Deltarune Family Neglect Analysis

Made this video for my College Writing 1 final. Might make more of these, so let me know what you think!
Some of the chapter 1 clips are courtesy from / @rabidretrospectgames let’s play on the chapter.
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[@RainyDayAnimations]

Btw sorry I don’t reply to comments on here anymore. I am lazy. I promise I read new comments tho :3

[@Yuki_Official_777]

Stop thats so sweet of u aww, its ok cuz sometimes there r too many comments and YT cant make a notification abt them all so I feel u😭😭

[@LittleMisZorua]

I’m disappointed when it comes to bad parenting in Deltarune, no one brings up Berdly’s situation. From how desperate he is for attention that he clings onto the one achievement and bases his entire personality around it doesn’t really bode well for how he could be treated at home. Especially when you add in the factor he seems to take any act of kindness directed at him as a romantic gesture, implying he’s not used to such and doesn’t know how to process those actions. Even if you don’t take the universal mother Queen theory into consideration, from how attached he is to Noelle and ONLY Noelle to the point where his desperation to keep her close ends up hurting her, tells me she’s his only form of support, academically and emotionally. He also has this ‘if I don’t do this myself, I’m weak or a fraud’ mentality, and although that doesn’t inherently link to poor parenting, it’s not entirely impossible his parents are a factor of that behavior.

[@RainyDayAnimations]

I just did not have time to go into it in this video, but I do want to talk about it eventually.

[@Юзнаре]

So he have parents that always busy? (I can relate to that cuz I use to be clingy toward one of my friends cuz of my parent lack of attention)

[@fauteuil1046]

You might be stretching it out, his behavior can be linked to many more causes than bad parenting

[@monsterpudding7023]

Also the way he behaves towards Queen show how desperate he is for attention (and perhaps love and support from a parent). He constantly tries to impress her and prove himself to her.

[@alexanderleonardi3625]

why are you disappointed? no one noticing is also a problem that exists irl

[@revedraws4186]

let's also not forget the scene where Susie discovers the room Ralsei's made for her, she says "..." "...My own room, huh ?" "..." "I... guess that's pretty cool ?" "My own room... like this" straight up implying she doesn't have a bedroom of her own (she may not even have a home)

[@cccbbbccc5910]

maybe her chalk-eating thing is a result of not getting her own chalk at her home?

[@Юзнаре]

@@cccbbbccc5910 or implied that she wasn't given a good meal at home or the usual "parent didn't give Susie enough food to eat"

[@cccbbbccc5910]

@@Юзнаре Thank you, this didn't came to my mind til now

[@bottleofsyrup9916]

if you interact with one of the apartments, susie will say, "I thought we were going to your house" implying that she lives in an apartment

[@untipogracioso3038]

​@@bottleofsyrup9916 is very probable susie relationship with her mother is not very good. The first time i played deltarune on 2021 i noticed how she takes a big focus on kris being fortunate by having such a sweet and lovely mom whom worry about him. Its almost like she wished toriel were her mother.

[@thefbiman2116]

"You can wear whatever you want" in the dark world room kind of implies Kris doesn't even like their sweater, or not even the colour green, if the complete lack of it in the dark world says anything

[@monoduck]

they probably have to wear asriel hand me down sweaters or something

[@user-qe3rb8qt5d]

I think Kris's clothes are mostly handed down from asriel, and wants to have their own clothes to wear.

[@morningfaroe612]

kris not liking green could def be a thing. in the first chapter if you go to the hallway in kris’ house and open the drawer the text says there’s a bunch of crayons inside but no green.

[@inumaru4583]

Maybe it's because they aren't truly able to express themselves in the real world?

[@RichConnerGMN]

@@monoduck nice pfpuigi

[@purpamint8693]

I feel like most of the fanbase notices the negative implications of Susie's parents and Noelle's mom, but I feel like Kris's struggles are often overlooked, so it's really great to find it being discussed in a video!! It's obvious that both Toriel and Asgore love Kris, however, its also pretty clear that both of them don't pay as much attention towards Kris as they do towards Asriel. I don't wanna villainize them or anything, but it feels like the fandom gives them a free pass on a couple of things that they wouldn't otherwise due to the fact that we are already attached to their undertale counterparts (no shade to those that do btw, i just think that it is something that should be acknowledged and addressed). Especially Toriel, since she's the "goat mom", "best mom", etc in many people's eyes. I really love both characters, but painting them out to be perfect/flawless parents just isn't true. A part of the reason why I care about them so deeply in the first place is BECAUSE they are flawed and nuanced. They have their good moments, such as Toriel offering to help Kris with their project when they don't have a partner or Asgore trying to respect Kris's boundaries when it comes to hugging, but they also have their bad moments, such as Toriel forcing the family to go to church for multiple days just because Asriel kissed someone or Asgore asking Kris to bring Toriel flowers even though that means that they have to think about their parents' divorce more than they probably want to. I could go on for much longer about this but tbh I think this comment is long enough already, haha. This is an awesome video, btw!!! :D I'd be happy to watch more of your videos in the future, especially if they're relating to deltarune/undertale/video game character psychology!!

[@RainyDayAnimations]

I really enjoyed this comment! Thank you for spending your time writing me an essay in my comments I really like your thoughts here and it’s basically where I’m coming from!

[@lolmeowajarchive]

Dude you are literally so correct. Also even in the original undertale I feel toby went to quite a bit of length to show the failures not only of asgore's parenting but toriel's aswell. Its just so annoying to me that people ignore the flaws for fandom interpretation.

