Greetings. i'm Syd of @lyril, and this is my UT/DR blog.
currently working on sorting through merchandise posts, finishing up my large backlog, and compiling a masterpost of resources. chapter 5 spoilers will not be posted at this time. anything i post on this blog is free to use, but it's good to keep tabs on your resources.
my favorite characters are Chara, Noelle, and Spamton!
more notes below β¬οΈ
πΌ LAST UPDATED: 07/16/2026
while there's plenty of UT/DR blogs out there documenting bits and pieces as it is, i wanted to have a more organized place just for me. i'm very late to the undertale blogger game, and this is to be entirely self-interested and focused on things that catch my eye as well as stuff i have put together already. i have a bit of a backlog to get through first, as you can see...
things i may put on this blog:
β official art or art from contributors of the game, merchandise, and sprites/backgrounds
β posts from the UT/DR team
β analysis about the games and its characters, as well as posts about theories, reads, and other weavings, and generally: anything that contributes to understanding of the game!
β other people's own references or resources, mostly official but occasionally of fan content
β headcanons/concepts that are Just That Good
β my own findings, compilations of screenshot edits/stitching, and whatever else it is that i keep track of
everything else, such as fan art outside of contributors, sillyposting, any loose thoughts, or general talk about the game will go on my main (aside from the stuff i'd put on either blog, anyway) since that's mostly what's already been on there
as such, posts will be reblogged here not necessarily because i think they are 100% correct, but because of it being something to chew on or that i otherwise want to keep on hand, for whatever reason. i may also reblog from people whose takes i disagree with in other areas β confined to videos game discourse, of course β and i tag a selection of common users eith their username, if you wish to block it as a tag. this isn't a social experience, i'm just sifting through everything for The Good StuffTM.
the official purpose of this blog is... Storage. a stash, if you will...
when i start up posts of my own, feel free to point out anything out that i've missed, or to request things for me to gather. posts may be edited later as i gain more assets to work with.
i use screenshots taken from @/afewbitsandpieces's UTDR google drive projects, crop and stitch them together in ibisPaint according to certain dimensions, and clear obscuring details. i value consistency, and we do things nice and neat here, so anything less in quality will be replaced... uh, eventually.
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actually i want to amend my testimony, I don't quite think "chara is you". that would require them to not be their own person, to take on your qualities and personality and attributes something that's plainly untrue.
YOU are chara. that's the difference. this way you get the meta element that involves you directly with the story (especially when you name them after yourself, which you're implicitly meant to do, as that constitutes the main plot twist in the game) while also allowing chara to be their own character with their own personality, relationships, preferences and backstory. does that make sense?
What's your interpretaion of Chara? I mean the one that we see at the end of the genocide run. Because I've seen some people now say that the one we see at the end of that route might be an entirely different species (as an actual demon) and I kind of want to hear your opinion on that
oh they're just human, but most importantly I'm of the very strong opinion that, fandom aside, you can't fully separate yourself from chara. they're the watsonian quantification of our role and influence within the game. undertale as a metanarrative lives in this precarious balance between worldbuilding that stands on its own, and its nature as a videogame, thus it being created to Be Played By Us. it makes some aspects of its world kinda wobbly. take the LOVE/EXP mechanic, for example. there's not really a reason why LV 20 should be the maximum LV you can reach, after all, there's still plenty more people we haven't killed. that is to say, no reason other than establishing when the genocide run is fully locked in. and the moment you try to apply that mechanic objectively to the rest of its world and its characters, it begins to flake apart. but i think chara is the most effective use of this kind of metanarrative in undertale.
there's this really weird moment at the end of the mother games where the game breaks the 4th wall and calls to the player directly. the games gather OUR name (and i mean our ours, the person playing the game at the moment) in... well, very silly ways. like a friend of one of the main characters calling for help on his school research about player names. it's not so much integrated into the plot, as a way to create a touching moment of connection directly between player and player characters (we pray for the safety of ness and his friends. lucas thanks us and says he's so happy to meet us in the endgame) that is not extended anywhere else in the game.
i didn't have the vocabulary for it before playing these games myself, but now i'm pretty much convinced that the fallen human/"chara" in UNDERTALE was a direct response to those moments in earthbound and mother 3. I don't need to recount those moments in the game where it becomes obvious that the intended way to name the fallen human is giving them your own name or nickname, but even if you don't do that, by the end of the game, you're meant to think of frisk as "chara" and "chara" as "your character". that's where the main plot twist of the story jumps off from.
and well... that IS what they are. "your character". the true character, in fact. so instead of the game breaking the 4th wall and calling to YOU, player, across the screen in a way that is alien and separate from the story, the game calls to YOU, THROUGH chara. through your character. remaining within the confines of its story and characters.
chara isn't us, WE are chara, and chara is the spirit of the first fallen human who died and was reawakened when frisk fell in the underground. when we play the game, we play AS "chara" controlling/guiding frisk through the underground (not gonna get into the chara/frisk dynamic here, that's a WHOLE 'nother can of worms).
however, there is an exception. because you see, although chara is meant to represent our actions ingame, we... aren't chara after all. we are real people playing a videogame. and because undertale is such a heavily meta game, it does, indeed, go there. acknowledging us as a separate entity, outside of this world, and more powerful than anything it has ever seen, and the way the game does that is through the genocide run.
