List of Undertale and Deltarune characters

The ending of Undertale's "true pacifist" route. Left to right: Toriel, Sans, Papyrus, Frisk, Undyne, Alphys, and Asgore.

The main route of Deltarune Chapter 2. Left to right: Susie, Kris, Ralsei, Berdly, Queen, and Noelle.

Undertale and Deltarune are fantasy role-playing video games developed by Toby Fox. They take place in different fictional universes, but feature many of the same characters. Undertale is set in a world where monsters once coexisted with humans on the planet's surface, but, after an ancient war, were trapped in the Underground and forgotten. The game follows Frisk, a human child who falls into the Underground via an opening adjacent to Mount Ebott, and seeks to escape.

In Deltarune, considered a spiritual successor to Undertale, humans and monsters still coexist. Set in Hometown, the game follows Kris, who discovers a Dark World, an alternate view of reality inhabited by Darkners, living representations of real-world objects. They embark on a quest to close the Dark Fountains giving these Worlds form before darkness overtakes the real world.

The following is a list of major characters who appear in one or both games in the series. The characters have been praised by critics and fans for their humor and in-depth characterization shown through different moral choices. Some characters gained notoriety for their ability to break the fourth wall, manipulating gameplay elements normally only accessible to the player, such as saving.

Creation and conception

Toby Fox in 2016

Toby Fox is the lead designer, writer, and primary composer for Undertale and Deltarune, while Temmie Chang and other guest designers design the characters. For Undertale, Fox felt it was important to make each of the game's monsters "feel like an individual". He cited the Final Fantasy series as the opposite; "all monsters in RPGs like Final Fantasy are the same ... there's no meaning to that".

Undertale and Deltarune

Toriel and Asgore Dreemurr

Main articles: Toriel and Asgore

Toriel, a powerful goat-like woman (belonging to a race known as the "Boss Monsters") living in the Ruins, is among the first characters met by the protagonist. She is the former queen of the Underground, where monsters live. Her ex-husband is its king, Asgore, with whom she had a child, Asriel, and adoptively raised a human child, Chara.

After Chara's untimely death, Asriel wielded their soul to cross the barrier and return their body to the surface, but was killed by humans in the process. Enraged, Asgore determined to collect human souls over time from those entering the Underground, until he would have enough to free monsterkind and take revenge on humanity. Toriel, sickened by her husband's obsession and cowardice, departed to live in seclusion among the Ruins below Mount Ebott. She takes the protagonist in after they fall into the Underground, and she attempts to keep them from leaving due to the worry that her ex-husband would hurt them; she is either killed or persuaded to let the protagonist leave.

Asgore awaits the protagonist at the end of their journey, where they are forced to battle. Asgore only survives in the game's "True Pacifist" route; otherwise, he is killed by either the protagonist or Flowey.

As Boss Monsters, once Toriel and Asgore have children, they only grow alongside their children, and cease to grow if their progeny disappears or dies.

In Deltarune, Toriel and Asgore are also separated. They are the parents of Asriel and the adoptive parents of the main protagonist, Kris. Kris lives with Toriel, a teacher, while Asgore, formerly Hometown's chief of police, lives apart from them at his "Flower King" flower shop. After an as-yet unspecified incident involving a Dark World, Asgore was fired from the police and became obsessed with collecting evidence to clear his name, straining his relationships. Mysteriously, the Knight attempts to kidnap Toriel and Asgore, failing to take the former in her sleep in Chapter 3, but succeeding with the latter in Chapter 5.

Asriel Dreemurr

Main article: Flowey

In Undertale, Asriel is the deceased son of Toriel and Asgore, and the former prince of the Underground. Chara, his adoptive human sibling, convinced him to participate in a plot to collect six human souls from the surface, starting by them killing themself. After absorbing Chara's soul and leaving the Underground, Asriel refused to fight back against the humans who mistook him for Chara's murderer and was killed by them. Asriel was later reincarnated as Flowey by Alphys, but without a soul, he lacks empathy and compassion in this form. In the game's "True Pacifist" route, Flowey transforms into an adult representation of Asriel, known as the "God of Hyperdeath," serving as the final boss of the route. After being defeated, Flowey temporarily reverts to the child form of Asriel and regains his empathy, long enough to share a tender moment with the protagonist and break the Underground's barrier.

