Learning to Love Berdly - A Deltarune Character Analysis

[@Dorked]

Thanks to everyone who has been supporting my recent content! :) It's been really excellent as I make the transition into freelance content production. I hope to do more analytical content soon, but will also be resuming Inverted Fate-related uploads. I'll try to strike a balance so that fans of both types of content can still find things to enjoy. If you want to learn more about my webcomic, it's at invertedfate.com. I also have a patreon at patreon.com/dorked and a ko-fi at ko-fi.com/invertedfate. All support is greatly appreciated since I'm making content creation my main source of income now. City footage and some mansion footage provided by RainyD. Snowgrave and neutral footage by NishaWolfe. All other footage by me. Thanks to Kasssm and Emasti for providing the assets for the funny gag near the start. Inverted Fate Blog: invertedfate.tumblr.com My Kingdom Hearts fanfiction: archiveofourown.org/series/18376 My Twitter: twitter.com/derpisms My Twitch: twitch.tv/derpisms

[@sunny0042]

I like your Deltarune content. Hope to see more of it. :)

[@TheRoosterBucket]

Before I saw SnowGrave route, I really didn't care for him. But SnowGrave completed him. Then I admired him for his normal behavior, because he knew when to act serious. He to me was a slice of bread with the slightest amount of butter, [because of smart race] that became a whole glorified cake.

[@MasterSquirrel993]

Super happy that your content has been getting so much LOVE as of late ^_^

[@virtueleague2005]

I cant believe dorked and me are both berdly and papyrus enjoyers.

[@ChimeraLotietheBunny]

Love your content as always

[@LittleMisZorua]

I think he immediately grew attached to Susie, not just because she’s into Dragon Blazers like he is (that was just the icing on the cake,) but because she was the first person in a long time to tell him he didn’t have to be the smart kid or the perfect pupil to be accepted. It’s something he didn’t know he needed to hear, so he was so quick to turn over a new leaf.

[@Dorked]

Yeah, that's probably a big part of it, too. I genuinely think Berdly doesn't have a lot of positive influences in his life who DON'T expect something from him.

[@LittleMisZorua]

Considering how clingy he is to Noelle to the point where he fears how absolutely everything would fall apart if he lost her, I don’t think he has anything like supportive adults in his life. Noelle is practically his entire emotional/academic support system

[@roniguttmann6633]

Yup

[@blackholeguy1529]

bagongus

[@MarioYoshi4723]

I’m really curious if Berdly will shoot his shot with Susie, though if it does happen, I imagine it’d end with Berdly hearing “Faint Courage”.

[@capn_toad]

I think more people should take how queen put it to heart. "There's nothing wrong with him, he's just annoying". there. that's it. that's all the reason you need to dislike him. you don't need to force transphobic, homophobic, or misogynistic labels onto him. he's just an annoying guy. and that's okay. teenagers are annoying. I say this as a teenager.

[@emsiyes]

This is basically how normal fans who dislike put him as. Nothing is wrong with him, he's just really annoying (e.g. in the mouse puzzle where he just keeps taking to distract us). Those people who accuse him of being transphobic, homophobic and misogynistic are just people who love starting drama and not true fans. Yea, it's okay to hate him, but you can never accuse him of things that aren't ever mentioned in-game.

[@roniguttmann6633]

Yup

[@roniguttmann6633]

@@emsiyes Yup

[@buddeman27]

"teenagers are just bigger children"

[@youtubergirl6962]

@@buddeman27 "And Adults Are Even Bigger Children."

[@kirbyleggington7205]

"He's not malicious, he just has poor social skills." THIS. This is, like, THE summary of his character. I hate when people assume Berdly is sexist among other things just because of the gamer stereotype. Also, something I always noticed was that his assumption of Noelle having a crush on him shows that his weird knight-in-glow-in-the-dark-armor persona he takes on around her is primarily to protect her. He genuinely cares a lot about Noelle without it having to be romantic and I think that speaks a lot to his character.

[@Dorked]

YEAH. Some people think he did have a crush and was just lying about not having one, but with how early he mentions the crush not bearing fruit, I do think he thought she liked him but simply didn't have romantic feelings in return. He's a weird kid, but he's not the devil. :P

[@kirbyleggington7205]

@@Dorked yeah like he had no reason to lie there 😭

[@ElectricBarrier]

Berdly does want to rescue his damsel in distress, but not because he wants to use her to become a hero and sees her as some prize to obtain. If his damsel's in distress, he's gonna save her, because in his mind he's already a hero. You can chastise him for that mindset of "girl in trouble, must save" if you want, but the fact of the matter is: His friend is in trouble and he wants to help her. I think that much is clear: upon losing his arm to the control plug, he'll tell them he can't do much with a fried wing, and asks that the others save Noelle. Better, he asks them to *promise* they will. It doesn't matter whether or not it's he who saves her, just so long as she's safe.

[@kirbyleggington7205]

@@ElectricBarrier this tbh. His love for noelle is his best attribute imo; he values her more than anything, even describing her as his “most precious thing.” As much of a nerd as he is it’s obvious by his actions that he means that genuinely.

[@cursedinari7434]

Exactly, a great example is when you fight him during the snow grave route and berdly immediately notices something’s wrong with noelle and his tone instantly changes to serious and concerned for her safety. He also will only target kris during the battle and his attacks deal more damage.

[@impurevessel9390]

It’s interesting how different the fandom treats Berdly and Papyrus despite the fact that they are quite similar

[@Dorked]

Yeah, I mentioned it to SKL, but I think it has to do with the first impressions and how Berdly is introduced as a snooty know-it-all at first.

[@MattBnl2ih]

Papyrus’s first impression is, no joke “SANS YOU’RE LAZY! I SHOULD’NT HAVE TO WORK AS HARD AS I DO FOR RECOGNITION! NOW IM GOING TO KIDNAP YOU FOR MY FRIEND WHO I KNOW WANTS TO MURDER YOU, FOR FAME, APPROVAL, AND RECOGNITION” Don’t get me wrong I adore him but he isn’t some perfect Cinnabon

[@kirbyleggington7205]

@@MattBnl2ih In his defense there, Papyrus is established multiple times to have NO idea what murder or death is. He's also the only boss who will never kill you, even by accident iirc

[@MattBnl2ih]

@@kirbyleggington7205 he literally says undyne’s opinion of you is “Murdery” and implies he knows what your doing on genocide but still believes in you

[@VIDEOGAMEVIDEOGAMEVIDEOGAME]

But berdly doesn't have spaghetti

[@DE23]

"Don't worry Noelle, I'm stupid now!" How can you not like him?

[@Cheesemoonh]

Thats what im saying

[@qwertyuiop.lkjhgfdsa]

hes trying his best

[@anthonycuevasproduction]

Ya berdly is the greatest giga chad gamer

[@Idkhelpidk]

exactly!

[@mac533]

Not enough people acknowledge that my boy shrugged off _losing an arm_ because he was more concerned about his friend.

[@mac533]

Also, if Queen really is a reflection of the Lightner's relationships with their parents, then the fact that she spawns a giant wall of "battery acid" that keeps Berdly isolated has some dark implications.

[@chaosincarnate1141]

@@mac533 berdlys parents beat (BATTERY acid) and isolate him?