it's not a coincidence that LOVEing up as a mechanic results in you "distancing yourself", as per sans' speech pre-judgement. if chara represents us in-game, then genocide is nothing but us pushing that link connecting us to its breaking point. because chara is who we are in the game, killing people is making THEM stronger (we can't get stronger ourselves, we're not fictional characters), but because EXP and LV make you distance from yourself, we are also making them independent. severing them from us and our will. it's kind of a negative parallel to our journey in pacifist, where chara is established as "not frisk" once and for all and THEY get to go on living their own life. hopefully. sorta.
so... yeah! chara is our true character in undertale and, aside from the genocide run, which tears the two of us apart, we have almost no reason to treat them as separate. and yes, that includes the violent acts. i am a narrachara/non-evil plotting mastermind chara believer through and true, but posing them as some hapless victim in our hands is... I'm sorry I can't take it seriously. it was a necessary overcorrection with the way they used to be treated by fanon back in the day, but it is an overcorrection nonetheless. YES, they might kill people. yes they might do that to their former family/friends, for very much the same reason asriel, as flowey, did. they were not the most adjusted person to begin with, but more importantly than that, the SOUL we see in undertale isn't theirs, it's FRISK'S. flowey says as much. when we defeat his omega form, the 6 SOULs disappear. when asriel died, the monsters started at 0 human SOULs, not 1 (ie: chara). chara is as soulless as asriel was when he was rein-cornaceaeted (lol) as flowey, with their ability to feel love and compassion stunted.
and with the added context of the SAVE powers removing consequences to their actions, and the repetitive nature of the game becoming tiring, well... we know what THAT did to flowey, right?
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i love that toriel and asgore (and asriel) are basically just Mimigas Only Bigger and yet still through execution their designs are instantly recognizable as their own thing. it goes to show how blatantly you can wear your inspiration on your sleeve and still create something that stands on its own
toby really hammered this point home all throughout the 10th anniversary stream by demonstrating how much of undertale's basic premise is just brandish with a meta twist and a healthy glug of exploring the cycle of violence and the trauma tragedy can inflict on an entire society for generations. the name "undertale" is just a synonym for "cave story." the earthbound references speak for themselves. toby will gladly point out at every opportunity where a gameplay element or story element in undertale or deltarune is a deliberate riff on something from an older video game. it's pointed out again and again throughout deltarune, especially in chapter 4, that stories aren't just told, they're retold. that is toby fox's statement as an artist. don't be afraid of being "unoriginal" because if you truly have anything of value to say, you can tell a story that's been around for five thousand years and make it feel like nothing the world has ever seen before
Leitmotif: A recurrent theme, associated with a particular person, idea, or situation.
Undertaleβs music has always been fascinating to me, especially when I realized how many times certain melodies were reused throughout the game. So I did some research and pieced together this little map! Think of one song in the game and see where it branches out to! A ? means that the relationship is a bit of a stretch; I understand if you donβt hear it. Songs not listed stand alone and are not similar to other songsβ¦ but if you think thereβs a connection I missed, let me know about it!
Sources:
Playlist used
Various examples of continuities
Your Best Friend andΒ βBut nobody cameβ
Anticipation andΒ βIn my wayβ
Undertale and The Choice
SAVE the World and Final Power
Chronicling the development of Toby Fox's narrative universe
This is the third part in a series meant to be a relatively comprehensive, chronological list of important events in the development of Undertale and Deltarune. Links to the other parts in the series can be found below.
2005 - 2015
2016 - 2021
2022 - 2025
2026 ONWARDS
All posts in chronological order
--------------------------------------
2022
During development of Chapter 3, Toby comes up with the Sword Route, which had not initially been part of the chapter's concept. [*]
On February 10, Toby posts "random" concept art for Chapter 4. [*]
On May 17, Toby posts more concept art he made for Chapters 3 and 4, and states that development is going well, with more people being brought on board. [*]
On July 9, Toby tweets: "The way stories differ from life is the "ending." In real life, things just happen... there may be no exciting climax, no resolution, no answers. ... I'm helping someone move out and I poured 8 bottles of expired coke into the toilet, but when I flushed it nothing cool happened." [*]
On September 15, Undertale's seventh anniversary, Toby posts a status update for Deltarune. Toby expresses his happiness at feeling like Deltarune really came into its own with Chapter 2. Toby says that development has been tricky due to certain aspects of the next chapters that took some time to set up, but he expects things to go more smoothly with them out of the way. He says that while the intention initially was to work on 3, 4 and 5 simultaneously, they've mostly been working on 3 and 4. He then posts many screenshots and tracks from the upcoming two chapters. At the end, the Spamton Sweepstakes are announced, beginning on September 17. [*]
On September 17, the Spamton Sweepstakes are launched, a 24 hour Spamton-themed sweepstakes charity event, alongside a massive ARG, with the Sweepstakes site containing various hyperlinks to other hidden webpages with teases for the upcoming Chapters, along with new original writing and lore, for instance in the form of a fictional blog run by Noelle Holiday. [*]
On October 11, Toby Fox meets Yoko Shimomura, composer of LIVE A LIVE - one of Toby's favorite games - for an interview. Notably, in this interview, Toby mentions that a certain character from LIVE A LIVE, and the idea that a seemingly heroic protagonist could do something surprising and contrary to expectations, was a big influence on not just Undertale but especially Kris in Deltarune. [*]