[@lovelysakurapetalsyt]

Mhm it unfortunately happens a lot with human, and in this case monster, psychology that some people just don't treat their adopted kids like their biological ones

[@Rikrobat]

It honestly bothers me how little some people acknowledge how problematic Toriel can be even in Undertale. When you first meet her, she tries to kill you when you attempt to leave the ruins. She tries to kill a human who doesn’t immediately want to give up on going on home after just meeting a stranger. And then, if you spare her, she stops talking to you or trying to help you for the rest of the game (pacifist route excluded). She’s the queen of the underground; she has the capacity to walk you to the barrier and let you escape unharmed but she chooses not to keep you safe unless you give up on your current goals to live with her. That’s incredibly abusive and manipulative; when I first watched Undertale, I was having flashbacks to episodes of Criminal Minds while many of the comments were fawning over how wonderful Toriel is. She claims to care about the safety of the humans, but it’s evident she only cares if it suits her. I know her character is dealing with trauma, but that doesn’t really excuse her hypocrisy of willingly letting humans die if they don’t do what she wants, despite having the authority to protect them at every step. (Yes, mechanically, Toriel can’t just walk you to the exit because then there isn’t a game, lol. However, that has a negative impact on her character.) So when I tried the first chapter of Deltarune and read that she forced everyone to attend church just because Asriel kissed someone, my alarm bells started screaming because this was shades of her problematic behaviour that I saw from Undertale. And yet so many people argue me down about how she’s the “best mom.”

[@starmaker75]

To me toriel comes across as toxic positivity parent, she tried to be the positive and understand, but she doesn't address her controlling side and how distance she can be. I mean look at the examples you give. I get it hard to take of someone who a different species, but still

[@Pixisu]

I always thought when Susie didn't answer the phone that it implied that she might not have a home-life, that she might be alone without parents (somehow). But I guess it could also just be hinting at neglect too. 🤔

[@RainyDayAnimations]

I just feel like its weird. Like not even a line about how she doesnt care if she gets in trouble or something.

[@MoRPho151]

It could be both at this point. We just don’t know. What I think is most likely is that she could have a neglecting father (because of the parallelism to King). And maybe her mother died or abandoned her, and that is why she respects so much Toriel as a mother of Kris, and envy Kris so much about it. But there are also other very interesting theories like she was an orphan with Kris, and maybe she never got to be adopted, or she wasn’t adopted to a good family so she run away to a small town of monsters. Even is the homeless theory is true, is clear that she has not being homeless for a long time, because she has played games and said that comment about the controller always being somewhere in the couch… that is why I don’t think that she is homeless. But, she could have run away very recently, and we know she came very recently to the town.

[@HeyMelodii]

@@MoRPho151 You're right

[@charcoaleater343]

​@@MoRPho151 King most likely represents her worst traits, both even say "your choices don't matter" to Kris, but could be both. Idk where the father part came from, there is no mention of her father (if she has a father he's still probably pretty bad)

[@iamthescouthere8556]

@@MoRPho151 it's believed that she lives in an apartment in town in chapter 2 in the light world because when you interact with one (the closest to sans) she says (hey arn't we supposed to be going to your house?)

[@mr.g9761]

Berdly actually call Kris the third smartest student in the class in his first boss fight, direct quote below: "Kris, you're tired of being the class No.3, gazing distantly at Noelle and I's fruited figures..." While he could be sarcastic, I feel it's still quite high praise coming from Berdly at this point in time. If it's true, then Toriel not worrying much about Kris grade & the like would make sense. (Mind you, Kris still deserve more attention from their parents, but hey, little details like this are always important to keep in mind in those kind of discussion)

[@Missingno_Miner]

It seems like even higher praise once you take into consideration that Berdly knows he isn't actually the smartest student. Combined with his offer to Kris before the fight, it shows that he does clearly respect Kris despite his tendency to mock them, and acknowledges that they are intelligent.

[@averagegenzguy2751]

@@Missingno_Miner Think the final bit of evidence here is after the Queen boss fight, you can get one more line of dialog from him, that being "Stay sanguine, my fellow blue bird" Which is the nicest thing he's said to anyone so far, other than Susie

[@beefbossonthewiiu]

Kris has always given me depressed kid who IS smart but doesn’t have even motivation/doesn’t care enough to try. From someone who was one of those kids I think it’s very possible Kris gets good grades but they just don’t apply themself enough when they could get higher ones, which causes Toriel’s concern.

[@ChimeraLotietheBunny]

woah!!

[@drxtale9446]

@@beefbossonthewiiu then Kris is probably me fr.

[@TheMediaMage]

I didn't even think about how Kris' empty half of the room could be a reflection of their parents' lack of knowledge of their interests! Thank you for bringing that to my attention! It honestly makes me think about how quiet Kris is and how if they don't talk about their interests with their parents (whether it's of their own volition or because they have before and they were ignored), then that could play into why their parents aren't noticing anything out of the ordinary about them in terms of their depressive state. Kris probably doesn't feel they'd be listened to if they talked about how they were feeling because the fact Toriel and Asgore seem to be more focused on themselves and Asriel's feelings than on Kris', Kris is likely getting the impression that their parents just wouldn't care; whether intentionally or not.

[@RainyDayAnimations]

I noticed that when I originally played the game. I really thought it was odd and I feel like Kris is closed off with their own likes, but it’s also their parents job to know that stuff and find that stuff out.

[@solairedude7119]

Tbh I ain't gone blame Asgore much, bro barely sees Kris and is struggling with his flowers business. Toriel sitting pretty living with Kris and not doing crap.

[@kerran4550]

@@solairedude7119 Asgore does give flowers for free, so yeah he is struggling, but yeah Toriel needs to do better with Kris.

[@kirillassasin]

Kris is just shadow compared to his brother, Azzy took all the credit even if Kris did things to him, because Toriel and Asgore focused on Asriel, Kris didnt realised their true potential. Who knows maybe Ralsei is Asriel who created Dark World or opened it just to say sorry to Kris and help them things right, that Kris isnt shadow, he is something, he is person and human that will shine again in the end, but at what cost?

[@syrenking]

I know people are attached to Toriel and Asgore from Undertale But i have to be honest Even there they weren't exactly the best parenting example, maybe it was harder to see there due to the circumstances Frisk and the monster world was in But with Asriel memories you can see that they didnt pay close atention at Chara's behavior (or Asriel's), as if the fact that they "look ok" is enough for them And it seems to be the same in Deltarune Just because Kris doesn't talk about what is bothering them, Toriel doesn't see a serious problem.