[@indorfan]

@@mac533 OH FUCK YOU RIGHTTT

[@Blwbelle]

@@mac533 oh that's- that's not really good at all.... 😬

[@bananasinfrench]

​@@mac533 aw geez I never considered that but you're right. and the way she actively avoids and brushes him off, oh no

[@caper7635]

Honestly I wish more people understood that at heart - Berdly is a genuinely good kid. His attachment to Noelle is a tell of his insecurity, but you can also tell that even without that, he really cares for her, and it’s not just words too. His alliance with Queen is in part to ensure that Noelle isn’t turned into a “peon”, he initiated an apology to Noelle where he admits that he feared if he didn’t pretend to be romantically interested in her he would lose her as he values their friendship, his constant mentioning of her to Kris and Susie is his own way of ensuring that they keep HER in mind, immediately jumps to making a dark fountain once Noelle and Susie express their desire for it, and in the annoying mouse room he even speaks well of Noelle’s ability to Kris long-before he sheds his narcissistic persona, and that is with him being unaware she is in earshot, meaning this is not just talk to impress her. Lastly, here’s the kicker: Noelle explicitly states to Berdly, while they are alone, that he is always nice to her and treats her well. There is no reason to lie in this moment unless they weren’t friends since childhood (which they are). Ironically, I find that those who hate Berdly and adore Noelle don’t pay much mind to Noelle’s comment here. It’s like they want the best for Noelle, but then ignore her appreciation for Berdly and thus trash one of her friends.

[@kirbyleggington7205]

THIS. Say what you will about him but Berdly does genuinely care about Noelle. He might be smug and annoying at times but being a loving friend is worth a lot.

[@ElectricBarrier]

That feel when you like Noelle and Berdly pretty much equally. I wanna see more of their friend dynamic.

[@galvsparks6295]

@@ElectricBarrier totally agree people forget but both genuinely care for each other (Noelle surrended immediately when Queen said that "a certain bird will a turn in the acid river" and Berdly on his snowgrave fight should be enough of a justification). I would like to know more about Noelle’s POV in their friendship and why she cares a lot about Berdly (my headcanon for now is that Berdly helped her a lot to recover from Dess’s disappearance)

[@ElectricBarrier]

@@galvsparks6295 Oh absolutely! Yeah, I think there's a lot more to Noelle putting up with him than just "she's nice". Obviously he needs to learn to be a bit more perceptive and consider her agency a bit more, but he's shown that when shit gets real so does he. I'd imagine he's had plenty of moments that have made her realize he's a good person and a good friend. So far though everything is too easily explained by, well, "she's nice" if you don't buy into the idea Berdly ain't so bad. We're gonna need some more before we can really convince people.

[@kaplooeygames8515]

Berdly accepting Queen's "city noises" to keep his mental reality together totally reframes that scene in a way I would never have thought of. Well done

[@Dorked]

Thanks! I think it fit pretty well with his other insecurities. There's some subtlety with the way he reacts in places.

[@marshmellowguy586]

...I think it was just a gag but ok

[@fourthmatchflame]

@@marshmellowguy586 it can be both.

[@TheAdvertisement]

Berdly went from the worst character to the best character in Chapter 2 for me, and I know I'm not alone. And honestly? After hearing Berdly's backstory, about how he actually _earned_ his grades, and wasn't just born smart, I look back at his pretentiousness and I can't hate it. Sure, he still wasn't nice, but he doesn't act that way just because he's a smug jerk who likes to flex his smarts, it's because he seeks validation from people to see him as intelligent, and is desperate to not lose that. He straight up says he helps the Queen in the Dark World because he doesn't want to face the world when Noelle can't help him study, and keep up the façade of him having a huge brain. He's just another insecure character, but masks it under a high class attitude.

[@Dorked]

Berdly definitely wasn't kind at first, but I feel like for as rude as he was, once he enters the dark world, it's framed so comedically that he feels less like a bully and more like an idiot who sees himself as a bigger deal than he actually is. And it's just so weird to me. Like, Susie was a bully at first and people love her for her development, so the hatred towards Berdly just boggles the mind. I think the idea that his turnaround was rushed is also weird because they built up to his insecurities throughout the entire chapter in small ways. I think if he has more time to shine later, he'll continue to grow and become a better person. ...outside of post-snowgrave playthroughs, but y'know.

[@TheAdvertisement]

@@Dorked Yeah, I definitely think he'll become less of a hassle in the next chapters, possibly even becoming a party member. And his bullying is even lesser than Susie's, he never tries to really feel scary, just more powerful, but he goes about it in such a stupid way that you just have to laugh at him. Then you feel bad for laughing at him. As for snowgrave... well the only way he'll shine is from that ice.

[@emsiyes]

I think this is almost everyone's first impressions and final thoughts of Berdly, including mine. At first, he's very annoying. Then, you see how he really is like and feel bad, then start to like him more and more.

[@joaquinjovane4226]

@@Dorked hey can you talk about how asriel is a horrible person

[@Minefan200]

@@joaquinjovane4226 what why

[@ChristopherMoom]

In order to truly fulfill Berdly's tragic arc of misfortune DeltaRune fans decided to use Berdly as a punching bag they could be overly aggressive towards I'm really happy with how Berdly was treated in Chapter 2 because I was one of the people that actually didn't dislike him in Chapter 1

[@socialistrepublicofvietnam1500]

Seriously, this fandom should stop turning minors into punching bags, especially if the player was the one responsible for doing something Chara was taught by the player's actions that violence was necessary, the same people who committed unspeakable atrocities blamed it on the one victim that wasn't brutally slaughtered I have seen multiple people bash on Kris and Noelle for causing the Snowgrave route... no *_it was you_* Berdly had his whole backstory regurgitated in front of the fandom, specifically to make his actions reasonable at a second glance... but nope

[@MasterSquirrel993]

@@socialistrepublicofvietnam1500 To say nothing of the people who blame _Chara_ for Snowgrave. I admittedly don’t know if that one’s widespread or just one or two people, but… I cannot even _begin_ to describe my feelings on that interpretation >_

[@BrownKirbyEpic]

honestly i didnt care about him in chapter 1 at all but hes one of my favorite characters in chapter 2

[@blackjackgameplay5169]

and on my part i actually liked him on chapter 1,lol and after ''smart race'' music i did like him more

[@joaquinjovane4226]

@@socialistrepublicofvietnam1500 the only who deserves that is asriel he deserves to be hated

[@valofthenorth475]

There's also a certain line of dialogue in Chapter 1 that makes me feel like he never really disliked Kris as much as people thought he did. He seems to be especially glad that they are alright after their day with Susie. When they first show up at the library, he goes: "Kris! You survived Susie! I was getting worried!" Of course he follows it up with a reminder of their 'family debt' but he still seemed glad that Kris was in one piece back when his opinion of Susie was pretty low. And in all honesty, a lot of people feel hurt by Berdly's words on Kris' behalf, while I think it's very likely him insulting Kris is something more friendly than we are shown. After all, we barged into their life and can only judge the people they have known for a lifetime by the few lines of dialogue they say on a specific day, yet we lack a LOT of context for them. It's very likely that Kris and Berdly just generally insult one another like some friends sometimes do, especially since in Chapter 2, Berdly seems to show an appreciation and respect of Kris that we didn't get to see all that well in the previous chapter, but only because there wasn't a realistic reason for it to happen anyways. Heck, he considers them the number 3 in class, which seems to be more of a compliment than anything... a very Berdly-like compliment but a compliment nontheless. I think his rudeness and mean demeanor is greatly exaggerated and I am glad people start to have a better perspective of him. Say what you want about him, but at least he never straight-up called Kris a freak and was still worried about them. I think most of the incel claims are leftovers from the first chapter when people absolutely hated this poor teen's guts. Though I see people hate on him for his crush as well, and I am not sure why since, as you mentioned, it's mostly played for laughs and it's not at all serious nor threatening to Noelle's crush (I suspect some people might be upset because of that mostly) Some people have also misinterpreted the fact that he thinks Noelle has feelings for him... I heard people say he felt things for Noelle and thought she did the same, which is a wrong interpretation of the character. He was willing to pretend to like Noelle because he felt he had to as a friend of her and to repay her in some way, even if he didn't feel the same way. It's more a misguided attempt at repaying her kindness than anything else, and I wish people got it. Thank you for this video Dorked! I really enjoyed it! We must protect our gamer bird from this terrible slander!

