Dec. 4th, 2015 11:09 pm
Information, Notes etc.
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wherearetheknivesThis is where I'm putting some general notes on my take of Chara, considering the limited info we are given on them in canon, along with some other info, Cut for Undertale spoilers both in general and especially the true pacifist route and the Genocide Route, including the Genocide ending, Also a trigger warning for mentions of suicide and abuse.
Backstory in the True Pacifist Route
Chara fled their human village, likely due to some form of abuse, and Chara went to Mt. Ebott and climbed it. As Asriel explains in the ruins in the post game of the True Pacifist Route, Mt. Ebott is known that anyone who goes there, never returns. Asriel asks Frisk "Why would you climb a mountain like that?" before following that up with "But I guess...only you know the answer, right?" It's still unclear with Frisk, but for Chara it's made perfectly clear. "But I know why PLAYERNAME (Chara) climbed the mountain... It wasn't for very happy reasons..." It was an attempted suicide. in one of the lab videos, Chara reacted very badly to being filmed on a camcorder, and would only smile or behave if the lens cap was on. (This maybe, POSSIBLY hints at the possibility that the abuse Chara received in the human village had something to do with filming and it could of been a trigger for them.)
Life with the Dreemurr family, and Chara and Asriel's relationship
When Chara was taken in by the Dreemurr family, Asgore, Toriel, and ESPECIALLY Asriel loved Chara unconditionally. However, it's very unclear if Chara loved them back. While there's some hints that Chara felt loved and did things to show affection, like the sweater and the macaroni art, it's not really clear if Chara really loved them, since there's evidence in the genocide route that maybe Chara didn't care about them or was ungrateful. Especially considering Chara's constant bulling of Asriel. Chara pushed Asriel into gathering the buttercups they were gong to use to poison themselves, and Chara "laughed it off" when they and Asriel used buttercups rather than cups of butter in a pie which made Asgore ill.
Chara's plan was to poison themselves with buttercups to commit suicide, and have Asriel consume their human soul so Asriel would have the strength to cross the barrier. Once Chara was poisoned, they told the Dreemurr family that they wanted to see the golden flowers near their human village on the surface before they die, this was not a entirely honest request, this was a hint at the plan, as Asriel, stricken with grief, absorbed Chara's soul to go ahead with the plan. However, at this point, Chara controlled Asriel's body, where Chara had Asriel pick up their own empty body. Which led to the humans attacking Asriel when they got to the village. Again, this was all part of the plan. When Asriel absorbed Chara's soul, they shared control of the body. When the humans attacked, Chara wanted to use Asriel's power to kill the humans, in order to get revenge on their village for abusing them, and to also get 6 more human souls in order to destroy the barrier, it's unclear if Chara wanted the monsters to be free or if Chara just wanted the war to resume because of their hatred for humanity and blamed every human for how hurt they were, not just their village. Asirel resisted it and maintained control long enough to return to the underground, where Asriel died. We know that Asriel was reborn into Flowey via the experiments, Chara's only reawakens in the Genocide Run as Chara gains a means to possess Frisk's body.
The Genocide Run
As the game progressess on the genocide route, although Frisk/the player have to be the ones to initiate the actions to qualify for the Genocide run and continue to meet enemy quotas and kill bosses to not to be shunted back to the Neutral Route for not being evil enough, Chara, even as nothing more than a soulless shade, does act through Frisk throughout the Genocide Run once it is initiated, it's isn't just Chara's apperance at the end this becomes apparent. For example, there all the times Frisk does things without the Player's input, and this isn't just limited to the ending.
-If the player tries to talk to Toriel (i.e. not immediately ask how to leave the ruins) before the boss fight, you'll be greeted with text saying "Not worth talking to." and you won't get to chat with her. some of Frisk's text, in the Genocide Run are Chara's thoughts and observations, not Frisk's. (As shown with the mirror in New Home producing "It's me, PLAYERNAME/Chara") This is one of those things that makes it unclear if Chara even truly loved the Dreemurrs at all, or at least, that they didn't love Toriel. (Maybe perhaps something happened between Toriel and Chara we didn't see in canon that made Chara dislike their adoptive mother?) because there is more evidence to support Chara having a better relationship with Asgore with the sweater ("Still has that sweater") and Asriel with the heart locket. ("Right where it belongs.") There is not much evidence that Chara cared about Toriel at all.