Jason Schreier of Kotaku called Asriel's final boss fight one of the greatest in video game history, citing its climactic music and the necessity to save your friends from him. Describing the sequence as "spectacular", he stated that, "if you're not already bawling as you mash the SAVE button over and over again during the final part of this fight, well... you will".

In Deltarune, Asriel is Kris's adoptive older brother who has left for college. He has not yet made a physical appearance in the game, but has been referenced numerous times with characters anticipating his return to Hometown.

Sans and Papyrus

Main articles: Sans (Undertale) and Papyrus (Undertale)

A pair of skeleton brothers known for their outlandish human-capturing schemes, Sans and Papyrus primarily function as comic relief within Undertale. They are respectively named after the typefaces Comic Sans and Papyrus, which they use in their dialogue, with Papyrus speaking in all-uppercase, and Sans mostly speaking in all-lowercase.

Papyrus is egotistical yet incompetent, though Undyne claims he is "pretty freaking tough." He has a fondness for puzzles, and is desperately lonely, wishing to capture a human to join the Royal Guard and improve his "friend quantity." Despite this, he is shown to be a kindhearted and genial character who believes that anyone can be good if they try.

Sans is a clever, laid-back slacker and trickster. He often pulls practical jokes and enjoys making puns, and he bonds with Toriel over their shared love of the latter. Sans also frequently breaks the fourth wall, occasionally alluding to an understanding of the world's manipulation by the player via save files. At the end of Undertale, before the protagonist faces Asgore, Sans "judges" the player's morality, and in the "Genocide" route, he acts as the final boss himself, where he manipulates some of the game's mechanics against the player.

In Deltarune, Sans runs a grocery store in Hometown known as 'Sans, and is shown developing a close friendship with Toriel. Sans mentions that he has a brother, whom he expresses a desire for Kris to meet, but neither his name nor his whereabouts are revealed as of Chapter 5.

Undyne

Main article: Undyne

In Undertale, Undyne is the powerful leader of Asgore's Royal Guard. She is humanoid with fish-like features. While initially presented as intimidating, her clumsy behavior in combat is heavily inspired by anime, which Alphys has convinced her is an accurate representation of the human world. She possesses a small amount of Determination: a substance that makes humans far stronger than monsters and enables her to persist upon death. Compared to Asgore, who harbors remorse for killing others, Undyne holds a deep hatred for humans and will not hesitate to kill them, although this lessens if the protagonist befriends her.

In Deltarune, she serves as Hometown's chief of police after Asgore was fired. She lacks an eyepatch over her right eye and only knows Alphys in passing. In Chapter 3, Undyne enters the Dark World of the Dreemurr household just in time to rescue the party and Toriel from the Roaring Knight. However, she is quickly snatched away by the Knight and brought to the locked shelter south of Hometown, with Susie resolving to break in and rescue her.

Alphys

Main article: Alphys

In Undertale, Alphys is Asgore's Royal Scientist and Undyne's love interest. She is a shy, nerdy, lizard-like monster with low self-esteem, and is a heavy otaku. She created Mettaton's robot body in order to make Asgore think she was capable of creating artificial souls to gain the position of Royal Scientist. She and Mettaton manufacture problems for her to solve for the protagonist and gain their trust, though Mettaton later rebels and attacks the protagonist outright. Alphys succeeded W.D. Gaster as Royal Scientist after his mysterious disappearance.

Undertale's "True Pacifist" route reveals that she experimented with Determination on comatose monsters, but this caused them to melt and fuse with each other into creatures known as "Amalgamates;" she keeps them locked away in a hidden "True Lab." The same series of experiments resulted in the creation of Flowey, after Alphys injected Determination into a flower that had Asriel's dust on it.

In Deltarune, she is a teacher at Kris's school and is also infatuated with Undyne.