[@Dorked]

I KNEW I WAS FORGETTING SOMETHING. The "you survived susie" comment IS a really great example, though! I think it might also be that because we control Kris, people take Berdly's words very personally. Text can be easy to misconstrue, and for some the words taken in a vacuum can seem like another form of bullying. And yeah, honestly, I think there's a weird double standard at play given Noelle ALSO has a huge crush and can be super awkward about it, too, (e.g. wanting to stand behind Susie). Berdly's advances are more.... up front, but I think the fact that nobody takes them seriously shows that Toby isn't trying to write Berdly as something creepy.

[@MasterSquirrel993]

Huh, didn’t even remember that line, but that’s actually a _really_ good point! Man, small moments like that actually do an _incredible_ amount to recontextualize Kris and Berdly’s relationship. As for Berdly’s crush? Personally, I disliked it just because he briefly got a bit obnoxious about it after Queen’s first battle. _But,_ at the same time I never actually took it seriously. Noelle and Berdly’s exchange regarding his newfound feelings for Susie was legitimately hilarious, and the fact that there’s no animosity between them in the following scene reinforces that it was just there as a joke; it felt in no way like something that could cause any legitimate conflict later on :) Plus, in light of Berdly thinking Chapter 2 was a dream, I feel like his crush on Susie could _easily_ never be brought up again. So yeah, the shippers can cool their jets there XP

[@ElectricBarrier]

@@MasterSquirrel993 Suselle shippers get pretty defensive for people who support what is almost assuredly going to be the canon relationship, lol.

[@MasterSquirrel993]

@@ElectricBarrier People get too defensive for _all_ ships to be honest, Deltarune or not… ^_^;

[@ElectricBarrier]

@@MasterSquirrel993 Very true. Sadly true, even.

[@SuperKirbylover]

berdly is if papyrus didnt lift other people up with him when praising themselves simplified comparison but christ how can people unironically call him an incel

[@Dorked]

I think the difference is how Berdly appears a lot meaner on first impression whereas Papyrus is boastful but VERY goofy and upbeat. I like both, but you're totally right that they have similarities people overlook.

[@ziongamer6905]

It’s easy to call him an uncle because of some over lapping traits they both have but it’s SUCH an dismissive view. Berdly truthfully is like a lot of young men I’ve seen, none of which were even bad people. They were just awkward. While they didn’t have Berdly’s smug attitude, it’s easy to see the similarities and that made me feel remorse over him.

[@galegopaulista4564]

@@Dorked to be fair though, Berdly and Papyrus aren't the only Undertale and Deltarune characters that share similarities. Lancer also shares many similarities with Papyrus, Noelle shares similarities with Alphys, Susie shares a few similarities with Undyne, and so on. And frankly, that isn't inherently bad. Nothing is 100% original, and that isn't necessarily bad.

[@matti.8465]

@@Dorked I'm surprised Papyrus didn't fall into the trap of being unlikeable, when the first thing he does in Undertale is act bossy and egotistical.

[@kirbyleggington7205]

There's absolutely no evidence of Berdly being anywhere NEAR an incel. He's just a socially awkward teenager.

[@MasterSquirrel993]

…Okay, I had never seen that exchange with Kris over the final puzzle. And let me say, that alone added a _significant_ nuance to Berdly that wasn’t apparent before. Wasn’t sure if I agreed with Berdly trying to reach out to Kris being sincere at first, but that small, pitiful plea to get Susie out of the room so Kris could help him solve the puzzle… yeah, I felt genuinely sorry for the poor nerd bird :( While his insecurities still don’t excuse him being a condescending jerk for the first half of the chapter, by the _end_ of the chapter, I can certainly acknowledge that Berdly was clearly trying his damndest to move past his arrogant facade. He discards his delusions of Noelle having a crush on him, he takes a stand alongside Kris and co (openly referring to them as his _friends_ as well), and when Noelle and Susie start to wonder if living inside the Dark World would be alright, he _instantly_ jumps at the opportunity to make his friends happy. Even in my first play through, that final point stuck out to me as a big factor in his favor :) Too bad Ralsei realized at that moment he’d forgotten to mention the tiny detail of the _Beasts of the Apocalypse_ back in Castle Town :| -Kinda feel like something’s up with that for the record, but that’s a completely different subject- As for Berdly’s fanon-spawned traits… “haha hehe irrelevant memes for teh lolz” are one thing, and I’ve got no real issue with those. But people _legitimately_ thinking these “Gamer Traits” apply to Berdly has always been absurd to me. He’s certainly a Love to Hate character - again, at least for most of his screen time - but throwing _every_ nerdy loser trait under the sun at him makes no sense. I think him respecting Kris’s pronouns alone should joss about 95% of what people make Berdly out to be. And I do have to wonder: If we hadn’t gotten the ferris wheel scene, and Berdly hadn’t ever developed a blatant crush on Susie… would we still have gotten even half of these memes? I dunno, food for thought. Nevertheless, for the sake of wrapping this comment up: Even if Berdly’s still not my favorite member of the Lancer Fanclub, I do sincerely hope he and Noelle don’t completely lose relevance in the upcoming chapters. There’s still a _lot_ left to explore with their relationships with Kris and the crew, and it’d be a shame to drop them after they’ve both grown significantly as characters since Chapter 1. And ultimately, at the end of the day, whether you love him or hate him, there’s still one ambiguity about ol’ Berdly we all need to know: If you put him in a dark room, does his armor _actually_ glow in the dark?

[@spectralaria8648]

The only way I can think of berdly and noelle being in chapter 3s dark world is if noelle gets worried after not seeing kris and susie all day and comes to check on them. Berdly, after seeing noelle worried about them decides to tag along

[@G00dTaste]

I really frickin hope his armor does glow in the dark

[@dededeletethis9940]

“If you put him in a dark room, does his armor _actually_ glow in the dark?“ Now we’re asking the real questions. Forget all that knight, spamton and ralsei stuff, we need to know if berdly’s armor was falsely advertised

[@themarvelousmikey3512]

@@dededeletethis9940 agreed

[@qwertyuiop.lkjhgfdsa]

my personal thoughts on the glowinthedarkness of his armour is that its made of the glowinthedark stuff but because its only in the DARK world and glowinthedark stuff needs to be in the LIGHT for it to charge or whatever it wouldn't work

[@HEHEHE_I_AM_A_SUPAHSTAR_WARRIA]

I hope Berdly continues to get focus throughout the rest of the game, I feel his arc isn't complete yet since there's more that can be done with him

[@Endyre]

I feel like his development post snowgrave will be interesting, with all the characters reacting to him disappearing and eventually their reaction to finding him in that body-sized closet in the computer room

[@emsiyes]

I think thatll happen. Him and Noelle are the only Lightners apart from Kris and Susie that have an actual icon when dialogues happen. And we all know that happens only to main characters or ones that appear often at some points, so I really do think well get more of him in the other chapters

[@shokolandish]

@@emsiyes but Catti and Jockington also have dialogue icons- But they don't have unique text sound so i don't know about that lol But i do hope Berdly will develop further I love him-

[@emsiyes]

@@shokolandish maybe they'll have different sounds in future chapters Also I really love Burghley too, I'd love him to be in all chapters

[@shokolandish]

@@emsiyes same

[@lovelovemiraclesunsetgirl]

that "respects kris's pronouns better than the fandom" was such a satisfying and necessary zing and i actually cheered when i heard it!

[@joaquinjovane1211]

I hate asriel

[@Turbulation1]

@@joaquinjovane1211 cool, but nobody cares

[@joaquinjovane1211]

@@Turbulation1 he's a horrible person

[@Turbulation1]

@@joaquinjovane1211 I don't care, now go off.

[@ThinkOutsideTheBlocks]

@@joaquinjovane1211 Congratulations, nobody cares about your opinion

[@NRobbi42]

Glad you made this video. I was surprised that not many people picked up the fact that Berdly thinking Noelle had a crush on him was due to low self-esteem (since he couldn't imagine why anyone would be nice to him otherwise) rather than an inflated ego. Okay maybe a bit of an ego, but still it's mostly bravadao.

