#UTDR theory

[chai-en-kaadhale]

ive seen theories that dess is the roaring knight and that dess is the hero with the sword but what would be really cool would be if it were both like if azzy dess and whoever else were the original trio but they got corrupted somehow- failed, even

[humunanunga]

There is... so much to unpack here.

[shiftersinc]

The Only Human Document

Hello. For the past few months I have been working on a document deconstructing the dynamic between UNDERTALE's protagonist and the various factors surrounding them. After replaying the game I've had a revelation of sorts regarding this topic that I'd like to share with you.

For theorists in this community, I only hope that this proves useful going into DELTARUNE.

(View The Only Human document here)

[sugarlover1225]

Noelle but she’s praying to be forgiven for what happened during snowgrave

Originally Kris was supposed to be in the drawing but I hated it

[argle-bargling]

I've been reading way too much into everything about the Knight and one thing that immediately caught my attention was the way it poses. I think everybody agrees that its weapon is either Dess' bat or Carol's katana but both of those are supposed to be used with both hands so the poses don't match the way either of them are used. People are joking about auramaxxing but genuinely, it seems almost like it's a dance. And then it hit me. We know that Dess plays like. every sport. She's particularly associated with baseball and hockey (thanks Kris for beating me up with a hockey stick) and we know for a fact she has at least two pairs of ice skates - one in her closet and one under her bed.

So what if the skates aren't just for hockey. What if she also does figure skating? Look at the Knight's poses next to figure skaters.

And obviously ice skating is a winter sport so it really matches the Holiday theme.

[wiltedsystem]

weird kid

[paintedcrows]

My Deltarune / Undertale conspiracy theory is that Chara fell into the Underground on December 25th, 201X.

End of 201X? Doesn't refer to the decade, it refers to the end (i.e. last month) of an unspecified year in the 2010s. The emphasis on Christmas and Winter with Dess and the Holidays? It's all going to connect babyyyyy

[glitchthedemon]

What I believe chapter three tells us about Kris

Naturally there will be spoilers for chapter three and some for chapter four, so read at your own risk!

As we know, each dark world represents the will of its creator, which is why Susie's foutain was slightly different to the first fountain in the church, and because Kris created the third Dark world when the soul was *outside* their body, then we can assume that this dark world represents Kris's thoughts and wants, at least to some extent

I believe this can be best seen in Tenna, someone loud, somewhat attention-seeking and desperate. Of course, this doesn't really sound like the Kris we know, but the "Kris" we know isn't really Kris, it's us, but since the Dark Foutain was created while we were not controlling Kris, it represents Kris's will minus any of our influence. Back to Tenna, we see him wanting to make people happy, to bring/keep people together, to keep the good old times lasting forever.

The Family

Multiple times he brings up the divorce of Toriel and Asgore, and how the family used to be, including having the Holiday family round a lot. Tenna explains how much that deteriorates after Dess goes missing, Asgore and Toriel breaking up, and Asriel leaving for college. During his break down in board three, he says one line that really stuck out to me, as it didn't sound like he was talking to anyone

Despite not technically being part of the family, Tenna does seem to be a legitamate casualty of divorce, I imagine that as Asgore and Toriel argued more and more, Kris would distract themself with whatevers on TV, turning the volume up as their parents started to yell.

Since Asgore and Toriel are still on poor terms with each other, It's likely that Kris wants the family to be how it was before, with Asriel home and his parents happy together, and this can be scene in Tenna's persistence of them being one big happy family

(there are several other lines of his dialogue that show this)

Keeping up appearances

Tenna is always talking about how great classic TV is, that he's still relevant! Still wanted! still needed! But people have moved on - as Tenna says, "nothing stays big forever" - I imagine it's quite hard to feel wanted or relevant when your newest (and only) friends see that soul possessing you more than they see the real you

Kris was "the weird kid" before the events of deltarune, which can be inferred from a lot of dialogue in hometown, like Bratty's conversation about Asriel. Kris likely felt very alone, especially since they are the only human in their town. But now, with that thing possessing them, they have friends, they get to go on fun adventures, they're hanging out with Noelle again.

But without that soul? who knows what would happen to them and their friends. Would they fade away into the darkness, becoming just as irrelavant as they were before? Would they become useless, without any adventures to be had anymore? Would Susie not want to be their friend anymore once they aren't the same person from the adventures? (remember how much Tenna wanted to impress Susie because she was one of the first people to pay him real attention in so long?)

Minor Events

Didn't know where else to put this but Kris's darkworld events almost directly mirror lightword stuff they had previously experienced

Blue guy awkwardly involved with a broken-up couple

TV world directly affected by some of Kris's last memories before creating the dark fountain and going to sleep

There's likely a lot more but i don't want this post getting too long, so thank you reading this far!! If anyone has any other ideas they'd like to add then feel free!