Gerson Boom

In Undertale, Gerson is an elderly shopkeeper in Waterfall. He was once a hero known as the "Hammer of Justice" and fought in the war against humans. He was at one point a mentor of Undyne's.

In Deltarune, Gerson is a historian and fantasy author who died before the start of the game. However, in Chapter 4 he appears in a Dark World as the personification of a memento dedicated to him. Though he is not known by name in this form - simply going by "Old Man" - he encourages and mentors Susie, helping her improve her healing magic and serving as the chapter's secret boss in his "Hammer of Justice" persona. He also helps the party defeat a Titan at the end of the chapter.

Mad Mew Mew

In Undertale, a ghost seeking to adopt a corporeal form appears as a recurring miniboss. In Waterfall, she possesses a training dummy, and is referred to as "Mad Dummy". In the game's Nintendo Switch version, she reappears later in the game for a platform-exclusive secret fight, possessing Alphys' "Mew Mew Kissy Cutie" doll, and is known as "Mad Mew Mew." She is transgender.

In Deltarune, similarly to in Undertale, the ghost possesses a Mew Mew Kissy Cutie-brand item, although it is a figurine and belongs to Asgore. She is a secret boss in Chapter 5. Although she is not one of the Seven Colored Flowers, she is referred to as Pink, and as Orange's big sister. During her fight, the figurine body is its own Darkner, separate from the Lightner ghost; the two must navigate sharing a body.

W.D. Gaster

Main article: W.D. Gaster

In Undertale, W.D. Gaster, often referred to as "Dr. Gaster" or simply "Gaster," is said to have been the Royal Scientist before Alphys. He reportedly created the CORE, the Underground's power system, which uses geothermal energy to create power. He disappeared abruptly and mysteriously, and his sheer brilliance made it difficult to find a replacement. Gaster's presence in the game is hidden, only being directly mentioned in rare easter eggs and internal game data discoverable through data mining. Despite his near-complete absence from the game, the mystery surrounding his characterization and presence has caused him to gain a sizable fan following.

In Deltarune, while he has not yet been seen, Gaster is strongly implied, by hints both in-game and in promotional material, to be tied to the game's overarching story.

Exclusive to Undertale

Frisk

Frisk is a child from the surface and the main playable character of Undertale, who searches for a means to escape the Underground after falling into it. They are not nameable by the player.

In an act of misdirection, the player is asked to name the "fallen human" without specifying whether it is the protagonist. In the "True Pacifist" route, it is revealed that the "fallen human" superficially resembled Frisk, but had arrived years earlier. Frisk has an androgynous appearance and is a silent protagonist, keeping their true origin and nature ambiguous.

Chara

Chara (/ˈkɑːrə, ˈkær-, ˈtʃɑːr-, ˈtʃær-/; KAR-ə, KARR-, CHAR-, CHARR-) is a child from the human world and the first human to fall into the underground, whom Toriel and Asgore took in and adopted prior to the game's events. Although the player can name them, Chara is referred to as their "true name" on the naming screen. It is stated that they climbed Mount Ebott for an "unhappy" reason and that they hated humanity. Chara told their foster brother, Asriel, of a plan to collect six human souls by killing themself, letting him absorb their soul and leave the Underground as one being. The control was split between the two, with Chara making the decision to bring their empty human body with them. Upon reaching Chara's village, the humans thought Asriel killed them and attacked. Asriel resisted Chara's intent to use their "full power" against the humans, leading to their deaths and Chara's burial in the Ruins. In the game's "Genocide" route, Chara is resurrected as a soulless and malicious entity who now seeks to erase the world, referring to themself as "the demon that comes when people call its name".