[@53ra]

Berdly is a pretty clear sign of neglect because praise from winning a spelling bee should not be your only instance of motivation to be a better self. What about his parents giving him encouragement, or something like that? Honestly hearing about his home life might be a good topic too, and I hope you do something like that in the future!

[@homesiclebreadslice8632]

burghly i mean berdlys parents probably dont give him enough attention given the immediate boost he got from the praise at a spelling bee

[@Imbored22228]

*burgleigh

[@stardrawz1]

Burgerly*

[@brinettevalorie4554]

insert Grammarly** AD here

[@Pollito_Con_Papas555]

Burguer*

[@bottleofsyrup9916]

burglar

[@kingofcrowzz]

Something that I noticed not a lot of people talk about is that in chapter 1 Susie tries to paint herself as the villain and finds it extremely difficult to accept she is a hero and as the chapters go on being a hero sort of seems like some sort of coping mechanism for Susie and doesn't want it to end (same with Noelle, Berdly and possibly Kris)

[@rosegarden-dv6lx]

In a book about child psychology and psychotherapy I am currently reading, eating non-edible items means those children are unsupervised by their parents, try to fulfill their emotional needs even through these stuff, experience low self-confidence and "low self-worth" and try to replenish the iron or calcium strorages that they aren't getting from real food because they are neglected. So your observations on Susie are spot on. Damn, for such a cute and colorful game the story and themes hit close to home. I am glad Toby takes a different approach from the usual teens go on a crazy adventure while parents are missing (Earthbound is that you?) and tackles how parents missing (even if physically present) from their kid's lives shapes them psychologically.

[@bigbadgammagnome]

15:10 Perhaps this is because Toriel could just be referring to when the player takes over, but she seems to be one of the only people who actually *does* notice Kris' change in behaviour, speaking to Alphys about it who says she hasn't noticed anything strange. Again if Toriel is only saying this because of the player then this point is irrelevant but she at least does notice Kris not behaving like themself.

[@RainyDayAnimations]

That’s fair. I feel like the player’s control may be the reason for this, as Kris seemingly does act differently with us controlling them. Ex: Noelle being surprised Kris is talking to her. But if not, my mistake for not noticing this detail. I was in a bit of a rush to finish this for my final and I completely forgot this scene. Thank you for pointing out though!

[@bigbadgammagnome]

@@RainyDayAnimations Yeah I can imagine Toriel is mostly referring to Kris now having a friend in Susie and wanting to go out with her to the library, etc. Very different from their normal behaviour. However you would think Toriel would be happy by this, rather than coming to Alphys with concern over Kris' change in behaviour. Which makes me wonder if Kris' behaviour already concerned her, and us controlling Kris was just the tipping point for Toriel to be like, why is my child acting so different?? So I really don't know for sure but I imagine chapter 3 could clear some stuff up, I think Toriel might play a bigger role in that chapter, who knows. And no worries, your video was really good, I just wanted to point that out since Toriel being the only one (besides Noelle sometimes, especially in Snowgrave) noticing how different Kris has been acting always interested me, I wonder what behaviour specifically she is referring to.

[@RainyDayAnimations]

I am super excited to see how Toriel acts in chapter 3. She was in the room when Kris opened the dark fountain so she has to be in the next dark world. I really want to see Toriel grow a bit character wise after seeing Kris in the dark world.

[@shellpoptheepicswordmaster755]

Maybe chapter 3 can help mend kris and toriel's family relationships

[@cawareyoudoin7379]

I wonder whether Susie's parents are neglectful, or simply don't exist.

[@replyequalnerd]

Why does nobody talk about Berdly? Kindness is so unfamiliar to him that he thinks anyone who is nice to him has feelings for him. It's pretty obvious his home situation is VERY bad. Worst part is the entire fandom hates him which is a good representation of why he's so unfamiliar with basic kindness. Berdly is the saddest character in the entire game and nobody cares about him. That's extra sad.. Also the worst part is Noelle is his only friend but Noelle is friends with everybody.. He doesn't even have a real friend. People are so stuck up on his personality that they don't think about WHY he's like that. Yet with more "loveable" characters like Noelle who is WAY better off than him everyone goes wild analysing all of her little quirks trying their best to find answers to things that aren't close to being as bad as how Berdly feels. Berdly deserves better. There's literally a route where he straight up dies. I'm not one to get sentimental over fictional stuff or even real stuff as long as it doesn't happen to me but Berdly's situation brings me actual sadness. I wish Berdly becomes a Chad by the end of the game or make inviting him to the festival unlock the best boss ever. He deserves the world.

[@Stoopid420]

Giving him the gift in the room in the city when you join Susie and Ralsei again in the dark world makes him and starwalker join you for the room

[@GippyHappy]

You know I've always interpreted Susie's parents as abusive or neglectful- something about how she relates to Lancer and despises the king- but it's also vary well possible that she doesn't have any parents at all and is homeless.

[@herronariela7469]

I think it's greatly implied that susie is either homeless or comes from a poverty stricken family, where either her mom or dad is verbally abusive torwards her, or maybe she ran away from her abusive family and ended up homeless living in the allyway behind the apartment complex, drinking alphys milk that she leaves out for her stray "cat"

[@society1876]

I think kris took susie's bullying pretty well

[@RainyDayAnimations]

Yeah, honestly. Someone told me to Kms and that my art sucked and I didn’t take it as well as Kris did lol.

[@thenyan3095]

@@RainyDayAnimations bro wtf? That’s horrible I hope you’re alright

[@RainyDayAnimations]

Eh. I’ve been through therapy and I’m just glad I’m out of the situation.

[@averagegenzguy2751]

@@RainyDayAnimations bruh

[@speedattack]

​@@RainyDayAnimationsHow to find out if someone is a kid(not you). LIKE JUST FOR ART.

[@qui_sait]

I would not be surprised if Berdly's parents had very high demands towards him, making him feel like the only way to gain his parent's attention and approval would be to excel at school. But that may be a bit too predictable?