[@Dorked]

Thanks! I was really tired of all the bad faith criticism of Berdly. It felt so mean-spirited of a take for a character from a Toby Fox game. I think it's just that sometimes it's easier to just take surface details w/o looking deeper.

[@NRobbi42]

@Dorked Yeah, between this and the Daryl Talks Games video, I'm just glad that there's actual character analysts making videos on ch 2, so I can refer to them whenever there's hot takes.

[@neonfusion8956]

Another thing. When you fight Berdley in the Snowgrave route his attacks are faster and more accurate, implying he is genuinely concerned for Noelle and knows there's something wrong with Kris.

[@gristen]

the fact that he tries to get noelle away from kris when they faint during the battle supports this as well

[@bennybyeboo976]

In the normal fight it’s also shown that he’s smiling and trying to have a good time, while in the snowgrave route his sprite actually changes and he’s frowning, showing how he’s taking this fight a helluva lot more seriously.

[@Braxton999Adams]

"Berdly respects Kris's pronouns ALOT better than the majority of the fandom" Damn. All-ages-appropriate-glass-of-pure-sulphuric-acid level burn there!

[@justafan9206]

*Critical Hit!

[@EvTheBadConlanger]

*KO

[@sahilhossain8204]

More like Damn. All-ages-appropriate-glass-of-pure-sulphuric-acid level of OH god it! burns! Ahhh guy there!

[@Xanthopathy]

Rewriting history again, I see

[@Pipripfat]

9999999999 DMG!

[@flaco3462]

I love Berdly I've always loved Berdly Even in Chapter 1 where we didn't have much to go off him and everyone just hated him because he seemed like the snarky nerd stereotype which everyone seems to hate more than an actual bully who threatens to bite your face off I understood where he was coming from and his admittance to why he puts up the facade really hit me hard because I saw a little bit of myself in that moment and a lot of what my best friend has had to deal with his entire life as a gifted kid I could tell Berdly was someone who genuinely wanted friends and had his own way of expressing his enjoyment and friendship to others And who doesn't love someone who loves videogames huh He's braver and stronger than people give him credit for, taking on a trio by himself and then a duo, and he hits like a semi-truck with hard to dodge attacks People only ever see shitty gamer and nerd stereotypes with Berdly is the problem, it's the easiest thing to wash someone with for whatever reason But Berdly's one of the best written characters in the whole game so far, and he isn't even playable yet Also he looks really fucking cool He's also shown more straightforwardness and confidence with Susie in like five minutes than Noelle has had during like 5 hours Berdly is and will always be my favorite character

[@Dorked]

Yeah, the thing is, Berdly was always meant to be a funny character. And if Susie, who genuinely starts off threatening and violent can be so beloved, it's weird that people are so hard on Berdly who, while annoying and weird, isn't particularly mean. He's just really snooty at first and boasts a whole lot.

[@flaco3462]

@@Dorked Yes it is incredibly strange Maybe everyone just loves bullies and hates nerds and videogame players or whatever I don't really know

[@galvsparks6295]

You pilled all my thoughts in one comment, couldn’t have said any better

[@thedangerstrangeruk]

My theory is that people hate him because having to deal with an *alpha gamer* is more relatable than having to deal with someone threatening to bite their face off

[@flaco3462]

@@thedangerstrangeruk i guess so

[@matti.8465]

People hate Berdly because it's so easy to connect him to certain negative stereotypes. Fans saw this "annoying male gamer nerd" character and inmediately started characterizing him as a sexist, bigoted douchebag. I know there are a lot of people like that online, but maybe don't project your hatred for those people onto a character who only shares a few superficial similarities with them.

[@deconyus3412]

Berdly: appears to be smart despite only showing a self-serving, skewed, surface level understanding of situations People who hate Berdly: appear to be smart despite showing a self-serving, skewed, surface level understanding of the character

[@ChaosEnthusiast]

you arent wrong LOL

[@yahyathegameenjoyer]

Oh yeah 😂

[@redballoon9007]

The only difference is that Berdly is currently changing.

[@IceFireofVoid]

Man this reading of him really hit. I was the gifted kid growing up. It wasn't a front, but it didn't last. It's like I got a head start, but we all were running the same race and, even if I got to the finish line first, everyone else got there too eventually. And it felt like a destruction of myself and who I was. If I wasn't ahead of the others, then I was nothing. I had nothing that made me anyone. It actually got to me so bad that I needed therapy and medication. Granted, my depression was the result of a lot of different issues piling up, but the self worth issues from the fallout of being the gifted kid were a major player there.

[@Dorked]

YEAH. I think for those who haven't experienced that, it can be hard to understand and relate, but I think Toby did a good job characterizing Berdly based on that sorta upbringing and how lonely it can make people feel.

[@QUBIQUBED]

@@Dorked Proof that Deltarune will be far better than Undertale

[@kingofcrap4414]

I feel like Berdly and Kris are the kind of friends that make fun of and berate each other constantly yet still remain good friends. Thus how Berdly is able to make fun of Kris for their lack of intellect but still refer to them as "my fellow bluebird" at the end of the chapter.

[@forkgodsdescendant2503]

Yes, this. People can’t see that this is a thing. Me and my friends did this all the time. Our insults had zero effects because we all knew they meant nothing, we didn’t actually think that, and were not mean spirited. Because we were just joking around in the end. And it was just our way of some fun wordplay competetion to pass the time during break. Plus, all the shit Kris does to set up things in chapters makes me think he’s very capable of planning for things far ahead. (I saw in a comment that he ate qll the pie in the end of chapter 1 so that Toriel would bake a fresh new one the next day and attract Susie to enter their house. Part of the plan on making her stay over for the night.) And that he’s the actual smart one in the duo with Berdly, and is possibly as clever as Noelle. And obviously just doesn’t like trying 100% at studying.

[@Dorked]

YEAH, that's another great point. Friendly ribbing is very much a thing, but I think because people connect with the characters they control and might have heard similar things from genuine jerks, it hits a bit harder.

[@ElectricBarrier]

Kris: asks Berdly to stand in front of the hospital window after hearing Rudy wants to throw something at him. Everyone: Wow Kris must hate Berdly! Me: lol that totally sounds like the kind of prank Kris would pull on one of their friends

[@QUBIQUBED]

@@ElectricBarrier exactly thats like saying "Kris hiding under Noelle's bed to scare her was soooooooo evil and mean Kris muuusttt hate noellez!"

[@QUBIQUBED]

@@forkgodsdescendant2503 I just wanted to say that Kris uses they/them pronouns because if you don't correct them people get super mad fsr

[@nubby8544]

I stopped "hating" him right after the Spelling Bee scene. He was just a teen with huge ego. But then, Snowgrave Route happened. Seeing him care about Noelle and trying to save her, even not attacking her while Kris is up and at it made me appreciate his character a lot more. Toby really writes his characters well.

[@Synark25]

The definition of Berdly is "He's a little confused, but he's trying his best"

[@crystaluwu1012]

I have a strong feeling that berdly had neglectful and abusive parents, parents who never give him the appropriate attention he needs thats why he constantly seeks it to other people, he feels like he needs constant approval from other people to feel worthy of appreciation and love....

[@MattBnl2ih]

….did you come from the universal mom theory? Just asking

[@liviwaslost]

I feel like most characters in deltarune are kinda like that.

[@_draconisai_3810]

I’m glad my man’s finally getting the love he deserves, because jokes aside, he really is just a lonely kid that’s used to not being liked for who he is. He’s a cool dude and I’m glad he played such a big role in the story. 10/10 analysis, would watch again :)

[@nett_the_tree]

I only saw Berdly as slightly annoying in Chapter 1, but after Chapter 2 Berdly became one of my favorite characters along with Susie and Noelle. Hopefully someday we would be able to have Berdly join our party like Noelle did in Chapter 2.