Flowey

Main article: Flowey

Flowey is a flower who initially pretends to be kind-hearted, but is truthfully a sadistic sociopath who adheres to a "kill or be killed" philosophy. Prior to the player character's arrival, he had the ability to operate outside the laws of the universe via saving and loading save files. He regains this ability at the end of the game's "Neutral" route, when he kills Asgore and absorbs the human souls the king had been collecting to transform into a powerful, eldritch version of himself known as "Photoshop Flowey" or "Omega Flowey." If he is spared after his fight as Photoshop Flowey, he says he cannot understand the player character's kindness towards him despite his threat to murder their loved ones, and gives tips to the player on how to get a better outcome. He is later revealed to be the reincarnation of Asriel Dreemurr, the deceased prince of the Underground. Flowey, like Undyne, possesses Determination, as Alphys injected it into one of Asgore's first golden flowers during her experiments.

Mettaton

In Undertale, Mettaton is a robotic entertainer who is the Underground's sole celebrity, hosting various television shows and having products, brands, and a hotel in Hotland themed after him. He is an egotistical glory-seeker and wishes to take a human soul to travel to the surface and become a celebrity among the humans, and tricks Alphys into helping the protagonist reach the CORE so he can kill them under the pretenses of making her look like a hero. It is revealed through diaries in an abandoned house that Mettaton was originally a ghost who dreamed of creating a perfect body for himself. He achieved this when he befriended Alphys and she created his body (in order to make Asgore think he was an artificial soul), though at the cost of abandoning his cousin Napstablook. In the "Genocide" route, Mettaton transforms into a seemingly powerful form called Mettaton NEO, but the player kills him in one hit. In the "True Pacifist" route, he reunites with Napstablook, who becomes his sound mixer.

Mettaton is never directly confirmed to exist in Deltarune, but he is heavily implied to be the unseen "nobody" in Napstablook's house. In Chapter 4, if specific requirements have been met, the player has the option to give the "nobody" Tenna's Light World form, Toriel's old TV.

Exclusive to Deltarune

Some of these characters are mentioned in certain versions of Undertale and in Undertale-related media.

Kris Dreemurr

Main article: Kris (Deltarune)

Kris is the primary protagonist of Deltarune. An introverted teenage human adopted by the Dreemurr family, Kris is characterized by other characters in the game as naturally mischievous, chaotic, and troubled, with references made to pranks and an interest in the occult. They are one of the prophesized heroes, alongside Susie and Ralsei, and wield a sword in combat.

While Kris is the player character, there is a separation between Kris as a character and the player as a separate entity that controls the soul residing in Kris's body. Kris's actions are typically controlled via the player's inputs, but control can occasionally move to other characters. Characters who knew Kris prior to the game's events often note the absence of their usual personality during the player's influence, and it is shown throughout the game that Kris harbors their own thoughts and feelings outside of the player. They occasionally hinder or contradicting the player's choices, or even wrestle back control of their body by removing their soul; however, Chapter 5's opening implies that doing the latter for extended periods renders them weak and pale.

It is implied that Kris is working with the game's main antagonist, the Roaring Knight. Despite their quest nominally involving sealing Dark Fountains to prevent The Roaring, Kris is seen secretly opening at least two Dark Fountains themself, and they routinely hinder efforts to obtain codes to Hometown's shelter.

Susie

Susie is a purple, dragon-like girl with a gruff, tomboyish appearance and demeanor. She is one of the prophesized heroes, alongside Kris and Ralsei, and wields an axe in combat. Reclusive and shunned by her Hometown peers, she is something of a bully at the start of the game, and scorns her role in the prophecy when initially meeting Ralsei in the Dark World. She allies herself with Lancer against the rest of the party in protest, but she gradually warms up to the rest of the party and embraces her destiny. In Chapter 2, she starts learning healing magic, which becomes more powerful as the game goes on. Despite her aggressive tendencies, Susie is fiercely protective of her friends and allies, and she grows more willing to open up to them.

Susie's relationship with Noelle Holiday is a significant part of her character development. Starting out as a mutual unspoken crush, their interactions in Chapter 2 motivate Susie to become more vulnerable and protective towards her friends. In Chapter 4, Susie visits Noelle's house, and the two bond further. In Chapter 5, Susie accompanies Noelle to Hometown's annual Festival, culminating in the two sharing a romantic moment on the shore of the town's lake. At the end of the chapter, Susie decides that Noelle needs to be informed properly about the existence of Dark Worlds, and prepares the Castle Town Dark World to welcome her the next day.