On November 1, Toby releases the song Skies Forever Blue, along with a music video, as part of a collaboration between himself, Itoki Hana and Omocat. While not directly related to Deltarune (outside of a sound effect reused in Chapter 3), the song shares a lot of thematic DNA with Toby's video games. [*]
On November 20, Toby begins the UNDERTALE/DELTARUNE MAILING LIST, which would become the primary source of news about Undertale and Deltarune going forward. [*]
The Winter 2022 update, the first UT/DR Newsletter, is released. Toby says that since the Sweepstakes, Chapter 3 development has continued as normal, and obliquely teases: "You see, Chapter 3 was going to have 4 somethings and 3 (6?) other somethings. But I've reduced the 4 somethings to 3.5 and refactored how the 3rd other something to be shorter and less something-like, while still maintaining the parenthetical (something, something)β¦ or something. Anyway, I'm swearing off somethings now!" [*]
Toby is likely struggling with how to structure the Boards, minigames and Sword Route at this point. A third Board set in TVtropolis was planned and fully programmed before being scrapped, as was a full cowboy minigame. [*]
On December 26, Toby posts sketches he made of Deltarune characters based on "animated classics", along with an unused sprite of Noelle he forgot to include in the Winter newsletter. [*]
2023
On April 1, the Spring 2023 Newsletter is released. News about Deltarune is scarce, with Toby saying that the focus is still on finishing Chapter 3, and that he hopes the translation process can begin very soon. Toby also announces an extremely rare interview with Kikiyama, creator of Yume Nikki, a major inspiration for young Toby, and he also puts out another song in collaboration with Itoki Hana, The Greatest Living Show, along with a music video animated by Bani-chan. [*] In a comment on the video, he posts his original English lyrics. [*] He also includes exclusive information for higher tier subscribers of the Newsletter, sharing an anecdote about console testing, and also stating that the cowboy segment of Chapter 3 was in danger of being cut, but that "that's how Cowboy Shows go". This caused a lot of speculation, leading to the birth of the "Woody Theory". [*]
On March 23, issue #1788 of Famitsu is released with an article by Toby focusing on his experience with RPGMaker as a kid. In it, he describes how those experiences have influenced his design philosophy, discusses a comedic-yet-tragic character named Roth who may have inspired Sans, and reveals that the name "Ralsei" comes from the protagonist of a game his older brother once tried to make, named "Ralse". [*]
On June 30, the Summer 2023 Newsletter is released. Toby gives an update on Deltarune, stating that the focus is still on finishing Chapter 3. He says that the TV World section of the chapter, which he considers to be the Card Castle or Queen's Mansion equivalent, is finally being made. He says that Chapter 3 will be a strange chapter, with a focus on gameplay gimmicks and frivolities, and he shamelessly lies about Chapter 3 being fairly light on story. Toby says that he's a little self-conscious about the chapter, but that Chapter 4 will be much more standard. Toby also posts an unused cutscene he made for Undertale where Sans confronts speedrunners, an unused song he made for a rhythm game, and an interview with Papyrus using fan-submitted questions. [*]
On September 15, Undertale's eighth anniversary, the Autumn 2023 Newsletter is released. Toby provides an update on Deltarune, saying that the Chapter is now playable from beginning to end, and that they've been reshuffling and redesigning some parts. Toby releases the song "Sneaking", since the section it was supposed to play in was cut from the game, but it would later be reused in Chapter 5 and the leitmotif it introduced repurposed for the Mikes. An Undertale merch drop is also announced, along with a collaboration between Toby and ZUN, developer of Touhou. [*]
On October 31, the Halloween 2023 Newsletter is released. Toby informs fans that Deltarune Chapter 3 is pretty much content complete, and shared an anecdote of a friend playing the chapter, noting that some bullet patterns were possibly too difficult; feedback which Toby proceeded to disregard. He says that being honest, Chapter 3 took a lot of trial and error to make, but he's confident that development of Chapter 4 will go more smoothly. He also announces that the paid release will now only include Chapters 3 and 4 to reduce the wait. Also included is an interview with the development team of Chapter 2. [*]
2024
On February 14, Valentine's Day, the Winter 2024 Newsletter is released. Toby says that Chapter 3 is being localized, and Chapter 4 is now the main focus, with some minor work being done on Chapter 5. He announces that an internal deadline has been set, but that he can't share anything from Chapter 4 except "this cup" and includes a gif of a Cuptain. Also included is an interview with Gigi D.G., concept artist for Undertale and Deltarune, where some art for Chapters 2 and 3 are shown off. As part of the newsletter, a gimmick is included where each recipient gets a randomized valentine's letter from an Undertale/Deltarune character, with an extremely rare chance to get a letter from the Forgotten Man, providing the first instance of dialogue from him and fueling feverish speculation about the identity of the recipient which wouldn't be resolved until the release of Chapter 3 next year. [*]
At some point this year, Toby decides to scrap an earlier idea he had for Chapter 4, which is to have the Dark Sanctuary be a giant nonlinear interconnected dungeon, like in Zelda. This was scrapped because Toby felt it damaged the narrative moments with Gerson. [*]
On May 16, the Spring 2024 Newsletter is released. Toby announces that development of Chapter 4 is going great and that more people have been hired, and gives a somewhat detailed account of what's left to do. Another QnA with Papyrus is also included. [*]
On July 30, the Summer 2024 Newsletter is released. Toby says that Chapter 4 is essentially content complete minus some polish, but that the release is still a ways away because of localization, bugtesting, and porting. He includes a section detailing exactly what is finished and how much is left. [*]
On September 1, the development team meets the internal deadline to have the main content of Chapters 3 and 4 fully finished.