-In Snowden, Frisk moves on their own through Papyrus's puzzles often before he's done explaining it or activating it.
-when Frisk runs into Papyrus outside of Snowden Village, in a non-Genocide playthrough, Papyrus normally starts the bossfight, but in a Genocide playthrough, Frisk moves up to Papyrus on their own and starts the battle, where Papyrus immediately spares them.
-In Waterfall, Frisk approaches Monster Kid on their own with a "weird expression" and when Monster Kid stands up to them, the response "In the way." appears before the battle is initiated. these and the two above things can be interpreted as Chara taking control of Frisk's body.
In NEW HOME Chara makes a lot of observations about Asgore's sweater and the macaroni art, as well as other things, but of note are the locket and the dagger. in the Genocide Run the Heart Locket is instead just called the Locket and the text "Right where it belongs" appears. In addition, the Worn Dagger becomes the Real Knife with the text "About time." appearing, as Chara's wondering of where the knives were at the beginning seemingly finally being answered.
After the battle with Sans, in the throne room, Chara takes full control of Frisk's body and soul and murders both Asgore and Asriel (as Flowey) revealing that with this chance and this new power, Chara didn't need their family anymore. Chara's love for Asgore was always questionable when you consider the poisoning, and well, as for Asriel/Flowey? as far as Chara was concerned, Asriel got in the way and wasn't a good enough partner to help them with the plan back then, and saw Frisk, or rather the player, as the willing partner they wanted Asriel to be. Willing to help Chara acheive what they always wanted, power and revenge. Killing Asriel/Flowey was just another act of revenge for Asriel not allowing Chara to use his body to get revenge on their village.
In the ending, Chara speaks to the player directly, confirming the above because they showed Chara a path to power through killing and increasing stats, they were able to return and use Frisk to accomplish what they couldn't do with Asriel's body. If the player chooses to erase the world, Chara confirms that they see them as a great partner and now, they'll be together forever now that Chara's goal has been accomplished, and if the player resists, Chara again states that they have control, not the player, and I interpre the jumpscare and Chara's rant about being in control as Chara refusing to let a distraught player desperate for a way out or to stop this trying to stand in their way like Asriel did,
A few more notes:
-Chara is incredibly messed up, but they are not, for lack of a better term, completely evil. The evil things they do in the backstory of the neutral and true pacifist runs was extreme and did horrible things to the Dreemurr family, but that sense of sadness, shame, and suicidal idalation never went away, even with the love of the new family. And unlike Frisk, Chara was not able to find a happy life in the underground. so the feelings of sadness eventually festered into hatred. Even if Chara tried to feign happiness in the underground, it was only to further their plan and hide how unhappy and desperate they were, even if Chara's plan was ultimately a suicide plan with the added benefit of using Asriel to make those who hurt them pay, and finally have some semblense of closure and satisfaction.
-It is important to note that Chara is shown to be extreme and destrutive, but only out of a tragic sense of pain and wanting justice for how their human guardians hurt them so badly. It is only in the Genocide route that, led by the players actions, Chara becomes drunk on killing and attaining EXP and LOVE through Frisk's body, that they decide their feelings of sadness and hatred must spread to the destruction of the world. They only become evil by being shown that by a merciless Frisk and player, and thus manages to cling to life and claim a new soul for themselves to spread their pain and misery to others. There's a reason when you reset after Genocide's end that Chara claim's Frisk's soul permanantly. a distraught player might be sorry for what they did, but Chara is too drunk on the power to let go of Frisk's soul. That going to game to game, world to world to spread their own suffering is something they can't give up on, because they don't want to be dead and dissappear now they've been given this chance.
