What the hell is the point of her being half human? (Pt. 1: Themes and Such)
Starting with evidence is a bad play. You can go through an entire encyclopedia's worth of theory evidence and it won't mean Jack Shit if you can't explain why the theory actually matters. It's like trying to make a table when you don't need a table. Tables are meant to hold things. It doesn't matter how sturdy the legs are, or how ornate the tabletop is- It's not useful if it isn't there to hold anything.
The crown prince of this in action is chess theory- A type of theory that happens when you relegate your entire frontal lobe to pattern recognition and nothing else. What story purpose does it serve? Is there some sort of narrative motif this fills?
The answer is that there wasn't. The only impact chess theory had was creating a 10 month period where people tried to explain how Tenna's name was actually 'Rook'. During all of this there wasn't any real discussion about what the outcome of all this would be. Some vague speculation about Kris being a pawn, maybe; a flimsy, paper-thin justification for what was an idea on shaky ground even before chapters 3 and 4.
Just as bad, if not worse, is mis-identification of the game's themes. here the theory is lackluster not because it doesn't attempt to connect itself to narrative outcomes, but because the narrative outcomes are incongruent with what the story is actually trying to say.
I think Rudy knight works as an example of this. It haphazardly attributes everything about Carols characterization to Rudy- We already have a character for this!
Simultaneously, it strips Rudy's characterization as the only guy who was actually able to move forward from the past and try to be there for his remaining friends and family. People are so quick to making Rudy "more important" than what he is that they're outright ignoring what he is- a thematic representation of moving on from grief. The fact that this representation is quite literally dying in front of us is meant to convey that the willingness of those ailed (The Holidays, the Dreemurrs, etc.) to recover from whatever traumatized them is diminishing. Diminishing so much, that a roaring type situation would be preferable to facing reality.
Them motherfuckers want Rudy to be the knight so bad they can't focus on how great of a character he is just being him!
I mention these theories because a lot of people have the notion that Susie being half human is pretty much the same deal; that it wouldn't add to the story or its themes, or that the idea only exists because people think it would be neat. It's a needlessly complicated table that's further cluttering an already cluttered living room.
My goal with this blog is to, at the very least, dispel this notion. This is the prime directive, even above 'convincing' others that the theory is true, whatever that would mean. I'm going to believe what I will and you what you will. Frankly, I don't care whether you believe it or not- I can't 'make' you believe shit. What I can do is get you to understand my reasoning.
This is why I'm starting with themes and not evidence, because themes ALWAYS COME FIRST. Without accounting for themes, your theory is moot. No point in making a table if it doesn't hold anything.
It's a really good question, and the 'technically correct' answer is that it's up to interpretation- different people will get different messages out of it, same as any other piece of art. That's why theories like Rudy knight exist, because certain people had different takeaways from their playthroughs than someone like me did.
It's not inherently wrong to do, but at the end of the day, the direction of the story is not about what themes you took away from it, but the themes that the author is trying to impart on you. So constructing a solid theory has to take into account what Toby Fox believes about his story.
I've thought about this for a while, and the three that come to mind (and are relevant to this specific theory) are Self-Actualization, Liminality, and The Meaning of Freedom.
These are relatively self explanatory (I mean, it's a coming-of-age story). Nonetheless, I'll go through each, explaining what I think Toby wants us to take from it.
I'll also identify Susie's character arc and how it fits with the themes I've identified (The Susie stuff will be in Pt. 2). Think of this post as me setting the environment, and the next one explaining why a table would fit the scene.
One of the very first things the game tells you:
No one can choose
who they are
in this world.
Deltarune is a game that, from second one, is adamant about the roles it forces on people, whether it's explicitly spelled in the glass of the prophecy, or implied in the glass Noelle looks at herself through.
It's a game that, especially for chapter 5, puts an emphasis on the physical characteristics of its inhabitants, outright stating:
But what defines you is...
* ... well, it's your body, isn't it?
It's a game that's chock-full of characters stuck in holding patterns, putting on performances of who they're 'meant to be' rather than who they are. So much dialogue from every prominent character just absolutely reeks of inauthenticity. It's a town full of cowards, too scared to say something incongruent with how others perceive them. It reminds me of a poem I read doing research for this.
I am
I am not what I think I am
I am not what you think I am
I am what I think you think I am
This engagement with the characters' identities through the perception of others is very much intentional.
When the second voice (likely an antagonist, possibly the knight?) says "No one can choose who they are in this world," It's not a statement of fact, It's a BET. It's a belief that these people in this world will consign themselves to their parts till the credits roll. And of COURSE they would say that, because they're the villain! That's the role they've consigned themselves to, probably due to similar outside forces conditioning them to think that!
So what's the counter to this? What's the counter the bleak outlook that Deltarune has over identity? The answer's not "be yourself," because that's what all the characters think they're doing and they're all WRONG! No, in order to grow as people they need to LEARN WHO THEY ARE AS PEOPLE!