[@cccbbbccc5910]

we already know that Berdly was doing it for different reasons

[@qui_sait]

@@cccbbbccc5910 yep i just replayed the game and indeed he says he began adopting the "smart kid" identity because of people's approval and newfound expectations, i had forgotten about this bit :)

[@Missingno_Miner]

@@qui_sait To be fair, his parents could be included in that: They may have been neglectful until their son became "smart".

[@themarvelousmikey3512]

@@cccbbbccc5910I feel like it still applies though. No well-adjusted child with loving parents gets overwhelmed by winning a spelling be to the point where it convinces them that they need to earn their love.

[@ezerox7778]

You could also talk about Berdly's homelife somewhat too, like, the typical gifted child that wants to show off they're the best and getting straight A's (To show to his parents probably) If anything, maybe Berdly is begging for attention, maybe they straight up ignore him if he doesn't have anything to show or something. idk, just a thought, after seeing how Berdly acts on chapter 2 and all

[@necroyt6540]

I dont think susie even HAS parents. considering alot of things.

[@rion2499]

I just want to point out some more things about Susie. (I’m always itching to talk about Susie, and this is as much of an excuse as I’ll ever get, lol. Good video though!) Anyway. First, I believe each chapter is subtly highlighting different characters struggles and pasts. Susie with Chapter 1, Noelle with Chapter 2, (and Kris with chapter 3!! I’m so hyped to maybe find out more about them??). Likewise, it uses characters to stand in as parental figures and showcase their struggles: King with Susie, Queen with Noelle (and Torial actually being there with Kris. There might also be some parallel with the main antagonist, but we’ll have to see). Thus, I think it’s kind of implied with the King, that Susie is abused both emotionally, and perhaps physically as well. She sees Lancer as a younger version of herself and sticks up for him in that way. She also sees Lancer’s struggle with being scary, like she would with a younger sibling or past young self. And takes it onto herself to help Lancer “become scary,” but also inadvertently helps him stand up to his father and get results, like maybe Susie herself can’t. I also want to point out here how much Susie is completely all bark, and no bite. When she threatens to bite off Kris’ face in Chapter 1, it’s very scary and unsettling. But we can see later on in the chapter, that it’s literally all an act, as she does the exact same “scary routine” with Lancer. I also want to point out, now that we have a Genocide route in Chapter 2 with Noelle, that Susie, for all she attacks, has been someone we’ve never been able to kill someone with. We’re led to believe that it’s because the enemies flee before she can kill them, but if that were the case, why can we kill people with Noelle? And why doesn’t she kill Lancer, at least by accident then? I believe she’s like Papyrus, in that she has enough control to not deal enough damage to kill someone, same as Kris and Ralsei. Noelle famously has no such control, hence how WE, the player, are able to control her so exactly. Anyway, more on Susie and neglect. We also see it in how she reacts to having her own room, which tells us she doesn’t have her own room. And honestly? I think it’s very unlikely that is due to siblings, though sure it could be possible she has a plethora, my money is on her coming from a place of abuse and poverty, and probably sleeps on a mattress on the floor or a couch (especially with the line “you can find the best stuff in between the couch cushions” dialogue line). The description of her fridge in Castletown also pictures a pretty bleak picture. Toaster crumbs speaks of sneaking “food” that won’t go missing. And gobstopper speaks of “food” that lasts a long time and gives allusions to eating for a long time. Also, her hyper fixation on Kris’ appetising Apple Shampoo and the fact she drinks some at Kris’ house? X’P Not to mention, her hole-ridden clothes speak a lot of poverty and neglect. She may be punk, and thus make it _seem_ intentional, but none of her Darkworld clothes have any holes in them, speaking to her actual sensibilities. TLDR: I love Susie so much. I can’t wait to find out more about her and also punch a parent or two. (Please Toby, let me punch a parent or two). Thanks for putting up with my rambles. ;P

[@geekyrobot__7316]

i mean in chapter 1 when ralsei asks her to compliment the enemies by saying stuff she wishes people would say to her, she says "your clothes are NOT disgusting." :(

[@woolpuppy]

Ther's another possible interpretation for Asgore. It could be a peace offering as opposed to a romantic gesture, given that he gives away flowers to everyone. Being amicable with the other parent is an important part of coparenting, and it would be better for their children.

[@elliecassar1881]

i think if the dark world is peoples imagination theory is true then the asriel room in the dark world resembles kris wanting a room like asriels

[@squidzarecool720]

Very good video. Honestly i feel that the bad parenting in Deltarune is kinda a reflection of Toby Fox's own childhood. Art is said to absorb the personality of the artist, and video games are no exception.

[@f0rkk]

That's something I've thought about before tbh, I do remember Toby saying something about how he was "raised on nintendo". While it's okay to let your kids play video games, it becomes a problem when parents forget about their kid and just let the game console raise them instead. It could've happened to him, who knows.

[@RainyDayAnimations]

I just feel like this would be good to add: I grew up attached to Minecraft while dealing with some issues at home, so I felt like the topic and the game sort of speaks to me in a way.

[@squidzarecool720]

@@RainyDayAnimations tbh same except it was my Nintendo DS. Had a crazy dad. Deltarune is honestly super relatable and i feel a lot of myself in the characters.

[@yuarentlucky]

Yeah, I grew up playing videogames and never getting attention from my parents, I still don't get attention either. I took up writing as a hobby and, I definitely see how art can reflect that sort of stuff.