Susie's Undertale counterpart is generally understood to be an unseen character named "Suzy." In that game, a rare non-playable character expresses a desire for the protagonist to befriend Suzy, her "neighbor's daughter." In Undertale's Nintendo Switch release, which released the month before Deltarune's first chapter, the character has additional dialogue, cryptically stating that their meeting "is fast approaching."

Noelle Holiday

Noelle Holiday is a timid student resembling an anthropomorphic reindeer, who is a childhood friend and classmate of Kris and has a crush on Susie. She briefly joins the player's party in Chapters 2, 4 and 5. In the Dark World, she wears a white robe and is proficient in ice magic. Kris and Susie convince her and Berdly that their Dark World adventure in Chapter 2 is a dream, though by the end of Chapter 5 Susie resolves to include her in the party more properly. Noelle has an older sister named December or "Dess," who is implied to be missing or dead.

Noelle is the central focus of the game's "Weird Route," which starts with her being subjugated by the player over the course of Chapter 2 into following their orders until she freezes Berdly, sending him to hospital in the Light World. If the Weird Route is continued into Chapter 5, she will meet with Kris at the lake, begging them to help her "do something crazy." The scene ends with the pair walking into the water until it covers their heads while the screen fades to white.

Berdly

"Berdly" redirects here. For other uses, see Berdly (disambiguation).

Berdly is a snobbish student with a superiority complex resembling an anthropomorphic bluebird, who has long had a tense relationship with Kris and positions himself as their rival in Chapter 2. He works with Queen and fights the party two times, before reluctantly becoming their ally. At the end of the adventure, like Noelle, he is convinced that the events were a dream, though his superiority complex seems to soften as a consequence. Should the player manipulate Noelle to freeze Berdly in the game's "Weird Route," he appears unresponsive in the Light World, and is later found in a coma in Chapter 4.

Ralsei

Ralsei (/ˈrɔːlseɪ, ˈræl-/; RAWL-say, RAL-) is a prince from the dark. One of the prophesized heroes alongside Kris and Susie, he is the party's healer, and is known for his gentle demeanor and compassionate personality. In Chapter 1, he wears a green robe and wizard-like hat that conceals him in shadow, but he removes the hat at the end of the chapter to reveal his true face. His name is an anagram of Asriel's, and although his face resembles Asriel's as well, multiple characters state that this resemblance is only superficial.

Ralsei is introduced in the Dark World as a Darkner prince who has been waiting for the Lightner heroes to arrive and fulfill a prophecy. He explains to Kris and Susie – though he conceals the full story – that they must travel together to seal the Dark Fountains and save the light and dark worlds from falling into chaos. Later chapters show Ralsei suffers from self-esteem issues due to his status as a Darkner, with his self-worth revolving around his servitude to Lightners.

Reviewers describe him as an "adorable" and "charming" character with a kind-hearted nature. Connor Christie of Pocket Tactis wrote that Ralsei "functions as a sort of yin to Susie's yang, preferring to stay calm and ACT where possible rather than engage in combat".

Lancer

Lancer is a miniboss in Chapter 1, a personified Jack of Spades card who befriends the protagonists and becomes a recurring character. He is the son of King, the final boss of Chapter 1. He is energetic yet incompetent in his attempts to stop the heroes to earn his father's respect. His gradually-developing friendship with Susie is what causes him to rebel against his father and assist the protagonists. In Chapter 2, he helps Kris escape captivity, while in Chapter 3, he helps the party during Tenna's "boards" and helps them defeat Rouxls Kaard.

Rouxls Kaard

Rouxls Kaard (/ruːlz/; ROOLZ) is a personified rules card and recurring miniboss. He speaks in exaggerated Early Modern English, and desires to be the second-in-command of any evil ruler.