They need to intentionally choose to live in ways that authentically express their strengths and capabilities. That is what being Self-Actualized is! This is the only way that the characters of Deltarune can save themselves; by redefining themselves in their own image.
Growing up is goddamn weird.
There's something very isolating about being a teenager; You're old enough to understand the functions of society on a conceptual level, but not old enough to carry them out. You want to engage in social behavior and discussion in the way adults do, but your lack of real-world experience messes with your discussion priorities, resulting in many a messy relationship. Even your body is in a liminal state, changing into god knows what, often conflicting with what you consider to be an ideal form.
Eventually, though, it ends and you come out the other side different. It's uncomfortable- but temporary.
This marks most liminal experiences- periods marked by the affected subject's structural normalcy being suspended or dissolved. This experience can be a relatively short moment on a personal level (like a marriage or sudden death in the family) to a society-wide event, like a war or natural disaster.
Liminal moments are essentially a requirement for any story being told (A character arc can't happen in a state of homeostasis), but whereas most stories design these periods to be implicit, Deltarune emphasizes their liminality.
When a dark world is opened, for instance, there's no pretense about its nature. It is an unbalanced state of intensity that, according to ralsei himself, is not really meant to even exist! They are an unnatural, unstable presence meant to challenge the hero's perceptions of themselves and others, and just like that- they're gone. It's uncomfortable, and temporary. And you come out the other side different.
Or maybe... you come out the other side knowing yourself better?
Liminality and Self-Actualization go hand-in-hand. Without liminality, there is no need to question who you are and how you perform yourself to others. When you're not challenged by a period of uncertainty, you can maintain your role as the classroom bully or the golden girl or the cage or prince.
That's why the prophecy works so well as an antagonizing force in Deltarune; it is by design anti-liminal! it is meant to consign, to pressure and goad its actors into their concrete parts. It's easy. It does not take characters out of their homeostasis. There is no room to question or fight it because its outcome is inevitable.
And yet, look what Gerson encourages us to do:
* Well now, a fairytale is a pretty little thing.
* Ain't it nice to believe a glimmer here and there...?
* I jus' think, those words shine a bit too bright.
* A path so blue, it's all you can see.
* So I say... why don't we go between the lines?
* It's darker there... Geheh... geheheh!
The game tells us to actively seek out liminality when we can. That these challenging, uncomfortable, uncertain moments are VITAL for our growth. And what with speculation about the roaring ('Neverending night', 'Endless night', "I want tomorrow to be the same as yesterday," etc.) It wouldn't be a stretch to say that our antagonists want these liminal moments to be snuffed out- so that everything stays the same, metaphorically and literally frozen.
Liminality comes to a head with the forgotten man sections. A fleeting character stuck between reality and unreality, one we have to actively search for between the bounds of rooms. A character that Kris has to confront themselves, alone. Even the music sounds unstable and unresolved. It's uncomfortable, and it's temporary.
Discussing freedom is a little different than the previous two themes because it's wayyyyy more tied to the meta elements of the game as a whole, including our understanding of what our 'freedom' is in a video game. We'll put that on the back burner for a sec and just discuss what freedom means to the characters.
If you've been paying attention, this shouldn't be a difficult theme to dissect. The characters in Deltarune aren't free because they've set themselves in roles they need to break from, and they can't break from those roles until they're challenged to. In short: Liminality -> Self-Actualization -> freedom.
I believe that the secret bosses elucidate this flow, Whether through a meta-contextual sense (The player having a difficulty spike) or a character sense (Kris having to retread uncomfortable memories/Susie putting herself through a training arc). During the fight (except for pink), you get the phrase "The air crackles with freedom," a very on-the-nose relation.
And the item you consistently get from each is the shadow crystal;
* When a strong attachment is formed... when a dream is gripped tightly... and then broken off. These... are the shards that remain.
A broken dream is caused by constraint, external or internal. A lack of freedom that can stay with its progenitor long after the fact, building their resentment and delusion. By taking these crystals from their owners, we allow them to move forward, now free to pursue other avenues of existence.
So the meaning of freedom in deltarune, really, is a severance from the constraints of one's imagined self. It means "tearing off the mask beneath your face."
There's so much more to explore here, and many different ways that these themes interconnect with one another, but I've been mulling on this for a day and a half and would like to move on. Keep in mind that these aren't the only themes present in Deltarune, They're just the ones most relevant to my goal with this blog.
Just keep in mind these themes and their flow as I'm outlining Susie's connections between them in the next part. They relate to her being mixed, I swear!
Also, I could just be completely wrong! I don't know what Toby is intending with the themes of the game, I can only speculate. Again, my goal with this blog isn't to say definitively that the table is real, it's to justify the table's existence.
Till next time, happy trails. Don't get stuck in the backrooms. And if you do, at least say you sought it out.
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