On September 15, Undertale's 9th anniversary, the Autumn 2024 Newsletter is released. Included is another interview with Papyrus and Sans, a merch drop announcement, and a status update on the next chapters of Deltarune. Chapter 3's localization is in the checking phase, and a preliminary pass of Chapter 4 is being worked on. Bugtesting will be up next, and in September the development team switched over to Chapter 5 as the main focus. Also included in this newsletter is a section on Chapter 2's development with loads of concept art and unused music shown off, as well as an extra letter, written by Asriel about Chara. [*]
On October 21, Toby starts "roast chicken posting" on Bluesky. [*]
On October 31, Toby tweets that Chapters 3 and 4 are 100% coming out in 2025. [*]
On October 31, Toby posts on Bluesky a video of the Annoying Dog roasted chicken dancing with pumpkins, using sprites and music from the Jackenstein fight in Chapter 4. [*]
On November 15, Toby posts Annoying Dog roast chicken sketches which feature, among other things, Everyman from Undertale and Deltarune. [*]
On November 25, Toby announces public playtesting for the new game_change function which the GameMaker team had to help them with, allowing each Chapter of Deltarune to be its own unique game project. [*]
On December 19, the Winter 2024 Newsletter is released. Chapter 3 is being bugtested, and Chapter 4 is being translated. He shows small glimpses of the upcoming chapters, including 5, which remains the main focus of development. Toby says that development is going well. A new merch drop is announced, including a Seam plush, revealing their full design, and the Important Person's Shirt, which draws a parallel between Chara and Kris. At the bottom is another letter, this time from Noelle, reminiscing on the holidays and her sister Dess. [*]
2025
On January 1, Toby posts a tweet where Jockington reminds Deltarune fans that the game will be released this year. [*]
On January 6, Jockington announces that Chapter 4 is being bugtested. [*]
At some point early this year (or perhaps late 2024), Nintendo partners with Toby to have Deltarune be a launch title for Nintendo Switch 2. Toby decides to make a special secret area to try to capitalize on this, spawning the Mike room. It's conceptualized (in part at least) around the unique mouse control scheme of NS2, while relying mostly on microphone features for the other consoles. [*]
On February 3, Toby announces that translation and testing of Chapter 4 is winding down and that console testing for all chapters starts tomorrow. [*]
On February 9, Toby posts about showing his family and friends a minigame he's been working on for Deltarune (later revealed to be part of the Mike room), which is described as "a cry for help". [*]
The same day, Toby announces that a friend who's played Chapter 3 said that they miss Tenna, fueling speculation. [*]
On February 18, Toby announces that in addition to all the polishing work, Pluey still needs to be implemented. [*]
The next day, Pluey is implemented. [*]
On March 4, Toby says that it feels like they're "slurping the last drops of soda from between the ice cubes now". [*]
On April 2, during the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, a trailer for the paid release of Deltarune is shown, featuring new footage from the upcoming chapters and announcing the release day to be June 5th, the Nintendo Switch 2 launch date. [*]
The same day, the Steam page is updated, showcasing new screenshots from Chapter 4 of battles against Gueis and the first Jockington prophecy room. Fangamer puts out a press release with a number of screenshots from the two chapters, including one where a Tenna statue is included in a border, giving fans the first ever glimpse of Tenna's design, which had up to that point been a subject of intense speculation. [*]
Also the same day, an emergency newsletter drops, announcing the price of the game to be $24.99, and expounding a little bit about version differences, assuring potential buyers that everyone will get access to Pluey. [*]
On May 9, a special Spring 2025 Newsletter is released, giving more detailed info on the release date, announcing and showcasing a glimpse of the (Sony mandated) trophies on Playstation 5 (and hinting at the special challenge of not completing any trophy). [*]
That same day, the Spamton Sweepstakes page is updated, adding the Silence ending and 14 new pages, mostly teasing Chapter 4.
On May 15, Undertale/Deltarune socials post a teaser video of the cliffs area in Chapter 3. [*]
On May 20, UTDR socials post a clip of a battle against Gueis, muting the clip to avoid spoiling the reveal of From Now On. [*]
On May 22, UTDR socials post a Shadowguy-themed shitpost as a teaser. [*]
On May 30, UTDR socials posted one of the Board quizzes, technically giving fans the first ever instance of Tenna dialogue. [*]
On the same day, an interview with Toby Fox dropped where he formally announces that no music written for Homestuck will appear in Deltarune, deconfirming the long-running popular fan theory that Penumbra Phantasm would be heard in Deltarune. [*]
On June 3, a special release day newsletter is released, where Toby thanks fans for waiting and advises people on how bugs and patches will be handled, as well as how to avoid spoilers. [*]
On the same day, the names of the entire tracklist of Chapters 3 and 4 leak.
On June 4, Gaster takes over socials again. Chapters 3 and 4 of Deltarune are released. [*]
In the credits of Chapter 4, Chapter 5 is announced to release in 2026.