He debuts in Chapter 1 as the "Duke of Puzzles" and King's right hand man who tries to stop the heroes in comedic and pathetically incompetent ways, before becoming a shopkeeper later on. In Chapter 2, he follows the heroes to the Cyber World and tries to impress Queen by defeating Kris and Ralsei and "conquering" the tiny houses in her mansion's acid pool. In Chapter 3, he briefly enters apolyamorous relationship with Tenna's second-in-commands Lanino and Elnina, incorrectly assuming that the relationship makes him Tenna's right hand man by association.

Jevil

Jevil is a personified Joker card who appears in Chapter 1. He was the former court jester and partner of the former magician and now shopkeeper, Seam, but was locked away after an interaction with an unknown figure drove him to madness. He began to see his whole world as merely a game and all its inhabitants as parts of it, influencing Seam to adopt a similarly nihilistic outlook on life. Despite being locked in a cell, he now believes all the other inhabitants of the Dark World have imprisoned themselves and he is the only free Darkner remaining. Upon being set free, he challenges the party to a battle as a "game," thus serving as the secret boss of Chapter 1.

King

King is the main antagonist and final boss of Chapter 1. He is a personified King of Spades card and Lancer's father. Originally one of four kings who ruled over the Card Kingdom, he was put in power when the Knight created their Dark Fountain and the other three kings were overthrown. He is shown to be a tyrannical figure with little care for his subjects or family, zealously dedicated to the Knight, and plans to take over the Light World as retribution for the Lightners abandoning him after his card form was accidentally torn. He is imprisoned since the beginning of Chapter 2. He is also known as Chaos King or King of Spades.

Queen

Queen, real name "Serial Number Q5U4EX7YY2E9N," is the main antagonist and final boss of Chapter 2. She is a personified laptop who attempts to capture the party multiple times, although she is mostly friendly, eccentric, and does not understand the threat the Dark Fountains pose until Ralsei explains it to her, causing her to stop her plans. While she partners with Berdly to capture the party, she dislikes him, to the point of routinely forgetting his name. She possesses a gigantic robot called GIGA Queen, which acts as the final boss of the chapter, and is fought in a similar gameplay style to the Punch-Out!! series.

Spamton G. Spamton

Spamton G. Spamton is a personified spambot who resembles a marionette. He speaks in mangled, cryptic English peppered with bracketed marketing keywords like that of a spam email with broken hyperlinks. Spamton has the personality of a used car salesman, and is obsessed with becoming a "Big Shot." He often states that he and Kris are alike in some way and that he is trapped as well, but usually projects his own flaws onto them.

After his appearance as a miniboss in the middle of Chapter 2, he functions as a shopkeeper, selling dysfunctional items for rapidly fluctuating prices, and then as the chapter's secret boss, where he is known as Spamton NEO, after merging with a defunct robotic body designed by a Lightner. Before the game's events, he was a normal salesman who rose to success after communicating with an anonymous voice on his phone, but lost his job, home, and sanity when the voice abandoned him. In the Chapter's "Weird Route," he sells the ThornRing used to freeze Berdly, and his NEO form serves as the chapter's final boss. Spamton is mentioned numerous times in Chapter 3 due to his connection to Tenna, though his only physical appearance in the chapter is in a short easter egg scene. Tenna and Spamton formerly worked together, with Spamton once promising, but never giving, Tenna his secret to fame and success.

Mr. (Ant) Tenna

Mr. (Ant) Tenna, or simply Tenna, is the main antagonist of Chapter 3. He is the personification of the Dreemurr family's disused CRT television, operating as a game show host. His speech contains images in the place of certain text. He takes the main cast through 8-bit-styled "boards" and engages Kris, Susie and Ralsei in various minigames with an enthusiastic attitude, but is shown to be lonely as a result of the Dreemurr family using him less and less. When the main cast finds Toriel imprisoned in a gachapon ball, Tenna attempts to trap the cast as well, but they escape. After the protagonists defeat him at the climax of the chapter, Tenna agrees to release Toriel. However, before he can do so, he is suddenly struck down by The Roaring Knight. Depending on the player's actions, he can be fixed and given away to a "nobody" in Hometown, or remain broken (implicitly dead).