[@rhymebeat1142]

God I want an Alphys or MTT video. A lot of people completely misunderstand the complexities. The former is seen as a mad scientist Doctor Frankenstein type, when all the amalgamates were accidents and she was breaking unprecedented ground with her experiments so she had no idea what would happen. Folks also somehow miss the "preventing a highly devastating war" parts of his motivations as well. MTT is selfish but not entirely so, in the end.

[@markymar]

An MTT analysis would be Absolutely BEAUTIFUL…because nobody talks about his backstory.

[@dimensionalhero9183]

The issue with Alphys imo isn't what she does, it's that she gets off with no repercussions in the end. I would've been fine if the message was "Even if the truth is rough and you're not the person everyone thinks you are, the people who matter will understand and love you" but because the game ends so quickly and the postgame shows that EVERYONE in the underground is 100% fine with the amalgamates and isn't freaked out (Snowdrake sees his undead mom crawl back home as an abomination after being gone for god knows how long and just goes "Cool, we have a bigger family now"). Alphys would've been much better if the main characters forgave her but her reputation was scarred, because then it would mean she learned the truth can be hard but she has people who love her no matter what. Instead everyone just agrees with her keeping these mangled screaming mounds of flesh underground and feeding them nothing but dog food and potato chips.

[@kyree1483]

@@dimensionalhero9183 I think self hatred, mass stress and committing suicide in some neutral runs is enough repercussion

[@dimensionalhero9183]

The committing suicide part I can agree with, but self hatred and stress? There are people who go through that daily even without literally keeping mangled abominations in their basement

[@Minefan200]

@@dimensionalhero9183 Toriel fired her at the end of Pacifist route, so, she did get repercussions in the end, though.

[@skillsofanartist9071]

It’s absolutely wild to me how so many people treat Berdly, a middle/high schooler heavily implied to have some form of neurodivergency, as being this terrible irredeemable person while at the same time coddling Spamton, a fully grown adult who has done much, MUCH worse, and willingly overlooking the fact that he literally assists you in turning Noelle into a murderer and took over the Queen’s mansion to use the Fountain for his own selfish purposes. Don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t mean I hate Spamton, he’s one of my favorite characters! But the fact that Toby Fox put so much work into creating such three-dimensional, complex characters only for people to treat them as either 100% good or 100% evil and demonize certain characters for their less than savory actions only to turn around and act as though other characters that have the exact same things did nothing wrong (coughcoughChara and Floweycoughcough) is incredibly frustrating and makes it seem like people are undermining the narrative and completely missing the point of both games.

[@rbexcess]

Spamton is literally a spam bot 😂

[@prettypenguin1944]

@@rbexcess A spambot who exploits minors to make them do his dirty work for him for no other reason than his own self-benefit regardless of the route you take (even before Kris showed up it’s all but outright stated that he tried to get the Sweet Cap’n Cakes, who are all heavily implied to be teenagers, to get the EmptyDisk for him) and saw the only Lightner who ever looked his way and acknowledge his work being manipulated into freezing dozens of innocent Darkners alive and very clearly uncomfortable with it and not only did nothing to help her but sold her and her friend, who are both minors, a literal torture device for her to wear solely for the sake of a petty grudge. I know this is an old comment, but Spamton is far from just some "quirky" comic relief.

[@1BeautifulDuck]

What makes the Chara and Flowey thing worse is that, Flowey is implied to have killed many people, even going as far as to commit genocide, while the only person Chara killed was themselves.

[@bumbabees]

@@1BeautifulDuck THANK YOU. MY GOD. ive been trying to get people to understand for years that while chara is absolutely not a great person, they didnt commit the war crimes so many people seem to think they did. they were never bloodthirsty. even in the form we meet them in. never made any sense to me why asriel could commit literal genocide multiple times over (and a long list of a bunch of other horrible things) and people couldnt even fathom someone choosing not to forgive him, but _chara_ is somehow satan incarnate for...killing themself and manipulating asriel.

[@sunny0042]

I like Berdly. He's a pretty funny character but also has a good backstory and quite a bit of thought put into him. I also find his crush on Susie to be very amusing.

[@emasti_]

* Oh * Um * Oh * Uh * It * It's * Oh * Well * Um * Mmm * It's * How Do I Put This * Very... * ... * Smart * So Smart You Are * I Love Tolerating You

[@TheEmeraldCreeper]

Queens face be like: Lying . . . . (poor Berdly)

[@Maskit4life]

“Berdly-“ Me: Yes, Berdly? The best character ever? My favourite character? What about him? I know everything about him

[@volcanic9120]

Susie: Is mean at the start of Chapter 1 but eventually becomes nicer as she gets character development throughout the chapter. Fans: Aww I love Susie, she's great. Berdly: Is mean at the start of Chapter 2 but eventually becomes nicer as he gets character development throughout the chapter. Fans: He deserves to die! >:( ???

[@ElectricBarrier]

Well I personally understand being more willing to sympathize with the rough-around-the-edges delinquent girl who lashes out because of her insecurities and bad home life... I mean that's, like, a lot of characters I like. Still, share some of that sympathy with Berdly, you guys!

[@emperortgp2424]

@@ElectricBarrier lol yeah for real Fans: Aww I love susie, her insecurities are so cute! Also fans: I hate that insecure piece of [[?!?!]] Berdly so much!

[@ElectricBarrier]

​@@emperortgp2424 I love them both and wish them the best.

[@sahilhossain8204]

The irony am I right?

[@speedattack]

They are my top 2 favourite characters lmao

[@tyrannosarcophagous3447]

chapter two's humour really nailed it for me personally. Berdly's dialogue and shenanigans with Kris and Company were literally my favourite parts of chapter two. his swagless gamer boy charm captured my heart. who else can give me psychic damage and uncontrollable fits of laughter in one go. truly the character of chapter two

[@CyanClefairy]

oh this is an excellent analysis! i always found it strange when people called berdly an incel because its like...he's the opposite? he thought a girl had a crush on him and tried to reciprocate to spare his friend's feelings. that is...the opposite of entitlement. and sure he's being an idiot about susie, but i have a hard time believing he'd continue to advance if he was told she wasnt interested at all (plus considering he has very little friends, the crush also feels a bit 'this person has lifted a weight off my shoulders by telling me i dont need to be smart and im riding the high of it. this person is nice to me so they might like me right?') i dont know, he;s an awkward kid with an awkward crush that i have a hard time imagining will be long term the more he hangs out with the gang as a whole and gets to make deeper connections and friends? (if he gets to of course) i also think there's value in pointing out that its implied, right as queen is capturing berdly, that he's only helping her to protect noelle. he certainly puts his all into being a peon and definitely has fun with it, but 'B-but... you said you wouldn't do that if I..' in response to queen saying she'll make noelle's face into a robot one also shows that protecting his friend is the top priority (whether that be from kris and the gang or queen) of course one could argue that his motivations behind this are selfish (and maybe even partly are) the whole, 'i dont know what i'd do without her help' sort of angle, but he still protects her. they're thrust into this strange new world together and he tries everything he can, even if he makes a lot of mistakes but yes, great video! its nice to see people take whats actually there in canon and talk about it

[@williambutcher7429]

In the eyes of most fandoms, being annoying is worse than murdering people

[@genericangst8665]