On June 17, Toby posts about having feared before release that Tenna would be viewed as a budget Spamton, but that he's glad the character got such a positive reception. [*]
On July 26, a 24-hour event takes place where fans are allowed to submit their own 100-word message detailing a "memory" about Undertale, along with a custom dialogue portrait, to commemorate the anniversary of Undertale. [*]
On September 15, Undertale's 10th anniversary, the Autumn 2025 Newsletter is released. The 10th Anniversary Livestream is announced, and Toby shows off a scene from the Mike room in Chapter 5, though he also states that he is otherwise very reticent about sharing anything from Chapter 5, saying that he prefers to keep this one surprising. Toby gives an update on Chapter 5, saying that the early parts are fully done but the latter half remains to be worked on. The "direction" of the boss battles have been decided, and a number of attacks finished. Toby says that Chapter 5 was not without its hurdles, but that he thinks the most obvious ones are past. He doubts that Chapter 5 will be released in the first half of 2026. [*]
On September 16, Toby asks fans what the name for the fallen human should be in the 10th Anniversary Stream. [*]
"Gaster" wins the popular vote, but Toby elects to ignore this and on September 20 lies about "Togore" (a meme at the time) having been the most popular option by a massive margin, with "Chara" coming in second. He adds at the end, though, that names with "special effects" dont work in this system and so could not be counted as candidates. [*]
On September 20 and 21, the Undertale 10th Anniversary stream takes place, with many echo flower "Memory" fan messages shown off, a lot of new stream-unique content added to the game, and hours worth of commentary by Toby Fox.
On October 16, Toby posts Chapter 5 concept art of Susie checking Kris's hair for mites and fleas. [*]
On October 28, Toby shares an anecdote about a friend playing an unfinished version of Chapter 5. [*]
On November 4, Toby shares another anecdote from another friend, who asked: "What's the opposite of 'I miss Tenna'?". Toby clarified that this was a joke and that they liked the game. [*]
On December 19, the Winter 2025 Newsletter is released. At the very start, Toby enigmatically references a cut prophecy panel from Chapter 4 about "coldwater". He announces that the localization process has begun for Chapter 5, and that the chapter is more or less content complete, minus polish. He releases Chapter 5's shop theme, the only one he feels doesn't spoil the game, along with an additional Mike room scene featuring Tenna which causes quite a stir in the fandom. In addition to this, a lengthy retrospective on the development of Chapters 3 and 4 is included. [*]
Later that same day, the /thankyou/ page, introduced in the second round of the Sweepstakes, and which had featured an ARG where players could input their email to get special responses, was opened for inputs again after previous recipients got another email which only said "Another chance". Over the next day, previous recipients got new emails responding to new inputs, all of which sought to answer the question "How long did it take her to smile?", referencing the Chapter 4 Weird Route. Below is the response I got.
Continued in the next part, focused on 2026 onwards, where the rest of Deltarune's chapters were developed.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
β Live Streamingβ Interactive Chatβ Private Showsβ HD Qualityβ Free Actions
Free to watch β’ No registration required β’ HD streaming
Chronicling the development of Toby Fox's narrative universe
This is the second part in a series which is meant to serve as a relatively comprehensive, chronological list of important events in the development of Undertale and Deltarune. Links to the other parts in the series can be found below.
2005 - 2015
2016 - 2021
2022 - 2025
2026 ONWARDS
All posts in chronological order
--------------------------------------
2016
On January 20, Undertale was updated to version 1.001. Among many general changes, Clam Girl's dialogue was updated to emphasize that while Suzy cannot be met today, she may be the reason why the human is here in the first place. Also added was a new interaction in Sans's workshop where after meeting Clam Girl, a poorly drawn picture can be found with three smiling people and the words "don't forget." written. The "grandpasemi" sound file was also added back to the game under the name "grandpatemi" and plays in an easter egg where you deny Temmie some Temmie Flakes. Fun Values were also fixed, allowing Fun Events to be encountered during unmodified gameplay. abc_1_2_3, a tts audio file initially encouraging dataminers not to spoil the game, was replaced by the same tts laughing glitchily, in a manner reminiscent of Gaster's soundfont in ENTRY NUMBER SEVENTEEN. Lastly, the so-called "demon texts" in the files were changed and received additions, with the first appearance of the infamous "humble servant" message, (much) later referenced in Deltarune Chapter 3. [*] [**]
Toby begins work on the first chapter of Deltarune. Initially, Toby plans the game to be an action RPG like Secret of Mana, but decides against this to preserve the pacifist system of Undertale. Toby also briefly considers at some unknown time having every character be a human in the Light World and only transform into monsters in the Dark World, but also decides against this to retain continuity with Undertale. Seeking other ways to establish sharp contrast between the Light and Dark World, Toby also considers having the Light World visuals drab whereas the Dark World visuals are not only colorful but get a graphical update, with a Chrono Trigger esque style, but also ultimately decides against this to keep the spritework and designs closer to Toby's skill level as an artist. Lancer is also initially planned (perhaps earlier, before Undertale) to be a Porky-like antagonist who you never really get to befriend. [*]
Toby considers giving "a character" (almost certainly Ralsei) a fire spell, but considers against it for Chapter 1. [*]
Toby comes up with the idea of removing Susie's ponytail and having Ralsei be in shadow for the first chapter likely sometime this year, but possibly also next year, as Toby would go on to say shortly after the release of Chapter 1 in 2018 that these were relatively recent ideas. [*]
Throughout this year, Toby hashes out the full plot of Deltarune. Having already decided on a card and board game theme for Chapter 1, he moves on to conceptualizing the main structuring ideas of the rest of the chapters.