[@faeridaecat2107]

i think it's kind of inappropriate to speculate about a real person's home life like that. toby isn't a fictional character so don't treat him like one

[@diegocalderal]

In chapter 2, Cyber Queen represents Noelle's mother. Noelle's mother tries to maker her happy but she gets too busy at work and sometimes even doesn't treat her well, just like Queen. Berdly might also represent Queen. Queen pretends that she is a gamer but she only plays mobile games (the most painful Deltarune scene) and Versly pretends to be smart when he isn't. Also, Queen wants to use Noelle to open more dark fountains to spread the cyber world. What if she wants more power because this represents Berdly's lack of popularity and he gets more popularity because of his word spell and remember, there are various word spell puzzles in chapter 2. Now Kris' representation in the game goes deeper because we know that Ralsei, Jevil and Spamton represents somethings from Kris' life like Ralsei represents Asriel when he was a child, Jevil represents Kris' forgotten childhood and Spamton represents Kris being controlled by us. Now what about Susie? What does she represent in the card kingdom in chapter 1? Well, we know that Susie identifies a lot with Lancer and remember about the card kingdom's story: When the knight arrived, only the king of spades was ruling the card kingdom and the other 3 were arrested, but why? That doesn't make any sense, but I have a theory that the king of spades didn't want to lose his power and his wealth so he would be the only king to rule the card kingdom. We know from Susie that she's always hungry, have poor clothes and has parents who don't really care about her. So she has a family in poverty that's 100% confirmed but what if her dad bought milk and cigarette and never returned because of the family's conditions and Susie's mom was revolted? It's the same thing on the spades family: The king wants revenge in the lightners because they abandoned the darkners and Lancer's mother is missing. So what if Lancer represents Susie? And how Susie's family is poor, the king is too afraid of losing his wealth. Even the throne room is full of coins and golds.

[@Transformers2Fan1]

Noelle states she's only able to say "no" to Kris and her dad, so even her mother doesn't respect her wishes. It also means her father does, and that though he may be too passive with Noelle's problems, he still treats her like the teenager she is, rather than a child or object. You also missed how Toriel forces Kris to hold her hand whenever they leave the house, something even Susie points out.

[@TheGlenn8]

I'm personally a big fan of "Ralsei = idealized Kris". As the theory implies, Ralsei isn't a reflection of Asriel but is instead an idealized version of Kris that Kris secretly wishes they were. Ralsei is a friendly, kind, and sweet boss monster who seems like they'd be the perfect younger brother to Asriel. It's implied that Kris is very insecure about being the only human in town and that they wish they were a boss monster like their parents and brother instead. This could further hint at a kind of (unintentional) neglect form Toriel and Asgore who might not realizes how distressing this is to Kris. Toriel thinks that Kris's horned headband was cute. That the horns represent Kris's insecurity seems lost on her.

[@zoguy6988]

I'd also like to point out that some characters in the dark world seems to have a light word counterpart. Ralsei and Asriel being the most obvious. Queen and Mayor holiday being another example. I theorize that these characters act as some kind of wish fulfillment for Kris and Noelle. Kris wants Asriel back, so they have a goat friend in the dark world. Noelle wants a loving mother to pay attention to her, so she has a queen who just wants Noelle to improve. I suspect that Susie also has a wish fulfillment counterpart to her family. I first thought about Lancer and how Susie wants a brother, so she has Lancer. But another part of me is saying that King Spade might be her family counterpart. Given how similar Susie is to Lancer, I wouldn't be surprised if the relationship between Lancer and his dad reflects that of Susie's relationship with her parents.

[@qui_sait]

This is such a great video, i've never thought about questioning this aspect of their life. We rarely think about the home life of characters and people in general when looking at someone's issues. Most of the time, our family are the cause of our biggest insecurities and problematic behaviour. As someone else's amazing comment said, it's also great that you've talked about Asgore and Toriel because yes, our past history with them make us look at them with rose-tinted glasses.

[@pedroff_1]

Good point mentioning Susie might have pica, which can (although not necessarily) be related to malnourishment

[@gabed.2632]

Pica?

[@andrewvasquez7565]

my idea is that Susie might very well be homeless which would explain why she doesn't eat conventional food and her clothes is in tatters, also would explain why there's no real location for susie's home, also in chapter two when you go back to where all the boxes where when noelle got her box head and you have susie with you when clicking on the boxes susie will say "yeah its all about boxes"

[@fishyfishyfishy500akabs8]

Let’s also add that Susie seems to be be out and about at night as she drinks the milk she finds in random alleyways

[@godslaughter]

OH HECK, you made this for school?? Awesome stuff! There's a lot of additional analysing of the characters I'd love to drop here but I don't think I'm gonna do that, I'm just going to appreciate what you've made.

[@PsychedelicCharm]

Maybe you can make your own video discussing these things.

[@TheLarryDungeon]

This video is so professionally done and I am here staring in awe at how little your channel is. You've earned a new viewer man, keep this work up.

[@RainyDayAnimations]

Thank you so much! I really was passionate about making this video, which was originally for my writing final.

[@emrickazor2610]

I had always thought Ralsei kissed Susie's arm or whatever got hurt, like how parents do. Though I do prefer the thought of him just hugging her. It has been a while since I played chapter 2, so I may have missed an obvious dialogue.

[@gabed.2632]

That would be cute, honestly

[@spencerward815]

plus at the end of chapter 2, susie looks up implying that she has never seen a house or a nice house like kris'. i have a feeling that that has something to do with it as she looks (in my opinion) shook like when she gets a compliment. she wanders in, looking at the ceiling then relaxing a bit once she goes to wash her hands. it is also stated that susie ate some of kris' apple flavoured shampoo so the reason susie eats non-edible food is to help her which then links back to her parents with the neglect or susie just eats non-edible food because she hadn't been given any food when she was younger. this then leads to when she steals chalk maybe implying that susie, when she was younger, had to hunt, steal ect. for food and basic human (or monster) needs to keep her alive. All these characters have some sort of neglect but susie interests me the most because of the things she does such as eating the cake in chapter 1, lancer's salsa in chapter 1 and the moss in chapter 2. the chapter 2 one is showing no one has gave her food as she says " were you... saving this for me?" implying no one has gave her anything like food. to sum things up, susie may have a eating disorder, a rough childhood and some other things. quick one for Kris. kris is adopted by MONSTER not humans meaning they could've been disowned or they ran away as susie says, if you sprint, that kris is good at running away. the kris-running-away theory is more favourited but it could be both. kris was disowned so they ran away from their human town. and some people online say that toriel found them in the woods of the hometown for monsters. What about Temmie? Temmie it illiterate and only read graphic novels so it's easier for Temmie to understand. thanks for reading this all. I really appreciate it. have a good day or night.

