Deltarune Chapter 5 spoilers
So its been a few weeks since Deltarune Chapter 5 came out and everyone's making their theories about the larger story, but I kinda want to explore the flowers a bit more. Both because I really like their characters but also because I think we too often get caught up in the larger lore and mystery despite a chapter like this clearly showing it'd rather focus on these smaller character stories.
I thought the flower gang was super cool not just as standalone characters, but also in their relationship to the human souls of Undertale. Like they're clearly not related to them directly, but are instead this universe's version of them. Beyond just the colors they each use the exact weapons and armor you find in Undertale associated with the different humans, and while we never meet the humans it can be assumed their personalities are similar. Heck they even each have the same Omega attack that Omega Flowey uses. So in a way it kinda felt like we finally got to interact and fall in love with those characters.
But the human souls in Undertale were also associated with specific virtues which also tie into most of the flowers... but not all of them. Each of the flowers directly mention their virtue except for two (well three if you count Green but they clearly still represent kindness). As far as I saw, Seth never mentions perseverance and Aqua never mentions patience, and while one could argue that Seth's pursuit of knowledge shows perseverance I'd argue its not nearly as strong a correlation as the others. And Aqua certainly never shows patience, though one could say that their relationship to the virtue is instead through its inverse, but I'd say she's more impulsive than impatient.
Seth and Aqua stand out from the other flowers for other reasons as well. With the exception of Flowery, they're the only flowers who consider going by a name other than their color (though I think Aqua only mentions it to draw attention to how Seth doesn't go by Purple). They are also the only ones with a major presence outside of the castle, though we do see Green and Yellow.
There is something special about Seth and Aqua, and I think it has to do with who they drew inspiration from. I've seen others talking about how the flowers are embodiments of Asgore's relationship with their specific virtue, the main example I've seen being Yellow and Asgore's sense of justice and self punishment. But through Flowery we see that they can also take on aspects of other people, as Flowery is clearly built from Asgore's perception of Rudy, all the way down to being college buddies.
I've seen people point out how similar Seth and Alphys are, so its possible that Asgore associates Alphys with perseverance and that's why Seth is the way that they are (though admittedly I feel the connection is still weak). But then what about Aqua... well I think its clear who she resembles: Kris! Physically they are extremely similar, and have many interactions with each other, but their personalities seem like they couldn't be further from each other, so whats the connection? Well, its because Aqua is Asgore's perception of *child* Kris. While in the present Kris is more stoic and reclusive, it seems clear that before "the incident" (side note: I've seen people upset at Asgore's vague posting, and while it can be frustrating to the audience, it makes sense for him to talk about in that way because Kris wouldn't need exposition on the event because he was part of it.) Kris was a more playful, though still odd, kid. I think Aqua serves as a direct glimpse into Kris's childhood, to show us the Soul and audience how much he has changed.
But then what off the connection to patience? Well I think its because Asgore sees Kris as patient. While I am no parent, I can say from the child's point of view that parents often view their kids being withdrawn and quiet as being patient and polite. Whatever happened clearly traumatized Kris and caused them to become more withdrawn, but to Asgore, who became so absorbed by the tragedy, would only see that as Kris being patient with him and the situation.
Anyway, I don't think any of this will have a larger impact on the story going into chapter 6, but I thought it was a really cool exploration of these characters and felt the need to ramble about it.
