#papyrys

This post is going to touch on two things. 1: Determination, and 2: Soul traits. What I'm actually going to talk about, though, are the boss battles in Undertale.

This is something I've been thinking about on and off for a while, so...

Flowey, Sans, Undyne, Asgore, Toriel and Papyrus all have Determination inside them, more than the average monster. Alphys and Mettaton do not; And I am going to lay out some proof.

Notice how in all of the forementioned battles, you have an option to skip the beginning mono-/dialogues. Toriel, Asgore and Undyne will simply skip over whatever they've said before and fight you. Sans will taunt you for ten or so turns before he falls into a pattern.

All those people (excluding Sans, whom I'll comment on in a moment) are likely skipping their monologue because they are getting a sense of deja vu. They are also all monsters who've clearly been hinted at or outright said to having determination. Asgore and Toriel's souls persist after their bodies turn to dust. Undyne melts when she dies.

Then there's Papyrus. Papyrus will show signs of experiencing deja vu outside his battle, but he never actually kills you. This serves to divert our attention from whatever his actual reaction would be.

As for Sans, yes, I'm sure he also experiences many deja vus throughout the game, as evidenced by his changing lines. But why he's able to alter his monologue so much during the genocide run is because he has access to something that allows him to detect changes in spacetime. (Side note: I think he keeps whatever that is in his right pocket. *shrug*) He knows he's probably repeating himself if he says whatever first comes to mind, so he makes a specific snide at each number of loads you've had to go through.

This is very different from Flowey, who will remember exactly what he has said and alters his own lines "naturally."

But then, what about the skippable dialogue in the Undying battle and the Mettaton battle? Well... Those are both because of the player's memory and actions. We know on our second try that Mettaton has a switch on his back, so we tell him there's a mirror behind him. We know that Monster Kid is going to uselessly ramble for a tad, so we cut him off by telling there's something behind him.

Then I want to touch on the second part of the boss battles. The different colors our soul takes on each time.

A certain lot of the bosses are able to change our soul's color and behaviour. Papyrus ja Sans (integrity), Undyne (kindness), Alphys (justice) and Muffet (perserverance). I've lined them up with the respective meanings of the colors, because it's very relevant here.

These soul colors, while inflicted by the monsters, are actually a result of something within our own soul. (Not necessarily/likely Determination.) Though many people go the simple route and associate these traits and colors with their respective monsters' souls, that doesn't make much sense, does it? I mean, you can kind of sort of explain how each trait may be related to them, but...

Then you think about them in the context of the battles and realize that they're all about you and your bond to each monster.

Undyne makes your soul green for kindness. What do you need to do in order to "defeat" Undyne and become friends with her? Never fight her, only run away and then pour water on her when she faints from the heat. That's an act of kindness. Alphys and Mettaton? Yellow for justice. You have to show them the error in their judgement and actions in order to befriend them. Muffet? Purple, perserverance. You have to perservere until she gets a note that you've actually been helpful to her. Sans and Papyrus, blue for integrity? Well... All they ever want from you is for you to do better, isn't it?

Not to mention how smoothly the soul colors can be applied with all their uses, too. Integrity will weight you down sometimes, as you're pulled from an easy path by your morals. Kindness can sometimes make you an easy target. Perservering through a situation often means you have to stick to certain lanes. Delivering justice means you're the one holding the gun.

Determination means you will bend the situation to your will. (Though Determination I still don't find an actual, natural soul trait.)

This also gives an interesting view on Sans' glowing left eye during the fight. It also relates to Asgore's glowing eyes.

Sans' eye glows yellow and light blue, for justice and patience respectively. Everyone knows this much. But why they are that color is because that's what he knows he needs in order to defeat "the human." He needs to be patient and keep fighting until you give in, and he needs to show you the error of your ways, like you've done with Mettaton and Alphys. If he were to battle with different intentions, I think the color of his eye would be different, too.

Asgore's eyes are further proof of this. They glow briefly orange and light blue for bravery and patience, which he needs for his attacks, yes; But he also needs to be brave to bring himself to kill the human. And he seems to know you're able to reset time, as proven when you tell him that "he's killed you x times before," and he nods in acceptance of the fact. So he also needs patience until you give in and he can collect your soul.