[@Cheesemoonh]

We never got any information about berdly's parents and never get mentioned in the story through 1 and 2, so my guess is that he gets neglected as well

[@TheDeadOfNight37]

They're probably some of the people who were pushing him academically, maybe he needed to do well for his parents to be proud of or happy with him

[@Cheesemoonh]

@@TheDeadOfNight37 Pushing him academically, thats real touture

[@liviwaslost]

@@TheDeadOfNight37that explains his ego and the way he acts.

[@Snowstriken]

I remember the universal mother theory Kooki Autumn made and how the queen treats the children may reflect on how certain characters are treated by their mothers.. BERDLY MY POOR BOY

[@Cheesemoonh]

@@Snowstriken Justice for bird boy

[@hades_head_empty]

not at all a dig, since mics are expensive, just figured this might help with your recording's clarity! i've recently discovered audiolab (free app) for a poetry reading project, and it works wonders, so i highly recommend it! love your analysis!! i have a psychology hyperfixation and am an english major, so this is right up my alley.

[@RainyDayAnimations]

I’ll check it out! I was just up late recording and I was slapping the audio together quick so it’s not up to the quality I normally would like. I usually use Audacity to get rid of echo and stuff, but I’ll check that out for sure!!

[@thegnarledpirate9198]

Undertale and Deltarune have a lot of diffences, but one remains the same: Toby Fox writing a kid or more with parental issues. Maybe he didn't have a nice home life.

[@lolmeowajarchive]

DUDE. I seriously cant exsplain how happy I am you made this video. Even before chapter 2 and more story about noelle's character I always personally belived since chapter 1 a lot of the story is link to kris's and other character's social and mental health. However I belive most of the fandom is too preoccupied with the goofy dark world and gaster secrets, which just arent important! Like you exsplained with the differences between kris's dark world and lightworld rooms. Also, I had seen this in another comment how people disregard toriel and agore's bad parenting due to undertale but I feel the fandom also disregard kris's depression because of the player's soul... like.. No!!! He's being neglected by their parents!!!! Ugh... if anything, i feel deltarune is similar to omori, in that, the dark world is really only there to service the internal conflict of the character in a more interesting way, unlike undertale where the underground had its own lore. Why cant people seem to remember undertale and deltarune are too separate games?! Anyways sorry for a long rant im just always happy to see when theories pop up to support what ive been saying for years as no one seems to belive me until videos like these come out so thanks. ... in conclusion... most deltarune theory videos suck.

[@lolmeowajarchive]

@@somenameidk5278 LOL look their similarity is undeniable. Although you got lucky, I was originally going to compare it to magicant's usage is Radiation's Earthbound Halloween Hack as it is one of toby's works and is a direct ancestor to deltarune but, I figured omori is a more topical yet still relevant comparison.

[@sahilhossian8212]

Let me guess Undertale favoritism + Flanderization

[@lolmeowajarchive]

@@sahilhossian8212 its unfortunately real in the fandom

[@chasebrainerd5835]

Fr

[@TheAdvertisement]

Not watched the video yet but just gonna point out the fact that Rainy made this for a college final. Based as hell.

[@dadkeychain]

amazing video, you pointed out a lot of things i didn't notice at first glance. I would love to see what you have to say about berdly and his dynamic with his family & whatnot :)

[@under_90]

Great, but, one small issue with it. 13:55 I'm pretty sure Toriel and Asgore separated before Asriel moved to college, because of the dialogue at the QC's Diner, noting that "After things happened, your family stopped coming alltogether, it was just you (Kris) and Asriel on Sundays." (or something like that) Just a minor issue, the whole video is still great, though!

[@reversedragon3]

For anybody that wants to read about child abuse and its connection with children being dropped off at foster care, I would recommend any of the four books by Dave and Richard Pelzer. (They were born in California and part of one of the worst cases seen in that state.) The one most relevant to this video is _The Lost Boy_ (Dave Pelzer, 1997) [*], which described how all the children at the foster home were immediately stealing things including food or sometimes preemptively acting aggressive to others to protect themselves. Clearly a book on this topic can be very distressing, but if you have not had a good life either, it could also make you feel better [*] That gives a whole new meaning to "lost girl", doesn't it? I doubt the song references this book, but "lost" is a word with a lot of meanings to begin with, and it's worth asking how dark a meaning it really has

[@lisatroiani6119]

“i’m neglectful” “i’m obsessive” “i’m overbearing” *THE BAD PARENTING SIBLINGS*

[@aresrivera9744]

15:53 Tori ask alphys how they’re doing class and alphys says they’re doing great and they Are one of her favorite students. Also mind you kris is the third smartest without studying and sleeping through the lectures . So they actually are very intelligent probably more so than noelle if they actually studied for once 16:18 toby says on the lifestream of chapter 1 “ even though there’s nothing on his side of the bed there’s still love here” or something like that 18:14 I do agree that is immature what Tori does but kris shows no discomfort to anything Asgore ask him to do. In fact as gore is very cautious to not do anything that makes them uncomfortable. Which means that kris is OK with doing this which more so throws shade to Tori for throwing it out

[@eliteplier]

This was very entertaining and informative to watch, glad it appeared in my recommendations :)

[@eco1969]

yo its cool as fuck this was made as an actual essay kind of thing for college! cool professor ya got

[@lobzterroll]

Wow! This is a very good video!! It's just so sad when it comes to family issues in Deltarune, and thank you for bringing up Berdly bc no one really talks about him. I also wanted to mention Lancer, bc he's really doing his best to please his father, but gets ignored AND abuses him, based on the King's actions in ch. 1. Instead of being a good dad, he chooses to hire someone to take care of Lancer (in this case Rouxls Kaard). I think Lancer also deserves more recognition due to his bad relationship with his father, and growing up without barely any love or friends :(.