He decides on a cybernetics and internet theme for Chapter 2. He also decides on having the secret boss of the chapter be a "real" fight against Mettaton NEO, or at least his body, and composes a "real" version of Power of NEO to this end, though he notes that he unfortunately never finished a version of the song he was fully satisfied with. [*]
Already having composed TV WORLD from Mettaton's theme last year, Chapter 3 becomes the television chapter and is conceived as a light-hearted break from the regular formula, with a wacky Mario Party board set up. Ghost Trick was still fresh on his mind, with its use of 3D being a standout, so he wanted a Mettaton-like TV character with a similar appeal, also taking inspiration from Mr. TV Dinnah from Little King's Story. [*]
A revived Gerson is conceptualized by this point, with a piano sketch for Hammer of Justice composed very early on in the year. [*]
At some point this year, Toby composes Checker Dance for Chapter 1.
At some point this year, Toby composes Chaos King for Chapter 1.
At some point this year, Toby composes Your Power for Chapter 1. [*]
In July, deltarune.com is archived on the Wayback Machine, with him.png updated to now display the text "THREE HEROES APPEARED AT WORLD'S EDGE", once again in all-caps Wingdings.
In August, deltarune.com is updated again, more subtly this time, with him.png instead displaying "THREE HEROES APPEARED TO BANISH THE ANGEL S HEAVEN". [*] Both of these updates to him.png indicate that the Legend or Prophecy was already conceptualized by July and August of 2016.
On September 13, Toby starts posting unused tracks from Undertale on his Tumblr to commemorate the game's first anniversary in two days. He posts an unused theme for Alphys, early versions of Spear of Justice and Undertale, a Metroid-style special track for beating the game quickly, and the track Dog Hole which would later be used in the 10th Anniversary Stream in 2025. [*] [**] [***] [****] [*****]
On September 14, Toby gets real for a bit and posts a little retrospective on Undertale and its popularity. [*]
On September 14, Toby also strongly implies that there will be no major content updates for Undertale. [*]
On September 15, Undertale's first anniversary, Toby has Undertale characters answer fan-submitted questions on Tumblr. [*]
On October 1, Toby posts about trying to learn 3D, which was later revealed to be part of his conceptualizing the character of Tenna from Chapter 3 of Deltarune. [*]
On October 31, the Undertale Art Book is released.
On December 6, Toby reveals for the first time that Bonetrousle and Heartache were composed in 2012 for a different game than Undertale. [*]
2017
At some point this year, Toby draws Tenna and decides on his name, having been calling him "Mr. TV Guy" up to this point. [*]
At some point before Chapter 1, Toby plans for Queen to be more of a sinister figure - "intimidating and cool" - than she ends up actually being after Toby writes dialogue for her (probably in 2019). Toby composes an intimidating boss track for her. [*] [**]
On July 25, Toby starts uploading funny spliced up edits of Randy Newman's You've Got a Friend In Me from Toy Story on Tumblr. He tags these as #toystory and also tags the first one with "i have no idea why i made this". [*]
In August, Undertale is updated a few times in rapid succession. Shortly after v1.05, v1.05A is pushed despite containing almost no changes to the game at all except the addition of "HE IS" in the previously emptied "demonx" part of the demon texts. A few days later, the game is updated to v.106, which again barely alters the game beyond fixing a few niche bugs, and undoing v1.05A's change to the demon texts. [*]
On August 15, Undertale is released for the Playstation 4 and Vita, introducing dynamic borders and the console exclusive "Dog Shrine" area which is accessed through the sink in Sans and Papyrus's house. The area's purpose is to donate gold to the shrine in order to unlock the majority of the game's trophies, which Sony mandates. [*] Along with this release also debuted Undertale's official Japanese localization.
On July 17, an Undertale Dynamic PS4 Theme is released, with a previously unheard track accompanying, which would end up becoming Before the Story on Deltarune's OST. [*]
On September 15, Undertale's second anniversary, Toby announces that the Alarm Clock has begun development and releases some dialogue for it, providing among other things the first mention of Rudy from Deltarune. [*]
In November, Undertale is updated to v1.08. Instead of demonx being empty, it now displays an ellipsis ("..."). [*]
2018
On May 23, Toby gets to meet one of his idols, the creator of Touhou Project, ZUN. They talk about various things and Toby learns that ZUN has played Undertale.
