U-CHI-WA

Premise 1 — Ralsei’s role

First, Ralsei.

Ralsei’s role in DELTARUNE feels almost aggressively clear. Guide the heroes. Protect them. Lead them safely to the ending. That’s all.

And because it’s so simple, it feels heavy. It’s as if his entire existence is justified only by the successful completion of the story. Not growth. Not change. Just arrival.

Which raises an uncomfortable thought: if the ending is delayed, rewritten, or fails to occur—what happens to someone whose purpose is defined so narrowly?

Premise 2 — What is DELTARUNE?

Next, the question that sounds simple and never is. What is DELTARUNE? To Gaster, it appears to be an experiment. To us, it is clearly a PC game. But to the people living inside that world, it is a legend. These three perspectives don’t align neatly. And that misalignment feels intentional.

Premise 3 — Where does the “game” begin and end?

From our perspective as players, everything is part of the game. Menus, saves, resets, chapters—there’s no ambiguity. But inside the world, the perception is different.

Noelle explicitly says that the Dark World “felt like a game.” Not daily life. Not the Light World. Specifically the Dark World.

Early scrapped concepts suggest that while details changed, the fundamental structure remained: a mundane world, and a transformed world where roles, magic, and rules exist.

This makes it hard to believe that the Dark World and Light World are simply two regions of the same game space. They function differently. They are experienced differently. They are understood differently. Which leads to an uncomfortable possibility.

When we say “DELTARUNE is a game,” that may only be true from the outside. Inside the story, DELTARUNE—the legend—may refer only to the Dark World itself. The Light World might be where you return after the game ends. Or it might not be part of the game at all.

Supplement — Games can be rewritten

Chapter 3 quietly demonstrates something important: games can be rewritten. Not restarted. Not replayed. Rewritten. If that’s possible, then rewriting the Dark World’s game—the legend called DELTARUNE—doesn’t sound unthinkable.

Main Point 1 — Has DELTARUNE been played before?

This is where things start to feel less abstract.

If you examine the bench in the graveyard next to the church, Gerson mentions having seen the story “in a dream.” That line is easy to dismiss, but it keeps nagging at me. Because dreams, in this series, are rarely just dreams.

If Gerson has seen the story of DELTARUNE before, even vaguely, then it suggests prior contact with the Dark World. Which immediately raises another question: with whom? If DELTARUNE is a game that requires heroes plus a guide, then Ralsei alone isn’t enough.At least two heroes are needed.

One of them must be human.Ideally, a human capable of using magic. UNDERTALE already mentions someone who fits that description: the human mage Gerson admired.

The idea that Gerson once entered the Dark World alongside such a person doesn’t feel impossible. It feels… uncomfortably plausible.

Main Point 2 — Does clearing the game require sacrifice?

Now for something darker.

What if clearing the Dark World’s game—DELTARUNE—requires a sacrifice? Specifically, a soul. And what if the cruelest part isn’t the loss itself, but the forgetting that follows?

If someone sacrificed something essential, then returned to the Light World without remembering what was lost, life could continue almost normally. Memories would rearrange themselves. Relationships would quietly overwrite the absence.

Someone might forget the person they loved most, get married, have a child, and live a full life—all while something fundamental is missing. Gerson, notably, was a teacher. A role that suits him perfectly.

But if the school houses the “pure fountain,” and if he felt something there he could never fully explain, then staying close to it would make sense in the most tragic way possible.

Main Point 3 — If Asriel and Dess were previous players

Let’s assume, briefly, that Asriel and Dess were previous heroes.

They would have had to keep the Dark World secret. Just like Kris and Susie do now. But secrets don’t last long around curious people. Someone observant. Someone good at games. Someone who notices patterns.

If Asriel was sneaking around without telling Kris, it’s hard to imagine that going unnoticed. And Asriel doesn’t strike me as someone who could refuse if pressed. Once Kris learned about the Dark World, things could spiral quickly. Chapter 2 tells us that any Lightner can create a fountain.

A determined child, acting at the wrong time, could create something far more dangerous than intended.

Main Point 4 — The ending of the previous adventure

Whether that previous run ended in failure or success is unclear.

But if the rules remain consistent—two heroes required, and someone important lost to memory—then Dess’s disappearance becomes harder to ignore. Asriel’s apparent calm raises questions.

