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Exploring Undertale’s Sense of Humor

The Pacifist Ending and Other Easter Eggs

I’ll begin by telling you the bloopers and secrets of Undertale. This is going to be spoiler-heavy so proceed at your own risk!

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Lesser Dog is actually a close relative of Longcat.

As we all know, the game loves to make doggo jokes. In fact, you can spare all the dogs in Snowdin by playing a game of fetch with the stick. This fella here is Lesser Dog. He gets too excited if you pet him and stretches his neck out to display affection. If you keep petting him, well…it never stops growing.

Remember when the snowman would get offended if you ate the snow piece in front of him? Or when you check the garbage too many times and the narrator mocks your garbage obsession? The game is entirely self-aware; reload your save file multiple times and Flowey will ask, “Don’t you have anything better to do?”.

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Da Temp Shop: The only place to sell your junk.

And don’t get me started on Temmie Village. It is home to the Temmies, an endangered species of monsters that speak in broken English. In any case, I’m grateful that they exist, or else I’d have no way to get rid of stuff I don’t use anymore. The shopkeeper actually wants your junk and is willing to put college on the backburner to get it.

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If you call them, Undyne admits to designing this puzzle.

If you’re wondering what Papyrus and Undyne are up to, you can call them in multiple areas. For instance, you find out that Undyne thought of this puzzle in Hotland that forces the player to jump on conveyor belts built into steam vents and arrows pointing in four directions. Or when Papyrus admits his standards are too refined to eat greasy food at Grillby’s.

Everyone deserves a happy ending…or at least, that’s what the game wants you to believe. Most people would’ve been satisfied with that phone call from the monsters we all know and love. With Asgore gone and Flowey defeated, what else is there left to do?

The real question we should all be asking.

As such, Flowey persuades you into playing again, suggesting that a better ending exists if you befriend everyone. Once that happens, you are is asked to deliver a love letter from Undyne to Alphys, resulting in a bunch of misunderstandings.

With your help, Alphys finally confesses to Undyne on their date at the dumpster. Undyne promises to help Alphys get stronger but this leaves us all wondering, “Is anime real?”. Anyway, the important thing is, you now have access to the True Lab, an underground facility where Alphys tried to reanimate the dead by injecting monster bodies with determination.

I ain’t afraid of no ghosts nor amalgamates!

This led to numerous failed experiments on test subjects as the monster corpses all melted together and came back to life as amorphous beings. It is easily the creepiest segment of the game. When’s the last time you saw a savepoint smile back? And then you realize, Alphys created Flowey without a soul which explains his more sadistic nature.

It’s nice hearing that your friends believe in you.

In the Pacifist run, Toriel stops you from fighting Asgore and gets to meet everyone else. It seems like a nice reunion until Flowey crashes the party, trapping the monsters in vines. He tries to kill you but luckily, the monsters come to your aid, cheering you on, telling you to stay determined. After that, something rather unexpected happens…

Asriel mocks the player for their actions.

All of a sudden, Flowey transforms into a goat child and reveals his true form! He was Asriel all along!–Or at least what’s left of him. The final boss music starts playing, the background becomes distorted; now it’s time to end this once and for all. This truly deserves to be on the “Top 10 Anime Battles” list with attacks like Chaos Saber and Star Blazing, how can you resist?

Back when Asriel and Chara were alive–during happier times.

The lost soul segment where you save everyone by restoring their memories was pretty sweet too. When you finally call out Asriel’s name, he breaks down in tears, admitting that he was afraid of being left alone and didn’t want the player to leave. The flashback to Asriel and Chara playing together always made me emotional.

Despite how cruel Flowey was, I still feel bad for Asriel–for being killed by humans and brought back as a flower without the ability to love. All because he agreed to help with Chara’s plan to free the monsters. I do have to give him credit for breaking the barrier though. The monsters can finally go to the surface.

Since the ruins have opened up, you get one last chance to go back to the beginning and speak to every monster in the game. And believe me when I say that everyone has their own dreams to live out.–Mettaton debuts in a new band with Blooky and Shyren, Dogamy and Dogaressa are No. 1 Nose Nuzzle Champions, Snowdrake becomes a comedian, and roll the credits!

You get to read funny descriptions about each monster and how they are living life to the fullest, like Woshua’s promotion to Legendary Janitor or something. The only thing left unresolved is Asriel changing back into Flowey. Oh–and Toriel refusing to forgive Asgore for his actions. What’s important is that monsters and humans can now live in peace.

Without question, Undertale is a game with high replayability value. You might be tempted to reset the game, to find more hidden gems you missed before. Like many players, you just can’t move on and leave the monsters be. Then again, there’s still the choice to do a Genocide run. Is this worth it though, knowing that it will permanently corrupt your save files?

In reality, there is no right answer to completing Undertale. Some people just want to erase the world. Others stop playing after a Pacifist run because they are satisfied with how it ended. To the characters, you are an anomaly that alters timelines with the power of determination.

But that’s all I have to say on the matter guys, thus “Thanks for reading part 2 of my Undertale review!”.

Image Gallery

Undertale Part 1


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