The Seven Colored Flowers

The Seven Colored Flowers are recurring mini-boss antagonists in Chapter 5. They are Dark World incarnations of the seven flowers that made up the bouquet Asgore presented to Toriel for his marriage proposal, which he has continued to care for in his flower shop; due to being living plants in the Light World, they are technically neither Darkner nor Lightner. They consist of Flowery, Aqua, Seth, Yellow, Blue, Green, and Orange.

Most of the Flowers take on humanoid forms, with the exception of Orange, who resembles a mouse. Aqua is a playful young girl, Seth is an intellectual tactician, Yellow is a gullible cowboy, Blue is a kindhearted ballet dancer, Green is a generous chef, and Orange is an insecure aspiring boxer.

Flowery

Flowery is the main antagonist of Chapter 5, and is seen in Asgore's company. He is the incarnation of the golden flower that appears in Asgore's flower shop. Indebted to Asgore for caring for him and the other Colored Flowers for years after the wedding, Flowery describes himself as Asgore's college roommate and "best friend." His speech and behavior are reminiscent of early English anime dubs, with an overly cheerful demeanor, occasionally incorrect syntax, and bizarre non sequiturs. He mainly tries to stop the party from sealing the fountain to keep Asgore and the six other Flowers happy. The Roaring Knight cuts Flowery in half after he attempts to stop them from kidnapping Asgore; Susie tapes up and replants his corresponding flower in the Light World after the Dark Fountain is sealed.

His name, his boss music, and some of his dialogue alludes to Flowey, who similarly took form from a golden flower belonging to Asgore in Undertale.

The Roaring Knight

The Roaring Knight is the main antagonist of Deltarune. They have a slim, angular body, with antler-like horns and a helm resembling a frog-mouth helm. Their influence is teased by various characters throughout Chapters 1 and 2. The Knight makes their first appearance at the end of Chapter 3, where they destroy Tenna and battle the main party. While the party can optionally "defeat" the Knight and obtain a Shadow Crystal, acting as the chapter's "secret" fight, they are downed in a cutscene afterwards regardless. The party is then saved by Officer Undyne, who is kidnapped by the Knight and taken to the shelter south of town.

The Knight features as a continuous threat in Chapter 4. They fend off an attack by Kris and Susie at the start of the Dark Sanctuary, and at the end of the chapter, they create another Dark Fountain in the Dark World, spawning a Titan, a harbinger of The Roaring; the party manages to defeat it with Gerson's help. The Knight next appears at the end of Chapter 5, kidnapping Asgore and critically wounding Flowery.

Reception

Cosplay of various Undertale and Deltarune characters

Griffin McElroy of Polygon described Undertale's characters in general as "incredibly vulnerable", stating that he felt "real affection" for all of them after getting to know them. He called the game his most memorable gaming experience of the year due to his moral compass being guided by this connection. Noting that the characters were "well-written and relatable", he remarked that, when doing the genocide run out of a desire to see all the game's content, he felt "genuinely terrible".

Richard Cobbett of Eurogamer stated that Undertale's characters were "layered" by RPG standards, calling them "not exactly Walter White in terms of complexity," but more deep than they initially seemed. Using the example of Sans, a "surprisingly complex figure," he noted that "most of the main characters are living with at least one unfortunate past decision or regret." He called the responsiveness of the world and characters an important part of Undertale's success, stating that "spending more time with familiar faces makes them feel real." In a separate review in PC Gamer, he called the game's characters "adorable," saying he had not laughed so hard in years.

Axel Bosso of Bloody Disgusting stated that Undertale's characters were difficult to trust, causing an anxious feeling with every encounter, starting with Flowey's switch from seemingly harmless to evil. Noting that "even the most inconsequential NPCs have an existential crisis and/or nihilism vibes around them," he said that it was "hard [...] to feel safe in this treacherous environment," though nevertheless remarking that "they became some of my most loved cast in quite some time."

Brendan Graeber of IGN positively highlighted the relationship between Kris and Susie in Deltarune, calling them "a dumbass duo with joint custody of a brain cell." He also called attention to the latter's character development throughout the game.