At some point this year, Toby starts working on TV Land, a composition which could serve as a possible replacement for TV WORLD, being more focused on the leitmotifs he's since come up with for Chapter 3, but he scraps the track after hearing an unenthusiastic response from a friend. [*]
At some point this year, Toby composes Black Knife, the boss theme of the Roaring Knight. [*]
At some point this year, Toby composes Lost Girl from Deltarune. [*]
At some point this year, Toby composes Ferris Wheel. [*]
In July, plush designer Eyes5, Toby's old friend from the Homestuck days, is commissioned by Fangamer to secretly design a Ralsei plush, and is given both the dark and light sprites of him. She doesn't know what the character is called and takes to calling him "What" and later "Ham", the latter being Fangamer's code name for the character. [*]
On August 6, Itoki Hana releases the song "74", written and arranged by Toby Fox, the first of many collaborations between them. [*]
On September 15 (in Japan), Undertale's third anniversary, and then September 18 (worldwide), Undertale was released for the Nintendo Switch. In place of the Dog Shrine, a new exclusive boss fight against Mad Mew Mew was added to the game, utilizing the joy-cons as a special gimmick. Along with this, a new Fun Event was added to the game, where at fun value 81 during the Pacifist epilogue, Clam Girl will transform into a goner and inform the human that the time they will meet Suzy is "fast approaching", before vanishing. [*]
On October 30, Toby announces that something is happening. Shortly after, Gaster takes over the official Undertale Twitter account. [*]
Gaster and Toby tell Undertale fans to return in 24 hours. Something new is being made and they'll need our help with it. [*]
On October 31, Halloween, Gaster announces the creation of Deltarune, and SURVEY_PROGRAM is released to the world. [*]
On November 2, Toby posts a Twitlonger written October 4 where he reflects on the first chapter of Deltarune and what his plans and vision for the game are. He states that Deltarune takes place in a parallel world to Undertale, and that there will only be one ending. He also explains that while he has done some songs and "written the whole story", progress for the rest of the game past Chapter 1 is 0%, and that if he's to have any hope of finishing the game he'll have to assemble a development team. [*]
2019
In February, to coincide with the release of Chapter 1 for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation on the 28th, Toby updates Deltarune.com to have an FAQ, where he clarifies that while Deltarune is a "different world that might even have different rules" compared to Undertale, that doesn't mean there won't be any connections. He reiterates that there's only one ending, and in response to the hypothetical question "Then doesn't that mean nothing I do matters?", he says that "there's something more important than reaching the end". [*]
Toby begins work on a script for the entire plot and mandatory dialogue of Deltarune.
Toby starts properly writing for Queen and ends up deciding on making her a more humorous and silly character, altering the tone of Chapter 2 in the process. [*]
Toby comes up with the character of Spamton, taking from an earlier concept he had for an email character named the "Mad Mailer". He decides to blend Spamton's quest with his previous idea of a real fight against Mettaton NEO, culminating in the fight against Spamton NEO. [*]
At some point this year, Toby composes Berdly for Chapter 2.
At some point this year, Toby composes Giga Size for Chapter 2.
At some point this year, Toby composes Sandy Board for Chapter 3. [*]
In February, Toby gives an interview with Nintendo Life where he discusses Deltarune, talks about his 2011 dream, his 2012 attempts at developing the game, mentions deciding against giving a character a fire spell in Chapter 1, and teases Susie's healing magic subplot in the next chapters. [*]
In March, Toby begins development of Deltarune past the first Chapter in earnest with his dev team, but the vast majority of the initial dev work is spent on investigating engine alternatives to GameMaker. [*]
On April 19, Toby reveals an Annoying Dog design made for Chapter 2 which he decided against using. [*]
On June 12, Toby says that he has 50 songs past Chapter 1 at various stages of completion. [*]
On June 12, Toby says that he is slowly writing and drawing out the bosses, bullets, cutscenes and characters of Deltarune. [*]
On July 6, Toby relays an anecdote of him recently reading out some of Deltarune's main scenes to the devs working on the game with him, and says that it's the most fun he's had in a while. [*]
On July 6, Toby's plan is still to release Chapters 2-7 all at once after the whole game is finished. [*]
On September 4, Sans gets added as a Mii costume in Super Smash Bros Ultimate. [*]
On September 15, Toby teases the Annoying Dog city easter egg in Chapter 2 of Deltarune. [*]
On September 15 (Undertale's anniversary), Toby gives a small progress update on Deltarune, stating that the design of the game and the specifics of what will happen are going really well and that he's confident in the game he has written in his notes, though he alludes to certain aspects facing "hurdles". He says that while he wants the game to be excellent, getting it into peoples' hands as quick as possible is also a priority for him. [*]
On September 15, Toby releases an earlier, slightly sped-up mix of WELCOME TO THE CITY, along with an image of Cyber City, as a teaser for Chapter 2. [*]
On September 15, Toby releases the track Lost Girl along with an image of Noelle wearing her Dark World angel dress as a teaser for Chapter 2. He says it's Noelle's theme, but then corrects himself and says it's the sort of track that plays all throughout the game, regardless of whether she's around. [*]
On September 15, Toby also releases an as yet unused variation of Lost Girl, along with as yet unused Susie dialogue portrait sprites. Toby captions it: Of course, that's not the only version of that song. Lots and lots of things happen. I just hope you can be friends with everyone someday. [*]
On September 15, Toby posts pictures of concept art he drew of Susie, which would be turned into sprites for Chapter 2. [*]
On September 18, Toby posts another one of his #toystory edits on Tumblr, with Randy edited to say "and as the years go by, I will never die". On September 23, he posts the infamous "friend inside me" edit. [*] These would go on to garner a lot of attention around 2023 with speculation about a cowboy-themed boss in Chapter 3, most famously with Spookydood's Woody Theory. While Chapter 3 would eventually come and go without a cowboy boss, it did contain numerous mentions and allusions to a cancelled cowboy show which Tenna states was Asgore's favorite. With Asgore poised to play a prominent role in Chapter 5, the theory was kept alive.