[@DiegoRiser]

This has to be one of the greatest writing projects I've ever seen :D. You 100% deserve an A+. I'm sure your professor was happy with the way you handled the video 👍

[@beefbossonthewiiu]

Lancer is very obviously supposed to represent a younger Susie. She relates to him almost immediately and takes him in, which makes me think she has a relationship similar to Lancer and King. IE neglecting her and borderline physically abusing her. (And letting her eat random shit like salsa in a tree stump)

[@Pixisu]

This is great!!

[@luigibros644]

Something i was thinking when looking at kris's dark world room is that if you throw the manual ralsei puts a trash can so you can throw more manuals he make,while if you don't throw the manual he makes a stand for you to read it shows that he is trying to see what kris likes and even if he doesn't like it him self he does it anyway(sorry if this is hard to read English isn't my first language)

[@reversedragon3]

It's worth noting when toby loves making dumb puns that what Noelle does in response to problems is...... _fawning_

[@blu_otaku7063]

Actually chalk is edible. Just not nutritious

[@painslut]

Good to know for my next meal.

[@Illogical_Tales]

wait _what??!_

[@blu_otaku7063]

Its a good antiacid

[@PWNDON]

18:17 oh, i thought she just used a scented garbage bag or sprayed a scent onto it via spray bottle this entire time.

[@leafyztar]

Bro same I hadn't even considered are was throwing away actual flowers 😭✋

[@9990zara]

iirc before you give her the flowers the trashcan doesn't mention anything about a pleasant smell, so...

[@Missingno_Miner]

@@9990zara It does. The implication is, of course, that Asgore has sent flowers before, and quite recently too, which is further supported by Asgore's discussion with Sans: He still believes that sending Toriel the right flowers will be able to fix their relationship, despite the fact that it's clearly just annoying her.

[@SwagSwagSenate]

Honestly would love for Deltarune to get darker and darker

[@sagacious03]

Neat analysis video! Thanks for uploading!

[@thelegoglitcher1359]

Great video, I'd love to see you do more in-depth character analysis, with any character honestly

[@ErIIIIIIIII41205]

I really like the theory that Kris has depression and it makes me relate to them a lot more. At least in my case, and it seems in Kris’s too, the depression came slowly. It’s not like going from being happy to being sad your emotions and your personality become more and more muted over time so slowly that no one even notices. Like I was depressed for YEARS and no one noticed anything not even I did. I think another reason no one noticed is because Kris doesn’t really show any problematic behaviours. They seem to be doing well enough at school so that it doesn’t draw attention and doesn’t seem to react much outwardly. I really hope Kris gets better throughout the game because they deserve to be happy, everyone does

[@Poopyjoe1963]

I think there is one thing you missed for susie when they are captured by the queen in chapter 2 when you go too susies room you can find in error because it spells et9yphg93ty475yt745yt7y4 witch could be a sign or something idk i am to lazy to look at studies.

[@youngjellyfish8694]

i think that's just her entering random letters and numbers into the search engine for fun, I do that sometimes lol. However, the fact that she doesn't know how to spell a few basic things in that room (such as hardboiled egg, as "hardboil egg" or something like that) could show that her parents don't put enough effort into caring about her basic academics.

[@cubelikerr]

In chapter one, Susies says "All I had for breakfast was chalk and salsa!". That means that this child is not being feed and that's bad. Edit: nvm Edit 2: not nvm?

[@turingtestingmypatience]

i'm... yeah no i'm now scared of azzy. what kind of behaviour has the dreemurr family facilitated with their favouritism?

[@Cobalt360]

I wonder if this is how therapy is, except instead of someone analysing video game characters' traumas, it's a therapist analysing my traumas. I should probably get therapy.

[@AltName7]

Good video, I like it.

[@RainyDayAnimations]

Thank you :)

[@Diamondfire5125]

Awesome vid i cant wait for more

[@lambaman]

Great essay, kudos to you!!

[@gregyoung9980]

Nice job! Keep it up and definitely make more videos!

[@alfster485]

im your 800th subscriber!

[@RainyDayAnimations]

slay

[@ItsWolf0]

Actually another thing is that in the castle town, when first going into Susie’s room, you see she is shocked to have one. Maybe she doesn’t have that at home?

[@ZacharypjgStudios]

W family neglect

[@speedattack]

Bro what.

[@ZacharypjgStudios]

@@speedattack I said what I said.

[@skycreeper0173]

Very interesting video. Great work!

[@brastionskywarrior6951]

All the positive male role models are dead or dying. And no lifeless husks do not count We are alone

[@DinIsSoCool12]

jozus crust

[@chrissysonicutdrloz]

I think Toriel DOES notice Kris' depression to some extent, and prefers to indulge them. She Kris' knife on sight, and she knows Kris has a habit of just going off by theirself for a while. Whatever happened to make Kris stop talking, whether the divorce or something else, I think Toriel knows it affected Kris and she's trying to give them space. She's probably tried talking to them, which would not have helped, from what we know about Kris.

[@Craftl0l-l0lCraft]

11:59 That's snowgrave dialogue.

[@RJK_289]

Epic

[@RainyDayAnimations]

So true

[@FriendlyTume]

Child neglect truly is radical 😎

[@kirillassasin]

I think Susie is person with a hearth of gold, but because her family is not so great and she just trying to survive in her harsh life Noelle father is great but very protective of his daughter Birdly is just stupid but actually good person Dreemur family is complicated, Toriel isnt that kind of person we think, she is very complex, Asgore is very goofy and Asriel is some kind of star, everyone likes him, but does he?

[@Hollowghost360]

Susie most likley either has really uncaring parents or dosent have any noelles mother seems controlling or really busy and kris family is kind of just a tad broken apart

[@speedattack]

"tad"

[@olympiannerd]

Something i found interesting is that eatong chalk is actually a sign of iron deficiency which can be caused by having a bad diet. which seems as how Susie is constantly eating random stuff could mean something. this doesn't really help or hinder the theory that her parents are neglectful but it is interesting.

[@crispee_bills]

This was a really good video! It made me super sad for everyone's home situations! Also near the end you mentioned a professor, is this a video you made for a project?