[imminent-danger-came]

Like, an obvious tenna parallel. But that's scary toby

[humunanunga]

So here's what I think it means: Ramb was most likely talking about Noelle, right? She'd be on the right with the laptop, maybe playing Cat Petters, while Kris was on the left, maybe using the cards and dice to learn parlor tricks (if web searches wouldn't pull up results for teaching humans magic, they might've still been interested in learning sleight-of-hand).

And I think that explains what happened to Spamton.

Tenna doesn't recognize him anymore because they knew each other back when Spamton was a [[BIG SHOT]] in a matching red suit. He might've even had his own commercials on Tenna's screen, but this was also when he resided in Queen's mansion alongside Swatch. (And if this was when the King and Queen met, then it's also when Spamton would've met Jevil.)

Meaning... Spamton's calls with his mysterious benefactor could've been through the landline. Especially if they were still on dial-up internet back then. They stopped because Noelle stopped coming over with the laptop.

And as for Tenna... the dates 12/25 (Christmas Day) and 2/13 (Valentine's Eve) prominently show up, and Kris' implied aversion to watching TV might've been because it was always shoving the tragedy in their face. But it's still unclear whether Tenna knows Dess was never found, or if he was trying to focus on better times, or if he really was trying to push Kris' buttons; but he should at least know she's gone. Dess was the mayor's daughter, after all. If she went missing, it would've been all over the news.

And that could've been why Asgore was removed from the force. He wouldn't let it go, so Carol made him. And if Chapter 4 says anything, he's still investigating in secret– and suspicious of her. And maybe she's just a coldhearted ass who got tired of her public image revolving around an unsolved case instead of her success as town mayor. But she's definitely sus as fuck.

Back to Ramb, though: I think him petrifying establishes what generally makes a Darkner "belong." Darkners are animated objects, and maybe he was simply an overdue loan like the tutorial for drawing dragons, but Ramb was library property regardless. That one Zapper might've been for Asgore' TV all along, since he seems to have the same kind at the flower shop, and his remote could've been borrowed or mixed up.

Meanwhile, the Pippins were safe because they were... that property's property. The Rudinns, according to one, were from Kris' deck, explaining why Lancer and Rouxls were unaffected.

What it doesn't explain is Chapter 4 (which so far is likely more to do with the two Dark Worlds being treated as flipsides) or why the classroom Darkners don't seem to recognize Kris, but maybe the latter's for gender reasons. If Ralsei is an outdated sona, then Kris at least used to present as a boy like the brother they wished to be more like, and the Card Kingdom simply wasn't there to witness Kris' transition. Or maybe those Darkners forgot the Lightners just like the Lightners forgot them, but... speaking of Dark Worlds...

...belonging. The storage closet is an ideal place for a Dark Fountain because anything could belong in a place like public storage.

And maybe that's why Ralsei was put there in the first place. Safekeeping.

Darkners in Castle Town are safe from the Player. We can harm Darkners and even Lightners in other worlds, but not this one. We're not given the option. That's how Ralsei's been kept safe all this time. Chapters 3&4 give us opportunities to hurt his feelings, which Kris will resist, but he can't be damaged or killed through Kris.

Maybe not just Ralsei either. Kris' side of the room, or at least the side they sleep on, is empty... and noticably desaturated like the door to Dess' room... and their locker is also empty. The locker could be due to their implied absence, but it could also be because they knew a Player would come (or come back) and they didn't want to give us access to anything of theirs that they wanted left untouched.

It's been speculated since Chapter 1, I've been coming back to the possibility that this isn't Kris' first time being under a Player's control. We don't know how we seized Kris' body or why, or if we're the first; even if we are, though, there's a chance Kris knew to expect us. And so they prepared accordingly while they still had bodily autonomy.

Might post another ramble after I finish my Chapter 3&4 replay, now that I have save files with Dealmaker, Jevilstail and the original Starwalker again.

[aeiouyxiii]

Spoiler for Deltarune Ch4

The idea that Dragon Blazers is based on an adaptation of an in-universe holy scripture is hilarious to me. Like, what if Dragon Quest was based on The Action Bible.

...

Chrono Trigger. I've described Chrono Trigger.

[syvvieon]

Why the May 2025 Deltarune Newsletter Heavily Implies the Existence of a New Weird Route

new newsletter, rejoice! alongside some cool new info regarding release - specifically timezones and consoles - we also got some new information which i strongly believe implies the existence of a chapter three and/or four weird route. let me explain!

so, this begins with toby's reveal of the playstation trophies. unsurprisingly for a meta game element in deltarune, they seem to be written by the GONER_MAKER voice, or probably-gaster.

notably, one of them, the chapter 3 end trophy, has this description:

this trophy is also pretty special, as toby has something to say about it:

i believe these two small details are hints towards the existence of a new or continued weird route.

i know that's absurd to say from just that, so let me explain! from those two bits of information we can extrapolate four criteria for these "certain conditions."

they provide an alternative manner to reaching the end of the chapter

they are, to some degree, secretive or obscured beyond what a casual player would experience

they are not a bug as toby is calling attention to them before release

they are something that probably-gaster would consider an issue

now look. i have really really tried to think of anything that could be being implied here beyond a weird route because it feels so out there, but i simply cannot think of anything that makes any more sense and fits the criteria. therefore, i'm going to call it. chapters 3 and 4 will likely have at least one weird route, whether that be as a continuation of the chapter 2 route or an individual new route.

if you can think of anything else please feel free to bring it up in tags/replies/reblogs!

