPG Archetype they fulfill,

Kris.

Yup Kris is the easiest one to talk about right now when it comes to this certain topic, because at a glance they fill the most obvious role. The Hero. They're your "silent" protagonist with character traits here and there that aren't affected by the player, but we all know that at this point they're much more than that, making them a very obvious subversion of this role. Depending on where the story goes Kris might just end up being that one character people assume is an ally when really they're not though, but I'm hopeful that they'll get their sense knocked into them (literally or metaphorically).

Right now with how little we know of Kris and their motivations I can't really say more in regards to their role with any confidence so I'll save more of this discussion when it comes to Kris specifically for a later date.

Before I can touch upon the next characters I gotta bring up a different RPG real quick to serve as a base for comparison. Your stereotypical RPG early game party that a lot of (especially older) RPGs follow is the protag, the big boy attacker (has the largest weapon of the group during the early game) with meh magic stats, and your early game healer (also typically a ranged attacker though at the start doesn't do much damage).

Let's take a look at Persona 3's starting party members as an example. Our protagonist here is Makoto Yuki however you're allowed to name him whatever you like, in the original version of Persona 3 he can use basically any weapon though most modernized versions have him stick to a sword, a silent protagonist to a tea but no matter what you do this boy has depression.

The big boy early game attacker of the game is Makoto's best friend after moving to Tatsumi Port Island, Junpei Iori. He's loud, goofy, and headstrong, sometimes getting himself into trouble by rushing into things without thinking. Generally though he's a good guy and a solid friend you can rely on during the events of the game (even if he has a few outbursts here and there due to some lingering insecurities), and also isn't as dumb as he first comes off as (even so much as to dislike being called stupid). Gameplay wise he's a really good physical attacker using blunt and big weapons.

Your early game healer is Yukari Takeba, a cheery girl who's a bit lonely underneath the friendly and joyful exterior and having a bit of trouble opening up to people who aren't the protagonist. Throughout the story she does get other friends that aren't Makoto and actually gets to rely on others. Gameplay wise she's your best healer in the early game (if you don't convert Makoto into a healer) with a bow and arrow as her weapon of choice.

Now with some groundwork established, lets talk

Susie.

Susie is Deltarune's resident big boy attacker, swinging around a big old axe and just about taking control of the scene any times she's in it. Hell she even becomes real close friends with Kris over the course of the story so far. So you might think she fits the Archetype perfectly wouldn't you?

Unfortunately there's a few glaring things she doesn't slot into, firstly the fact she's a girl as this role is typically filled by a male character (not saying this in any weird misogynistic way I am simply pointing out the stereotypes). Secondly, she's taking the lead quite a bit in this story, so much so to be more taking up the hero role in the party with Kris simply running tactics command. While it's true she's been an invaluable pillar of support for Kris, that can be said for most other characters in the story as well, with Susie being the reason of having their character arcs kick off.

Though Susie isn't the only character with archetype discrepancies when you really dig into it, there's also

Ralsei.

Ralsei wants you to believe he's your early game healer when you first look at him, I mean what could be wrong! Well yes he's not a girl as they typically are but he's friendly and helpful. One thing however.

The Prophecy, very notably the fact that Ralsei mentions that maybe if they were kinder the prophecy could change. Which may mean his entire demeanor might be made in attempt to, appearance wise there's another RPG Archetype he could fall neatly under if he wasn't specifically trying to be kind and helpful, the mid game mage.

The mid game mage typically adorned with glasses on their face and a large hat upon their heads are the studious sort, knowing more than enough about the magic of the world and the world itself for the party to be able to progress. They aren't typically a healer however, usually taking up a more offensive magic role while still sharing that same frailness healers tend to have. (Going back to Person 3 for those who know, think Mitsuru.)

Ralsei is very deliberately attempting to fill another party role that may have not be intended to be what he is, unlike Susie who's breaking her face value role simply by being herself. Now if they don't fill those stated roles, then who does? Easy it's

Noelle and Berdly.

I don't have enough to talk about them separately so they share a part.

Something I've neglected to mention thus far is how the core early game trio usually forms, it's not too uncommon for them to be total strangers before the game and joining together once the plot ball starts moving, but nor is it uncommon for it to be a pre-established trio of friends. Which might I remind people that at the beginning of chapter 1 Noelle was attempting to form a trio between herself, Kris, and Berdly for the group project, and Kris already has history with the other two, being on relatively good terms with both.

Noelle fits the early game healer to a tea, very kind and caring, and maybe a few issues when it comes to standing up for herself. Even fitting the aesthetics of one perfectly. She's just what you'd expect out of it.

While Berdly is less of a clean fit, he still fits fairly well into the big boy attacker role seeing as he wields a Halberd as his weapon of choice within the Darkworld and certainly comes off to the player as goofy in the beginning. Especially if you consider that at the beginning of the game at least Susie would fit much more cleanly into a villain role meanwhile Berdly would be an annoying yet useful ally.

Quite funny if we were to take these characters at their most shallow the stereotypical rpg party you could form from there would be Kris, Noelle, and Berdly. With Susie and Ralsei being more likely to be additions later in the game. And yet that's not what we have.

I could easily be grasping at straws here especially because I don't know what all of this means in regards to the Prophecy but I feel like I'm onto something and we're just not far enough into the game for me to say what yet.

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RISE RISE RISE RISE RISE

og meme ↓

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the friends ever

first blog, kinda nervous

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YOU ARE AN 🙂 (Average Sunday Morning at the Holiday Residence)

iF YOU don't get the refranc E...this is the refernec.e......

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our Shadowguys are missing from the window at the beginning of chapter 4!

Susie probably put them in her pocket as soon as she woke up.

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It is wild how confident these Owners often are. Please Gordon Ramsay tell me why my restaurant is failing, wait what the fuck do you mean it's my decisions and the way I do things? Suck my cock, you know nothing about REAL food, you pretentious fuck.

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Love finds its way to the girl(s)

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shit said by people who know about the time loop and now think you know what the end of the prophecy said and have chosen to return to this time for reasons he can only guess at

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that one chapter 2 dialogue but it's spamtenna during their happy era

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just some fan sprites about Noelle being in Tenna´s games Probably i´ll make berdly too in the future

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Never skip the flavour text in a Toby Fox game.

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when Kris puts the soul back in Chapter 4, there's a red splatter effect and they seem to check their hand after (for blood?)

since this is the only time they take out/put the soul back while facing us, it's possible we just couldn't see the splatter before.

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high five

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based on a post i saw :3

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Подстава

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The Parent Trap but make it Deltarune