-Even though the Chara of the end of the Genocide route is too far gone to stop killing, that doesn't mean that Chara was always beyond redemption. Asriel, as Flowey, did horrible things too, and if Asriel could earn forgiveness in some playthroughs, maybe the same could happen for Chara. Even if the Dreemurrs were not able to save Chara from their self destructive thoughts of suicide and revenge.
Backstory in the True Pacifist Route
Chara fled their human village, likely due to some form of abuse, and Chara went to Mt. Ebott and climbed it. As Asriel explains in the ruins in the post game of the True Pacifist Route, Mt. Ebott is known that anyone who goes there, never returns. Asriel asks Frisk "Why would you climb a mountain like that?" before following that up with "But I guess...only you know the answer, right?" It's still unclear with Frisk, but for Chara it's made perfectly clear. "But I know why PLAYERNAME (Chara) climbed the mountain... It wasn't for very happy reasons..." It was an attempted suicide. in one of the lab videos, Chara reacted very badly to being filmed on a camcorder, and would only smile or behave if the lens cap was on. (This maybe, POSSIBLY hints at the possibility that the abuse Chara received in the human village had something to do with filming and it could of been a trigger for them.)
Life with the Dreemurr family, and Chara and Asriel's relationship
When Chara was taken in by the Dreemurr family, Asgore, Toriel, and ESPECIALLY Asriel loved Chara unconditionally. However, it's very unclear if Chara loved them back. While there's some hints that Chara felt loved and did things to show affection, like the sweater and the macaroni art, it's not really clear if Chara really loved them, since there's evidence in the genocide route that maybe Chara didn't care about them or was ungrateful. Especially considering Chara's constant bulling of Asriel. Chara pushed Asriel into gathering the buttercups they were gong to use to poison themselves, and Chara "laughed it off" when they and Asriel used buttercups rather than cups of butter in a pie which made Asgore ill.
Chara's plan was to poison themselves with buttercups to commit suicide, and have Asriel consume their human soul so Asriel would have the strength to cross the barrier. Once Chara was poisoned, they told the Dreemurr family that they wanted to see the golden flowers near their human village on the surface before they die, this was not a entirely honest request, this was a hint at the plan, as Asriel, stricken with grief, absorbed Chara's soul to go ahead with the plan. However, at this point, Chara controlled Asriel's body, where Chara had Asriel pick up their own empty body. Which led to the humans attacking Asriel when they got to the village. Again, this was all part of the plan. When Asriel absorbed Chara's soul, they shared control of the body. When the humans attacked, Chara wanted to use Asriel's power to kill the humans, in order to get revenge on their village for abusing them, and to also get 6 more human souls in order to destroy the barrier, it's unclear if Chara wanted the monsters to be free or if Chara just wanted the war to resume because of their hatred for humanity and blamed every human for how hurt they were, not just their village. Asirel resisted it and maintained control long enough to return to the underground, where Asriel died. We know that Asriel was reborn into Flowey via the experiments, Chara's only reawakens in the Genocide Run as Chara gains a means to possess Frisk's body.
The Genocide Run
As the game progressess on the genocide route, although Frisk/the player have to be the ones to initiate the actions to qualify for the Genocide run and continue to meet enemy quotas and kill bosses to not to be shunted back to the Neutral Route for not being evil enough, Chara, even as nothing more than a soulless shade, does act through Frisk throughout the Genocide Run once it is initiated, it's isn't just Chara's apperance at the end this becomes apparent. For example, there all the times Frisk does things without the Player's input, and this isn't just limited to the ending.
-If the player tries to talk to Toriel (i.e. not immediately ask how to leave the ruins) before the boss fight, you'll be greeted with text saying "Not worth talking to." and you won't get to chat with her. some of Frisk's text, in the Genocide Run are Chara's thoughts and observations, not Frisk's. (As shown with the mirror in New Home producing "It's me, PLAYERNAME/Chara") This is one of those things that makes it unclear if Chara even truly loved the Dreemurrs at all, or at least, that they didn't love Toriel. (Maybe perhaps something happened between Toriel and Chara we didn't see in canon that made Chara dislike their adoptive mother?) because there is more evidence to support Chara having a better relationship with Asgore with the sweater ("Still has that sweater") and Asriel with the heart locket. ("Right where it belongs.") There is not much evidence that Chara cared about Toriel at all.