[springbloggy]

Not much of a "theory", but it's possible that the Mayor's name is Clarice, after the love interest seen in the original Rudolph movie.

If true, the mayor herself would fit within the outcast theme in Deltarune, as she would be the only Holiday family member who's name doesn't fully fit within the Christmas motif.

[sugarlover1225]

I mαde an updated suselle analysis doc on why I think they’ll be canon 4 sure so yah!

[skymantle]

The Mayor Knight Theory

I'm not used to writing long-form posts but I've spent years talking to my friends about this theory that only 2 or 3 other people seem to share so I'm putting it out here, too!

My theory is that the Knight is C. Holiday, the mayor of Hometown and Noelle and Dess' mother.

The Importance of the Holidays

Aside from the joke of Loox' name, the Dreemurrs and Holidays are the only characters so far to have canonical last names. This might not mean much on its own, but Noelle has clearly been set up to be an important character in Deltarune.

Her sister is missing. Her father is sick. She's childhood friends with Kris and has a crush on Susie, and studied the occult with Catti. She's in concept art of the Fun Gang, and along with Susie and Kris, is the only other name that earns the response "YOU ARE ABOUT TO MEET SOMEONE VERY, VERY WONDERFUL" by the opening narrator (metatextually implied to be Gaster himself) if you name yourself after them.

Her mother is mayor, and is planning the upcoming festival. We know next to nothing about her, except that she's cold, strict, and possibly planning to evict Asgore if the note in his room is anything to go by.

You have one month. - C

It's clear that Noelle and her family are important characters. But how is her arc going to continue?

Cyber World

Queen seems to represent Noelle's mother, with the climax of the chapter being Noelle finally standing up to her after being ignored the whole time.

Queen's goal is for Noelle to create another dark fountain within the dark world itself: something she refers to in her fight:

Focusing Into Her Blade, She Will Create A Neo Dark Fountain

During the Spamton Sweepstakes, on the page /chair/, it depicts the chair in town hall with the tab text

But what if it could... ...get darker than dark?

Parallels of Noelle and Chara

Noelle has heavy angel symbolism, from her dress, to the doll she and Dess made for church. She wears a ring of thorns in the Weird Route, and Spamton repeatedly refers to her as [ANGEL].

The two angels of the original Delta Rune legend in Undertale are implied to be the Dreemurr siblings, with Asriel breaking the barrier and Chara (entirely with the assistance from the player) killing a good portion of the underground.

Chara thanks the player, saying,

Together, we eradicated the enemy and became strong.

Throughout the Weird Route, emphasis is placed on Noelle becoming stronger, text affirming "Noelle became stronger." with every fight.

Asgore was brought into a vengeful depression with the death of his children, seeking to both take revenge on humanity and save monsterkind at the same time.

If the Knight's goal is to bring the Roaring, something the Prophecy seems to call the Angel's Heaven, who's to say the Knight isn't also acting out of grief? A world that could protect her remaining daughter?

The Significance of Very, Very

This one is admittedly a bit of a stretch, but it's still interesting (ha) to me.

The exact phrasing of "very" twice calls Gaster to mind, with entry number seventeen/room_gaster saying "VERY, VERY INTERESTING", the mysterious messages on Twitter with a similar speech pattern saying the same thing, and the opening narrator with typer ID* 667 (room_gaster uses 666) calling Kris, Noelle, and Susie "VERY, VERY WONDERFUL"

Otherwise, the exact using of "very, very" is used sparingly in Deltarune, the only examples being Spamton telling Kris how to use the Loaded Disc,

THEN. KRIS. AFTER. THIS IS VERY, VERY IMPORTANT.

Throwing away the Ball of Junk in the light world, which represents Kris' dark world inventory,

You have a very, very bad feeling about throwing it away.

And the mayor's secretary, when asked about her.

She's very, very busy preparing for the festival.

Maybe it ultimately doesn't mean much, but with the importance of the other two examples, I think it's worth considering.

The Future

Chapter 4 is all but confirmed to take place in the Church. Service is the day after Chapter 2, according to Rudy.

Might even be able to go to church tomorrow.

If this is the case, it's likely the story around Dess will be expanded, and with that, the rest of Noelle's family.

Conclusion

At this point in the game, at least to me, this option seems to make the most narrative sense. I know we're only a small bit into the story right now, and the Knight's identity is anyone's guess, but I thought I'd share a candidate that a lot of people seem to be skipping! ^_^

*typer id in undertale + deltarune is a number attached to a collection of soundbytes. if the soundbytes a_1 to a_6 attached to typer id 3, a character speaking dialogue with the typer id 3 would use those soundbytes

[wiltedsystem]

a world where you exist to suffer and a world where you're better off dead