I think the most important thing to remember when it comes to criticizing the main characters (Kris, Susie, Noelle, Berdly, even Ralsei) is that they're all teenagers (in Ralsei's case he's at least presented as a teenager, idk if there's much canon indication of his age), and so they are gonna be a lil weird. I've seen some people say that Noelle's crush on Susie is creepy, or that Susie doesn't have a crush on Noelle and that's she's oblivious to Noelle's feelings, but this is likely the first time that Noelle and Susie have had to deal with crushes and they wouldn't know how to navigate it. I heavily doubt that most people's first crushes weren't weird and awkward and "lay awake at night years later cringing at your past self", because you just don't always know better. I mean it's not like Noelle is overstepping Susie's boundaries, unless you count her looking for Susie's tail at the end of ch2 as such. And for the argument that Susie is unaware, it seems like she is at least somewhat aware based on her reaction in the beginning of ch2 after Noelle gives her that box of chalk. It seems that she's just confused or potentially overwhelmed, so she pushes it aside (after thoroughly shaking Kris) and goes into the Dark World. I think there's something interesting with Berdly with how he assumes that Noelle has a crush on him because she's nice to him, or that he had to reject Kris's "advances" because he wasn't interested (and literally all Kris did was check up on Berdly), or even Berdly himself developing some kind of weird thing with Susie after she was nice to him once. Maybe he has an idea that being nice equates to romantic interest, or that a person is only nice to another for some kind of personal gain, which seems kinda sad. It also makes me wonder where he got the idea that he had to be so smart, if some adult or parental figure told him he had to prove he was really smart and that was the only form of validation he felt he could receive, or if it was an idea he had on his own which became confirmed in his mind as time went on and he reached the top of the class (i always forget if he's no.1 or 2, like he acknowledges that Noelle has been helping him and is smarter, but I don't remember if she like,, let him be no.1?) In the end, I think Berdly is just an awkward, occasionally abrasive, teenager who just wants some good ol validation and appreciation. He's definitely not homophobic or transphobic or misogynistic, that's a gross exaggeration of his more idiotic(affectionate) moments. Several someones are definitely projecting to get to that conclusion lmao

[@Dorked]

Yeah, I could totally see the adults in his life impacting the way he handles social situations. But I agree- I think when engaging with media, it's easy to put one's outside perspective at the forefront, ignoring that characters in the story aren't us. They can't see beyond the 4th wall (barring Flowey to an extent in UT, haha). Plus, like you said, they are just teens at the end of the day.

[@QUBIQUBED]

I, so, freaking, AGREEE!!! Berdly just has shit social skills and yeah I agree with that " Maybe he has an idea that being nice equates to romantic interest, or that a person is only nice to another for some kind of personal gain, which seems kinda sad." because if the universal mother theory is right this is just even more proof for it. It's heavily implied that Berdly doesn't get shown unconditional love by his parents and believes people do good things to earn something.

[@genericangst8665]

@@QUBIQUBED Sorry, what is the "universal mother theory"? I've never heard of that. Is it just a theory within Deltarune, or is it a broader thing that can be found in multiple media?

[@QUBIQUBED]

@@genericangst8665 It may go futher than deltarune but I heard it first within deltarune

[@stormbix]

@@genericangst8665 The "universal mother theory" is really just a Deltarune thing I think, being a more specific version of the idea that certain Darkners are a physical manifestation of the internal struggles of the characters. For example, Lancer and the Spade King would be manifestations of Susie's internalized image of being "the bad guy" as a result of other kids being afraid of her and her simply playing the role she was given until she learned how to handle real friendships. In the "universal mother" theory in particular, Queen is considered the personification of both Noelle and Berdly's mommy issues, with how dismissive she was of Berdly and how controlling she was with Noelle during most of Chapter 2. Spamton's similarities with Kris are also notable in this group of theories.

[@JollyRomping]

I think a significant thing people forget is that these characters are kids, someone acting like Berdly as an adult would be a lot worse. But he’s a kid and has way more potential to grow.

[@marshmellowguy586]

It's funny because both Susie and Berdly are mean to Kris at first, with Susie literally calling Kris a freak multiple times. Both of them have character archs where they get over their bullying habits, but people tend to focus on the gamer bird more

[@iantaakalla8180]

That’s what happens when the actually mean Susie undergoes her character arc first

[@latiosfreak2000]

"berdly would be homophobic and transphobic" chad berdly respecting pronouns better than the deltarune fandom lmao

[@indorfan]

W opinion

[@ChaosEnthusiast]

@@SophisticatedArc hi can i please have context

[@marshmellowguy586]

"Respecting pronouns" Cringe.

[@untrustfool]

@@marshmellowguy586 Ah sorry let me just *stops existing*

[@Guynamedmellow]

W

[@kaibird542]

I actually really resonate with Berdly because I know what it feels like to have your place as the “smart kid” be your entire identity and then have the feeling like everything is falling apart when you suddenly aren’t anymore. It’s a feeling that I’ve had to process myself, and it definitely can put a ton of pressure on your self-esteem. It’s difficult to navigate.

[@prettyokiguess8369]

It feels like most people dislike Berdley because they remind them of themselves. Hell, I like him because he reminds me of myself in middle/high school, just want to see the babby improve

[@joaquinjovane1211]

Nah i just don't luke him

[@theclockworkknight1273]

Yep. I actually liked him for that reason. He reminded me of how I acted back in elementary and middle school, because I got bullied ruthlessly, and tried to use my intelligence to prove that I was better than everyone else as a coping mechanism. To be honest, he reminds me of just how much of a little shit I was, but it also makes me excited for him to change himself for the better

[@cherrypuddles]

I *adore* Berdly because he reminds me of myself. The idea of "my grades are the only thing I like about myself, so the only way I can be happy with myself is if I put an unrealistic level of importance on them" is just brutally relatable.

[@yellowpower3755]

@@theclockworkknight1273 Ugh…. Fuck bullies, seriously…

[@Vektor_Ohio]

I actually like him because of that. The high expectations part is sooo relatable

[@justsomeogrewithinternetac1494]

My opinion on berdly went from "mid dislike" to "wow I really hate you" to "your pretty funny but still unlikable" to "damm I actually really feel for this bird" to "...alright berdly you're still annoying but I want to help you" By the end I kinda want to slap berdly for causing so much trouble by accident, and then help him deal with his personal problems. Also I personally find berdly very funny

[@Dorked]

Honestly, that's fair. Probably one of the most realistic ways to look at Berdboi.

[@justsomeogrewithinternetac1494]

@@Dorked like is berdly annoying? Yes. Did berdly cause a lot of problems, even if he didn't mean to? Yes. Did he also try and fix it? Absolutely. Berdly is far from evil, just a very flawed, kinda annoying Teenager who has just completely atrocious social skills. Like berdly I love yah...but MAN your bad at social interactions

[@forkgodsdescendant2503]

Susie: “I’m gonna bite your face off cuz I hate the way you looked at me. Susie: “You have a good mother Kris. It would be a shame to have to make her bury her child.” People: ... Asriel: I killed my family and friends when I was a flower with godlike time powers because I was bored and I could. But I feel very very bad about that now. People: Aww, it’s ok. Everyone makes mistakes! I understand where you’re coming from. Berdly: I AM A 999IQ EPIC GAMER!! People: WHAT A LUNATIC!! DISGUSTING!! This, VILE, PUTRID, ORGANISM!! THIS EVIL, MANIAC!!! I HATE HIM! THIS, DEMON! I HATE HIM WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING! THE MERE SIGHT OF HIM INVOKES PURE HATRED WITHIN MY SOUL. HIS EXISTENCE IS A MISTAKE THAT SHOULD BE CORRECTED!

[@indorfan]

Chara: please stop killing people People:CHARA WHY DID YOU KILL EVERYONE! HOW COULD YOU, OH MY GOD YOU KILLED SANS UNNDRRTAEL, DEFINITELY WASN'T ME, YOU GENOCIDERD EVERYONE EVEN THOUGH YOU DID LITERALLY NOTHING.

[@ChaosEnthusiast]

@@indorfan THIS IS TRUE

[@ChaosEnthusiast]

LOL IKR

[@Slendermangaming666]

THIS PUTRIDE BIRD IS A GAMER, TRULY DISGUSTING, THE WORST OF THE MINORITES!!!

[@PhantomGato-v-]

Look, Asriel has the benefit of being a smol bean And a fluffy boi ok. That contributes greatly to why we love him.

[@firestorm3k882]

The way some fans treat Birdly as a character in Deltarune reminds how some fans treated Alphys in Undertale...

[@pteroid11]

Coming back to this after the Sweepstakes, I’m starting to think he and Kris were genuinely friends. While Kris DID crank call him, they also fixed Berdly’s computer and hung out playing minecrap with him after.