-In Snowden, Frisk moves on their own through Papyrus's puzzles often before he's done explaining it or activating it.
-when Frisk runs into Papyrus outside of Snowden Village, in a non-Genocide playthrough, Papyrus normally starts the bossfight, but in a Genocide playthrough, Frisk moves up to Papyrus on their own and starts the battle, where Papyrus immediately spares them.
-In Waterfall, Frisk approaches Monster Kid on their own with a "weird expression" and when Monster Kid stands up to them, the response "In the way." appears before the battle is initiated. these and the two above things can be interpreted as Chara taking control of Frisk's body.
In NEW HOME Chara makes a lot of observations about Asgore's sweater and the macaroni art, as well as other things, but of note are the locket and the dagger. in the Genocide Run the Heart Locket is instead just called the Locket and the text "Right where it belongs" appears. In addition, the Worn Dagger becomes the Real Knife with the text "About time." appearing, as Chara's wondering of where the knives were at the beginning seemingly finally being answered.
After the battle with Sans, in the throne room, Chara takes full control of Frisk's body and soul and murders both Asgore and Asriel (as Flowey) revealing that with this chance and this new power, Chara didn't need their family anymore. Chara's love for Asgore was always questionable when you consider the poisoning, and well, as for Asriel/Flowey? as far as Chara was concerned, Asriel got in the way and wasn't a good enough partner to help them with the plan back then, and saw Frisk, or rather the player, as the willing partner they wanted Asriel to be. Willing to help Chara acheive what they always wanted, power and revenge. Killing Asriel/Flowey was just another act of revenge for Asriel not allowing Chara to use his body to get revenge on their village.
In the ending, Chara speaks to the player directly, confirming the above because they showed Chara a path to power through killing and increasing stats, they were able to return and use Frisk to accomplish what they couldn't do with Asriel's body. If the player chooses to erase the world, Chara confirms that they see them as a great partner and now, they'll be together forever now that Chara's goal has been accomplished, and if the player resists, Chara again states that they have control, not the player, and I interpre the jumpscare and Chara's rant about being in control as Chara refusing to let a distraught player desperate for a way out or to stop this trying to stand in their way like Asriel did,
A few more notes:
-Chara is incredibly messed up, but they are not, for lack of a better term, completely evil. The evil things they do in the backstory of the neutral and true pacifist runs was extreme and did horrible things to the Dreemurr family, but that sense of sadness, shame, and suicidal idalation never went away, even with the love of the new family. And unlike Frisk, Chara was not able to find a happy life in the underground. so the feelings of sadness eventually festered into hatred. Even if Chara tried to feign happiness in the underground, it was only to further their plan and hide how unhappy and desperate they were, even if Chara's plan was ultimately a suicide plan with the added benefit of using Asriel to make those who hurt them pay, and finally have some semblense of closure and satisfaction.
-It is important to note that Chara is shown to be extreme and destrutive, but only out of a tragic sense of pain and wanting justice for how their human guardians hurt them so badly. It is only in the Genocide route that, led by the players actions, Chara becomes drunk on killing and attaining EXP and LOVE through Frisk's body, that they decide their feelings of sadness and hatred must spread to the destruction of the world. They only become evil by being shown that by a merciless Frisk and player, and thus manages to cling to life and claim a new soul for themselves to spread their pain and misery to others. There's a reason when you reset after Genocide's end that Chara claim's Frisk's soul permanantly. a distraught player might be sorry for what they did, but Chara is too drunk on the power to let go of Frisk's soul. That going to game to game, world to world to spread their own suffering is something they can't give up on, because they don't want to be dead and dissappear now they've been given this chance.
-Even though the Chara of the end of the Genocide route is too far gone to stop killing, that doesn't mean that Chara was always beyond redemption. Asriel, as Flowey, did horrible things too, and if Asriel could earn forgiveness in some playthroughs, maybe the same could happen for Chara. Even if the Dreemurrs were not able to save Chara from their self destructive thoughts of suicide and revenge.