If a kind person lost someone that important, would they really be able to live so quietly? Or is the quietness itself the result of forgetting?

Main Point 5: Kris Cannot Enter the Dark World

From the phone call in Chapter 4, it becomes clear that Kris cannot enter the Dark World while lacking a SOUL. In other words, even if Kris creates a Dark Fountain, they are still unable to enter the Dark World without a SOUL. At this point, it is important to pause and ask: what exactly is this “SOUL”? Is it a human SOUL? A monster’s? Or the player’s?

If we take UNDERTALE’s established rules about SOULs as a baseline, it seems reasonable to assume that this refers to a human SOUL. However, the real issue is not what kind of SOUL it is, but whose SOUL it is.

Kris is able to move and act on their own even when the player’s SOUL is absent. This suggests that Kris themselves continues to “exist” and function within the world of the game. The game also clearly states that Kris is not a monster, but a human.

According to Ralsei’s prophecy, the heroes of this legend are a human, a monster, and the Prince of the Dark. So why, then, is a Kris without a “normal” SOUL unable to enter the Dark World? This raises an unsettling possibility: Kris may not be the chosen player of this particular “Deltarune.”

Main Point 6: Kris May Not Be the Hero of This Deltarune

When discussing Noelle and Susie, it is often suggested that Noelle is the true hero, while Susie is more of an unexpected participant.

In the same way, it may be worth questioning whether the “human” mentioned in the legend truly refers to Kris at all. In the game, monsters such as Undyne and Berdly—characters who are not controlled by the player—are still able to enter the Dark World. Humans, however, seem unable to cross the barrier into the Dark World on their own. This distinction feels deliberate, and significant. Another key detail is how Kris treats the SOUL itself. Kris tells Susie that they keep their SOUL in a birdcage, “like a pet.” We also repeatedly witness Kris physically inserting and removing the SOUL from their body.

These actions make it difficult to believe that the loss of the SOUL is accidental. Rather, it appears that Kris is using the SOUL intentionally, inserting it into their body only when necessary. This leads to one final question: what purpose does Kris have for doing so?

Main Point 7: Kris and Asriel May Be Trying to Save Dess Using Their Own Abilities

At this point, it is worth briefly bringing Sans into the discussion.

In UNDERTALE, Sans is clearly aware of repeated playthroughs and demonstrates the ability to move instantaneously between locations. These traits appear to carry over into DELTARUNE as well. He asks Kris whether they have met somewhere before, and he casually teleports between the BBQ grill and the convenience store.

If Sans retains such abilities across games, it raises a natural question: could the same be true for Asriel—and for Kris?

Asriel, in particular, shows signs of possessing abilities similar to Flowey’s. One well-known example is the save data: depending on the save slot, the items stored on Asriel’s shelf change. This strongly suggests an awareness of multiple timelines or save states.

But then—what about Kris?

Do they possess a comparable ability? And if so, who do they correspond to in UNDERTALE’s framework?

Are they closer to Frisk? Or to “Chara”?

If we assume, even tentatively, that Kris carries aspects of both, something interesting begins to emerge.

Main Point 8: Kris May Have Already Repeated the Game Using the Abilities of Both Chara and Frisk

Have you ever played a secondhand game?

A cartridge borrowed from a friend. A disk bought used from a game shop.

It is a surprisingly common experience. And notably, even during UNDERTALE’s 10th anniversary events, discussions emerged around whether a game was “original” or “copied.” That idea may apply to DELTARUNE as well.

If Kris and Asriel are attempting to break out of their current situation, it may not be enough to act within the Dark World alone. Instead, they might be trying to alter the structure of the world itself—the framework of the “Deltarune game.”

One possibility is unsettling, but difficult to ignore: perhaps the world has already been destroyed once, using an ability akin to Chara’s. Or perhaps the person who was meant to be the protagonist was erased, allowing Kris to take their place.

This may ultimately be a chicken-and-egg problem—cause and effect tangled beyond easy separation. But it leaves open the possibility that Kris and Asriel are working together, quietly and deliberately, behind the scenes.

Main Point 9: The Internet—and Susie (It's too looooong)

In the world of DELTARUNE, the internet appears to be disconnected.

Some online games offer an offline mode. When that happens, external players are completely cut off, leaving a closed world inhabited only by NPCs and the player themselves.