2020
On February 26, Toby tweeted: "If you ever wonder what I'm doing, I'm vibrating rapidly and working on my game. Every year it doesn't come out I shake more. I don't want it to take too long, but after a few more years I can clip into the floor while doing an ollie and earn tons of points, so it's not all bad" [*]
On May 13, Toby tweeted about a Ralsei shirt released by Fangamer depicting Ralsei surrounded by plants and flowers: Ralsei shirt!!! He's always getting mixed up with flowers, isn't he ... (that hasn't happened) [*]
Some time in May, full development of Chapter 2 begins in earnest, using Chapter 1 as a base. [*]
On August 2, Toby tweeted: No matter how long I work on this game, so far the feeling of "I have to make this!" "I have to see this through to the end!" hasn't subsided at all. It might even be getting stronger. It helps things are going well recently. [*]
On September 15 (Undertale's anniversary), Toby gives a major status update on Deltarune, which had also been published in Famitsu some days prior. In it, he shares four screenshots from Chapter 2 and goes into detail on how development of the game has been going. Toby says that months prior, he completed readable outlines for every chapter in the game, including first-pass dialogue for almost all the cutscenes, along with examples of music, and asserts that he largely spent the last 2 years since Chapter 1's release writing, composing, designing and drawing for the game. He says that while certain details remain hazy for him, the general flow of the narrative along with all major events and battles are now clear, and he's happy that he spent so long planning out the game while alternative engines were being investigated, because he thinks what he's come up with in that time will make the final game much better. He also believes that content-wise, Chapter 2 can be completed within the year, but bugtesting, porting and localization will remain. [*]
On September 15, Toby released a winter-themed excerpt of the dialogue he wrote for the as yet unreleased Undertale Alarm Clock app. [*]
For Undertale's 5th Anniversary, an orchestral concert playing the game's soundtrack is held. At the end, some Deltarune tracks are played by Toby on piano. [*]
On October 31, Toby says that Deltarune Chapter 2 is easily one of the silliest things he's made. [*]
On November 24, Toby shows off the giant toilet-shaped toilet in Cyber City. [*]
2021
On January 21, Toby states that Chapter 2's development is going well. [*]
On March 15, the Xbox port of Undertale is essentially shadowdropped. This version of the game includes a "Dog Casino" which Sans runs, in place of the Dog Shrine or Mad Mew Mew fight. [*]
On April 17, Toby once again reiterates that development of Chapter 2 is going well and shares an anecdote about a friend trying a beta version of it, with them stating their favorite character is Berdly. [*]
On July 20, Toby yet again reiterates that development is going well and shares another anecdote of a friend trying a beta version. [*]
At some point this year, Toby composes It's TV Time! for Chapter 3.
At some point this year, Toby composes The Second Sanctuary for Chapter 4. [*]
On June 18, Temmie draws a sprite of the Annoying Dog climbing, later used in Chapter 4, which sort of looks like a roast chicken. [*]
On September 15, Undertale's sixth anniversary, Toby along with some friends at Fangamer streamed a playthrough of a special build of Deltarune Chapter 1, featuring a number of changes to the game, mostly jokes and easter eggs. Before the stream began, a bunch of unused tracks were released, including variations of School, Character Joined, Chaos King and the Legend, along with unique tracks like a theme for the Checkboard area, a Fountain theme, and an unused piano sketch for an animated intro which was infamously supposed to feature all the game's bosses along with the Knight on a big staircase. At the end of the stream, Deltarune Chapter 2 was announced to be releasing within 2 days. [*]
On September 17, Gaster takes over Deltarune's twitter again. He praises us for having done excellently to perservere in these difficult times, and summons the second chapter of Deltarune. [*]
On the day of release, Toby posts another status update for Deltarune. He explains his motivation for releasing another chapter of the "demo" to be in part due to the difficult state of the world (this was during the COVID-19 pandemic), and in part because he found that it's very difficult for both the creator and fans to go so long without a release. For this reason, Toby changed his planned release sructure and is instead aiming for the paid release to include the first five chapters of the game, instead of the full seven. Toby states that with the new people brought on board, Deltarune can no longer be called a solo project, but he still tried his best to communicate his vision, designing and writing everything. Toby says that in many ways he believes Chapter 2 to be one of if not the biggest chapter in the game out of all the ones he has planned. [*]
On September 19, Toby says that his head is spinning from the response to Chapter 2, and says that the next chapter will be very silly too. [*]
On September 23, the Deltarune demo on consoles is updated to include Chapter 2 as well as Chapter 1.
On September 28, Toby posts concept art (?) of Ralsei wearing an "obedience badge" with dog ears. [*]
On the same day, Toby says that he's happy that people are beginning to view Deltarune as its own thing, instead of centering its connections to Undertale. [*]
In September, the game Get in the Car, Loser! is released, and Toby writes flavor text for a special item "from another world", referencing the Halloween Pencil from Deltarune and providing what seems to be a story about Kris and Susie.
On November 26, Toby says that he was uncertain anyone but him would even like Spamton, and that he's surprised by his massive popularity. [*]
On December 25, Toby posts some hand drawn sketches of Deltarune characters. [*]
Continued in the next part, focusing on 2022 - 2025, the development of the next two chapters of Deltarune which would culminate in the game's paid release.
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"the player is a character in deltarune" not as in "the player is not us" but as in "we are playing a role in a role-playing game, and that role comes with certain characteristics that we are assumed to have. there is a construct of 'player' that the game assumes we are."
critically the game assumes (and induces this in us!) we have nostalgia for undertale, and that we are somewhat inclined to view the fantasy worlds as having less consequence than the "realistic" world of the light world. these interlocking character traits are commented on and deconstructed by the game, because these beliefs directly lead to us having a harmful view of the characters in the game and the dark worlds!
basically i think the "character" we are assumed to be is treated not unlike the "character" we play in undertale's no mercy route. not that having nostalgia or being a completionist are inherently bad things, of course, but I think both games are trying to explore those things as something that can cause harm to worlds we have near-absolute control over