[@Type3Diabeto]

I think how he acts in SnowGrave specifically speaks volumes about his character. When all the chips are down he immediately drops the act and fights to his own death to save Noelle from you. The rest of the points here are phenomenal too

[@Tramon81]

Having had a really rocky ride in regards to academic success I had formed a connection with Berdly instantly. While most of his demeanor is in complete opposition to mine, I do believe that the feeling of your whole world being defined by a grading system and it crashing down when underperforming to be well represented. I do believe that this character's actions in the sparse occasions in which they are good, speak worlds of how much better a friend Berdly could be if he hadn't to contend with this "reputation".

[@Skeleetoon_Kid]

As a neurodivergent socially awkward gifted teenager I LOVE Burghley hes such and interesting and funny character I cant wait to see more of him

[@friedhegg1994]

His story isn't really anything that comes up in pop culture very often, so it's really cool to see him. He's great I love him

[@cloudieo]

As a HUGE Berdly fan i will be completly honest: I used to heavily dislike him before chapter 2 came out simply because in chapter one i didint get to see enough lf his character and sadly assumed he was just a shallow problem causing jerk wich is a trope i HATE. But then chapter 2 came along and flipped my opinion of him DRASTICLY. He went from being a person i hated and was glad i never was to somone i adored and heavily related to! Especialy when he wants to get validation from the adult's in his life and his long fear of being seen as "stupid". I feel like alot of Deltarune fans seem to either project their old cringy selves on to him or are just see him as a bigot (wich is ironic since he actully seems to respect gamer girls and uses the correct pronouns when talking to Kris). I also feel like Berdly is heavily autistic coded (Mainly with saying things he dosint mean as bad but come over as bad) wich is another reason i relate to him! I dont really know how to end this comment other then i loved this video and im glad somone could shed light on why Berdly is great! :)

[@venade9997]

dude this guy is SO relatable. he literally reflects ME in every way possible.

[@diamondmemer9754]

Everyone sleeps on the real reason why he thought Noelle had a crush on him Because his opinion of himself was so low he thought nobody would unironically try to be his friend normally, which is also what we thought at first Edit: OK finally someone acknowledges it

[@QUBIQUBED]

Oh hi Diamond Memer also yes I agree

[@diamondmemer9754]

@@QUBIQUBED hi did we meet before

[@misakitakazaki8951]

I will open my heart more than I should... I get disheartened every time people just show their hate for Berdly. I was bullied in high school for being like him. I never recovered from bullying. It ruined my life. I never got a job for more than 1 week. I'm afraid of people and relationships. I'm getting old. Trying to recover. But it's never enough and it's a bit late. Everytime I see people hating Berdly I think people will bully me in real life and I want to give up.

[@dogman9223]

Don’t really know what to say here other than “oof”, but good lord, oof. I know this probably does next to nothing, after all I’m some faceless internet man you’ll probably never see again after this comment chain, but I hope things start pointing up for you.

[@QUBIQUBED]

Proof that people should stop bullying Berdly and start respectfully disliking him.

[@userNEREMAR]

Berdly is my favorite character. I just want to see him happy ❤

[@Hunter-vz6ur]

any lines you can draw to berdly being an incel or homophobic are played to show that he ISN'T those things. i'd confidently say that anyone who uses those excuses as criticism don't even try to understand character writing.

[@jamesmoses2769]

Berdly has been my favourite character basically since i saw him, and i'm glad he got a lot of attention in chapter 2

[@ccbb8115]

i love berdly. i feel like i can see _my_ middle-school-ish-aged self in him. i was always the aspie kid in cargo shorts and zelda t shirts who everyone agreed was smart, but kind of weird. i didn't have a lot of friends on account of my social awkwardness, but i forced out a lot of charisma to make up for it. i get that sort of vibe with berdly and i find it really charming, even if in a sort of unfortunate way. tbh i think the little dude deserves more appreciation.

[@darwinaguilero3175]

I always thought Berdly was a pretty cool character, personality wise. Seeing how much he cares about Noelle is super touching, and shows that’s he’s a really good kid. Shit bro, he immediately tries to save her when he finds her acting crazy in Snowgrave. No jokes, no bravado, he’s probably stuttering out of fear AND the fact that he’s being completely honest for once. Maybe it’s weird to see how much he tries to look out for her, but he probably had a feeling some people would take advantage of her meekness, and someone can in one awful route, so it seems valid. Great video. Chicken nugget man is a favorite of mine, for sure.

[@MAGNETICDOGZ]

0:04 Hey!!! That’s my design for Berdly’s mom! It showed up for like a second! 😄

[@mecburnablasta6811]

I think why I like so much Berdly is because I kinda was like him in one of my Highschool math classes, where I knew the math well enough that the teacher would sometimes ask me if they answered it correctly when going over it with the class. I did feel kinda pressured sometimes to be correct as to not lose face, so I understand the feeling of living up to being the smart kid in class. That and the Berdly Statue

[@cryptid_lives_here6883]

Man, I do genuinely love Berdly. He’s my annoying lil shit and I love him! As an awkward ex-gifted kid, Berdly is a character I really relate to! His backstory is a fuckin mood and I empathize with his insecurities. Broski genuinely fucking cares about his friends and y’all are sleeping on that :/ Also his fight fucking slaps- I’m so bad at video games and died to him once or twice but I will live and die on the hill that his battle hits so hard. Berdly is also the biggest lgbtq+ ally and it drives me up the wall when people try to call him homophobic and transphobic. As you said, my guy respects Kris’s pronouns far far better than the fandom, and he literally surrounds himself with queer folks, Kris and Noelle in particular. P.S. to all the assholes: You can’t just make a version of Kris who uses he/him pronouns. This isn’t like Undertale where you could choose the name of the fallen child and Frisk was someone for you to project onto. The whole point of Deltarune is that you don’t have a choice in the matter. This isn’t “your version of Kris”. Kris was a pre-existing person with their own life, ambitions, and motivations. The point of the endings of both chapters is that you are taking over this person and controlling them like a puppet on strings. Kris uses they/them pronouns consistently through the game by all of the characters and Toby Fox actively corrects those who don’t address them with their pronouns. You have zero influence on what pronouns Kris uses and you can shut the fuck up with your “wELL mY kRiS iS a GiRL-“ no they’re not 😘

[@sahilhossain8204]

Well the real "transphobics" were in fact the 95% of the fandom all along

[@cloudyvulpine]

this video is like, every thought i have about Berdly that i can never properly articulate. my friend doesn't like Berdly and it kills me because i relate to Berdly so, so, sosososososososo much so i might send them this video just to try and win them over to the Berdly fan side bc yknow, if they don't like Berdly they might not fully like me lolz

[@ironicallyscreaming]

Berdly isn't a bad person, he's just, like, 15

[@valentinechoco6917]

I don't think I've seen this specific type of character often in media, let alone written well. I think that's why I love Berdly so much.

[@JaafarTheToon]

I really like Berdly after Chapter 2. And even more after this video, it's a shame people don't look further into characters like him.

[@caracaracat2958]

I personally really like berdly and hope of seeing him in future chapters. He’s just a kid with self-esteem issues trying to over compensate by acting like he’s a prodigy…

[@NukeTelAvivToday]

Alot of the attitude towards Berdly feels like repackaged ableism, disdain towards the weird kid in class and all that. The insecurity aspect of him is nice being brought up as well, it's honestly kind of always a given with more arrogant(?) kinds of people.

[@avivzukerman6413]

Berdly is the Messiah

[@carlosbraw6169]

Berdly was already my favorite character just for being hilarious, but now after this video he is my favorite favorite character! Thank you!

[@AdiPassover]

Berdly had one of the best character development I've ever seen in a game.