[@RainyDayAnimations]

Yes, this was for my writing class final!

[@cinderbinx]

How do you even get an idea for a video like this? Were you just sitting there one day playing Deltarune and thinking about the characters’ personalities and bad character traits and think, “Oh! Shitty parents! Of course!”

[@Spamton_NEO]

I mean... at least Susie is pretty obvious. Her name is a literal anagram for "issue".

[@cinderbinx]

@@Spamton_NEO You may have a point.

[@RainyDayAnimations]

Lore behind this: I was sitting in class like ‘wtf do I do for my video project???’ I was like ‘oh I play Deltarune, I’m sure there’s something to that!’ Then I was like ‘damn there’s a lot of parental neglect…’

[@Shythalia]

"Former Undertale fans"? Nahhh, we still love Undertale. hehe I think it's also possible that Susie might be an orphan.

[@Timelost66]

i think it's possible that susie lives alone and can't afford food so she doesn't bother calling her parents because she doesn't have any. it's a possibility.

[@randombutter9703]

Does toriel ever say “hi” to Kris for asgore like they said in the store?

[@alienenthusiast]

Pretty sure she doesn't.

[@generalofzhivkov8572]

So that's why I relate to the characters

[@DragonBoy-fk4hn]

I thought Susie parents just straight up abandoned her

[@scrowlerhouse]

Lancer's dad literally threatened to murder him lol

[@shipperina2213]

To be fair it was a bluff (confirmed in chapter 2) which Lancer seems to know as he tells the trio during the fight "don't listen to him Susie! He'll.. he'll....", though I guess this is a common trope for hostages in games/shows/movies.

[@youngjellyfish8694]

@@roachroachin7193 if the King knew that lancer would bounce like a little ball if he threw him on the ground that means that the King has already thrown him on the ground enough to learn that information... honestly that's even more sad, so I'm going to stop thinking about it.

[@shipperina2213]

@@youngjellyfish8694 you do realize people drop babies on accident right?

[@youngjellyfish8694]

@@shipperina2213 yeah, maybe im just overthinking things, because I really don't trust the King at the moment 😅 I still think using a child a hostage (even if it is a total bluff) is a really horrible thing to do. Because even if the King knew that Lancer would bounce, Lancer was still probably super terrified during that time that he was being grabbed by the king. I am probably still overthinking it though.

[@Missingno_Miner]

@@youngjellyfish8694 Keep in mind: Lancer is also implied to like being bounced like a ball, which does make sense for him. King tells Queen that if Lancer cries, she should bounce him like a ball to calm him down.

[@ef3353]

We dont know what monsters eat, Kris is eating moss

[@ollie_3948]

Based on how in Undertale sans eats and sells hotdogs, Toriel makes cinnamon butterscotch pie, Muffet sells doughnuts, etc etc, it seems like monsters eat pretty much the same stuff as humans do. The darkworlds have some odd food (ie: butler juice/buttjuice) but they’re created from inanimate objects in the light world, so that’s more understandable

[@Missingno_Miner]

@@ollie_3948 Yes and no, we know from Undertale that monster food, even if it looks like our food, isn't the same thing.(Which serves as the in-universe explanation as to why eating heals you as well as the in-universe reason for the apparent lack of toilets in the underground: there's no need 99% of the time, monster food is magic and doesn't pass through the digestive system.) I would assume in Deltarune, with monsters and humans coexisting, human food would be the norm, while monster food would be largely kept for emergencies due to its healing effects and the fact that it doesn't spoil.

[@Crystal-um2oq]

Magic seems to not exist Noelle talks about it as if she wants magic to be real

[@Missingno_Miner]

@@Crystal-um2oq She talks about it as if she wanted *magic capable of healing her sick father* to be real. Healing magic is already established to not work on illness or poison, as no attempt was made to use it on Asgore or Chara in Undertale, despite the two literally being royalty.

[@ghosted_w]

IF I COULD SUPPORT YOU MORE I WOULD!!

[@MysteryKar]

four words in and i already agree

[@oddi7911]

Deltarune is a Game

[@malaksafa4074]

The game of all time!

[@Haruyamada]

Yas and? IT DOESNT CHANGE ANYTHING AGAHAJAJAJSHJQQJSHAHAJQHQIOSBSVQIA

[@clawcakes]

one of the games, by far

[@theoneandonly-1331]

Facts

[@speedattack]

So? Why not study the lore of our favourite characters?

[@jackiejack9254]

I think they go way too far with the theories of susie family, probably she has one, just an utterly abusive and neglectful one, and maybe even controlling one seeing how she is so stubborn to follow orders or even hear advice. The fact she is so oblivious of everything can speak of a subconcious need to ignore what is happening around her. An interesting note her situation is how despite not knowing much Noelle, Susie is the one most worried about rescuing her, even more than berdly, meaning she haves a savior complex, especially when we see how fiercely protect her friends from harm, like lancer, probably she developed that trying to "rescue" people in her home. I feel bad for her, as she seems to be a good person and tries her BEST to be better, but her upbringing holds her back so bad.

[@fajile5109]

Helicopter parents Neglectful parents Abusive parents

[@chongwillson972]

@fajile5109 you forgot ralsei parents. missing parents

[@CyberDucke]

@@chongwillson972 Ralsei parents:

[@tysondennis1016]

I’m sure Berdly’s parents forget that he even exists

[@retexcrafted]

we dont even know if susies parents are alive heck mabye even sussie ran away from them (becuase they were bad). i do belee she has strict parents in her home live but the fact she is drinking milk near a dumpser might be somthing

[@Generic-Fruit]

Just a bit farther and you'll be in theory craft territory.

[@RainyDayAnimations]

Perchance

[@AnonymousN30]

14:42 when does it mention that susies new to the school?

[@deltarunekris3130]

Howdy, Awesome youtuber, cool vid bro, Can you record funny, wacky game "Poof's Killergarten Christmass" from nevrycards , I would be so much hyped for fun of it :))

[@Robokeybook9]

But, what if susie just doesn't have parents? They could've died or abandoned susie.