This raises a small but curious question: is DELTARUNE truly a “consumer game” in the usual sense? That question can be set aside for now. The more immediate issue is Susie’s origin.

The game tells us that Susie has moved many times. But why? Is it because of her family’s circumstances? Or because of her own behavior?

Susie is a monster, yet she hides her tail, leaving her exact species unclear. Dragon, horse, lizard—none can be confirmed. (At one point, the idea crossed my mind that she might be a lizard hiding an inconvenient or “dishonorable” tail, since lizards are said to escape by severing them—but that seems unlikely.)

There are other small details that feel oddly deliberate.

In Chapter 2, Susie bursts into laughter when she sees Asriel’s room. Meanwhile, a book about drawing dragons—borrowed years ago from the library—still sits in Kris’s house. The idea that an overwhelmingly strong, purple monster girl would suddenly appear right in front of Kris feels almost too perfect. That kind of encounter usually requires either a fairy-tale coincidence—or careful arrangement.

As much as it pains me to even entertain this thought (because I genuinely love Susie), there is another detail that stands out: even including UNDERTALE’s 10th anniversary events, Susie is the only main character with absolutely no trace or shadow in UNDERTALE’s world. (In some versions, Clam Girl does mention Suzy, but this is meant in the sense that she has no sprite.)

From a game-design perspective alone, she feels conspicuously out of place. At the very beginning of the game, Gaster leaves a message addressed only to Susie: “You will meet a wonderful person.” This raises the possibility that Susie was brought into the DELTARUNE game from somewhere else entirely.

Susie is naturally aggressive, yet when Noelle describes the Dark World as feeling “like a game,” Susie responds that she never saw it that way. That reaction is difficult to ignore.

Hopefully, none of this leads somewhere truly ominous. Though, to be honest—even if it does, I’ve already imagined every worst-case scenario. No matter what happens, I will continue to support Susie. (laughs)

At present, this is where my thoughts rest: Susie may come from a completely different world. And Kris and Asriel may already know this. If Kris and Asriel have a specific goal—such as saving Dess—then Susie’s presence may be essential.

There is also one line from Noelle that lingers uncomfortably: “Kris never complimented me. They never gave me gifts.”

Of course, Noelle and Susie are different people, and childhood friendships don’t always follow the same rules. Still, Kris’s attitude toward Susie feels noticeably different. Whether that difference is affection at first sight, or something more purposeful, remains unclear.

That said, when looking at the relationship between Kris, Susie, and Ralsei as of Chapter 4, what stands out most is how genuine it feels. Whatever Kris’s true intentions may be, one thing seems certain: they value their friends.

Conclusion — A Working Hypothesis

After tracing these points from Chapter 0 through Chapter 4, one thing becomes increasingly difficult to ignore: DELTARUNE does not behave like a story that begins at its beginning.

Kris’s relationship with the SOUL, their inability to enter the Dark World without it, and the ambiguity surrounding whose SOUL is actually required all suggest that the role of “player,” “hero,” and even “human” may already be misaligned. Kris exists, acts, and chooses even when the SOUL is absent—yet something essential is missing when it comes to crossing worlds.

At the same time, Asriel’s implied awareness of save data, timelines, and continuity mirrors abilities once associated with Flowey. If Kris, meanwhile, exhibits traits that resemble both Frisk and Chara, then the possibility arises that the game has already been repeated—perhaps even altered—before the player ever arrives.

Within this framework, the legend itself begins to feel unstable. If the “human” hero is not necessarily Kris, then the prophecy may be less about destiny and more about substitution.

Susie’s presence further complicates this structure. She has no clear precedent in UNDERTALE, receives direct acknowledgment from Gaster, and reacts to the Dark World in ways that resist the idea of it being “just a game.” She feels less like a native element of the system, and more like an intrusion—or a required variable.

If Kris and Asriel are attempting to change something fundamental about this world—whether to save Dess, to escape a closed system, or to rewrite the rules themselves—then Susie’s role may be indispensable. Not as a chosen hero, but as someone who does not quite belong.

And yet, despite all of this structural unease, one thing remains surprisingly intact: the sincerity of the relationships formed within the game.

Whatever Kris knows, whatever they intend, their care for Susie, Ralsei, and Noelle does not appear fabricated. Even in a world that may have already been broken, reset, or borrowed, those connections feel real.