[@remingtongagnard4442]

Berdly is gamer and therefore must be protected at all costs (I love him )

[@orchididol]

berdly is love berdly is life

[@catoticneutral]

so true

[@qwertyuiop.lkjhgfdsa]

real

[@watching7721]

Don't you disrespect Shrek with that blasphemy

[@RandomClems]

Wow! This was amazing! I didn't know how people can see Berdly as a bad person, but this has made me see some things that I didn't know about the Nerdly Berdly. (Also was thAT BERDLY REJECTED CONCEPT??? 0:00)

[@Dorked]

Yes, yes it was. x)

[@EggBabyOfficial]

a deltarune theorist that doesnt misgender kris??? I simply must subscribe

[@Dorked]

YEAH. Kris' pronouns are hella important to me. Saddens me how often they get misgendered.

[@galvsparks6295]

And you know who else doesn’t miss gender Kris ? MY MO- Berdly so I don’t understand why so many people call him homophobic

[@zachattack9455]

My opinion of Berdly in chapter 1: annoying blue dude My opinion of Berdly in chapter 2: "ah he's a gamer, all of your sins shall be forgiven."

[@bobbobbobbobb]

If Toby decides to minimize Berdly's role in future chapters because of Snowgrave and his potential paralyzed arm, I'mma be SO PISSED. This birdbrain needs more screentime and further development. It'd be like not including Susie after Chapter 1. He's started the journey down character development, but he still needs more time to complete it.

[@glasssawsslipperstraws7410]

Berdly is one of my favorite characters in Deltarune so far. I never acted all high and mighty like he did, but I always was someone who was super awkward, got really good grades in school and had barely any friends at all. I can relate to him in that sense. I really hope we see more of him.

[@nyananath]

As someone who is considered the "smart kid", Berdly is such a relatable character As a "smart" person, people expect you to be like that all the time. They assume you are serious, obedient, polite, or expect you to be mature, when in reality, you're just a kid, just like all your classmates. I'm actually pretty dumb in general, I despise books, I forget how to speak at times and laugh at stupid stuff, I didn't have to hide in a facade like Berdly because I actually showed how I was from the start, many times in the past I told my friends to treat me just like everyone else, and we get along like that :3 So, advice: If you talk to a "smart kid", don't treat them different or else they'll become Berdly

[@generalrabid9572]

Wait but berdlys funny!

[@flagonking1337]

I honestly didn't even take note of this guy in Chapter 1. Now? One of my favorites. Nice vid.

[@squawk-box]

i think another aspect of berdly's instant crush on susie when she's nice to him is that, from his belief that noelle must have a crush on him because she's very nice to him, very positive feelings = crush is a connect-the-dots mentality that already exists in his brain also, it's definitely not that uncommon for people with serious anxiety about abandonment to immediately overattach themselves emotionally to someone as soon as they're shown kindness

[@angelgirl976]

It's very easy to defend a character when we know the full story. I give characters like Berdly the same chances I give people IRL. If people are going to act like an ass, that's my opinion of them. But if they demonstrate they are not as such, I'll warm to them. Berdly does act like an ass even if its for the best of intentions and to keep up a ruse. And if he were a real person, I'd tell him to cut it out because his behaviour isn't great. Him redeeming himself though was a great story and I hope we see more of him.

[@christianboi7690]

I loved Berdly the second I saw him. He’s not dumb. He works hard to be the best, but doesn’t see his accomplishments as real because he was helped along the way. Beneath his derision and mocking there’s a good person who just needs to accept who and what he is and stop letting people hurt him/decide his actions. He put on airs, but deep down he’s a good person who needs someone to tell him he matters, it’s okay to need help, and his hard work means something.

[@TheEmeraldCreeper]

One thing you didn't add is in Berdly's 2nd fight; On the normal route Berdly's expressions are smug, but in Snowgrave Berdly's expressions (in general and when attacking) are serious. I think this adds onto the point of noticing something's wrong. . could just be me though

[@Dorked]

Oh, that's a good point, for sure. The mood change between Snowgrave and the normal route is very subtle but effective.

[@lunathekuduruk1311]

Hello emerald from SD server

[@TheEmeraldCreeper]

@@lunathekuduruk1311 Hello there

[@viiolet_wasp6427]

let me thank you for taking my muddled thoughts about why i like berdly and compiling them in a coherent manner. most of the time i struggle explaining stuff, especially when it's about characters i like for "seemingly no reason". berdly was one of those characters and i used to keep saying "he's an annoying bluebird, he's cute". but with this character analysis i realized i might like berdly not just for his antics and dialogue but more so as a person with feelings. i used to look at him on the surface level and still managed to like him, i just got the basic gist of him having to meet expectations he put up for himself and turning into a rather pretentious persona but i never really looked further into him because "i like him already, why should i look deeper?" and your video helped me understand why. wanting to impress people for the sake of acceptance only to be pushed away and ignored/avoided was something i struggle(d) with a lot. it doesn't help that he was labeled as a gifted kid, much like i was. i am an awkward teen who has obscure interests, just like he is. seemingly the only difference between me and berdly is how we express our desire for acceptance and relationships. in a way i deeply relate to berdly and i never really understood why until i watched this video. thank you for making it, thank you for helping me understand my thoughts on him better.

[@DmotionT]

I liked Berdly even in chapter 1 because he reminded me so much of Revali from BOTW.

[@gb_oreo]

Finally someone's talking about the good things of Berdly, i've noticed most of the things you said and i am pleasently surprised about the quality of this video, keep the good work :P

[@kawiianimekitty7472]

I've played the first two chapters of deltarune so many times I've fell in love with berdly as a character. Even though I find him annoying sometimes I cannot deny that he's a capable fighter(dude took me down like 3 times while playing Chapter 2 along with sporting an oddly groovy theme song

[@nameman9997]

Personally I don’t think Berdly really has a crush on Susie, he’s just poor at differentiating between platonic and romantic attraction

[@Lizzylove6073]

He’s just like me fr bro

[@niftybadgaming4982]

I grew attached to berdly I gave him the present cause I really like berdly. He reminder of me Scott the woz sometimes

[@ChattyAlarm]

THANK YOU, in KZbin comments o have been constantly talking about how berdly is insecure about himself, how he truly cares for Noelle, and how he’s a true hero in the snowgrave route willing to risk his life, so I’m so glad you’ve taken the time to tell everyone how amazing berdly is, instant subscribe

[@OMORIDAILYNEWS]

Loving Berdly Since Launch - A Deltarune Character Analysis

[@flaco3462]

me

[@NRobbi42]

It was the laughing sprite for me. Glorious.

[@grumpadiggs1995]

This is what I wanted to say but couldn't make brief. Berdly is my favorite character so far, and I really hope chapter 2 isn't the most we ever see of him. Toby went out of his way to make him his own personality, backstory, moves, and he's even one of the subjects of a particular 'route' in the game. Thanks for shining a positive light on the little bluebird.

[@bumblingBird-]

An excellent analysis, nice seeing people recognise the greatness of this bird.

[@AmbrosiaMooshine]

This is an amazing video I loved it, it’s been awhile since I’ve watched it :)

[@soupmarine6053]

Like Queen stated "There's nothing wrong with him, he's just annoying" When he appeared in Chapter 2, I groaned and was already preparing myself for his dumb shit. What I wasn't prepared for was his need for validation from Queen and least of all, from Kris. It spoke volumes on how lonely and deprived of attention this boy had from his peers and possibly his own family. While this doesn't excuse him for being a prick, it explains why he acts the way he acts. I still scoff at how idiotic he is, but there's a quirk of a smile I give him. And I truly smiled when Berdly was willing to give Kris and Susie a chance to study with Noelle and him. It was heartwarming~

[@williambutcher7429]

I want Berdly to become part of the main cast. No, I need him to.

[@cool4nikola124]

*(berdly's constant remenisence of papyrus fills me with DETERMINATION)

[@cool4nikola124]

Also his expressions remind me of undyne, so there's that

[@nullset2]

Berdly was fucking awesome and a lot better than he looked at the beginning.