All about Chara: The hidden protagonist of Undertale

Hi everyone! I wanted to address a couple of comments that I've gotten many times since the video took off. First, people have pointed out that I shouldn't take Flowey's words at the beginning of the genocide route as proof of anything. And I agree that I could have worded that part better. Like many people said, Flowey ends up thinking that Frisk is Chara in every route, so even if he comes to that conclusion faster in this route, it's not really proof of anything. Still, even if we can't take Flowey's words as truth, in this case there are other major pieces of evidence (such as the mirror text and the changes in narration) that still point to the same direction. Either way, I shouldn't have used the word "control" here, since like I explained later, I still believe that the player is the one in control for most of the game. I still wouldn't discredit everything Flowey says though, since his comments aren't really contradicted by anything else in the game. When he says "You're not really human, are you? No, you're empty inside, just like me", I'm inclined to believe him, because both Sans and Undyne also make comments that imply you're not truly a human during the genocide route. Second, a lot of people have mentioned that at the end of the genocide route, Chara appears to "hesitate" and the player still has to push a button before Flowey gets killed, and thus the choice to kill Flowey would still be left up to the player. However, I don't fully agree with this. Sure, you CAN still reset the game at that point and back out of the consequences of the genocide route, but that's only a choice if you already know what's going to happen and know what to do to avoid it. The game doesn't give you any prompt like the choice between "Fight" and "Mercy". You just push a button like you would with any piece of dialogue. I personally think you're made to push a button (instead of the whole scene playing automatically) to let Flowey's previous line sink in, and if you're playing for the first time, you have no idea what will happen after you continue. Lastly, thank you so much for all the comments, likes and the 100,000 views! I'm very happy many of you have found this video useful, and that you want to see more! I definitely would like to make more videos like this around Undertale, Deltarune and other topics, it's just been a matter of finding the time. I have a webcomic that should be finishing by the summer this year, and after that I hope to have more time to make some new videos. Once new Deltarune chapters come out, I'd especially love to analyse Kris more!

I think the mirror really is the greatest proof we have for the Narrator Chara theory. The fact that it says, "It's still just you, Frisk." vs, "It's me, Chara." seems pretty full-proof in my opinion...

I actually really like the wording “At this point both Asriel and Chara don’t have a soul”. The fact that Flowey and the Chara we see in genoside are just twisted shells of who Asriel and Chara actually were really makes sense. I mean, if the fandom recognises that Flowey isn’t really Asriel at this point, why can’t they consider that the Chara we see there isn’t the real Chara? That Chara isn’t the person they were when they were a living child? That they probably are just like Asriel?

I hope this video helps people realize that there's more nuance to Chara than simply "hurr durr, i must destroy everything".

30:17 I just want to mention that the game window shakes when you are hit, practically confirming that you are being struck down

most people forget that chara died in the 2010s and that undertale could take place in the far future or the near future (unlike deltarune which takes place in the 2020s). this means that asriel didn't die by arrows but possibly gun shot wounds or worse. it also explains alphys' technology

Have you seen the theory that Chara doesn't have red eyes, Frisk does? After all, Chara's sprite has brown eyes at all times. Only Frisk is shown with red eyes in the soulless pacifist ending. Though they might be possessed, that didn't necessarily change their eye colour if you assume Frisk's usual sprite has closed or narrowed eyes. They just opened them wide to cause the red flash, mirroring Chara's expression. Hence, Kris looks exactly like an older Frisk, including their eye colour; but they behave like Chara.

I would also like to point out the parallels between Chara and Undyne,they share a hatred for humans,enjoyemnt of anime(the narration makes many anime references),a close bond with Asgore, do some pretty nasty things to further there cause(murder),and at the end of the pacifist run both Asriel and monster kid realize they had been over idolizing them and decide a more pacifist Character would have been better(Frisk/Papyrus). Now that I think about it maybe part of the reason Asgore started growing golden flowers was in Charas memory.

An interpretation of Chara i really like is the one from the Narrachara theory. That theory has a lot of evidence in the game. For those that don’t know, the theory is that all narration in the game is done by Chara. In all routes. The narration always says you and not I with the exception of genocide. So this theory says that all the narration is Chara talking to Frisk. In this interpretation, Chara helps Frisk with many things. They translate signs written in the monster language, which they learned while living with the monsters. The narration is also almost always something Chara would know. And new home in pacifist still has a lot of hints. I just think that Chara is less direct. The narration for most of pacifist seems more sarcastic and fun, while genocide just gets to the point. Chara’s bed in genocide: My bed. Chara’s bed in pacifist: This bed feels really comfortable. If you layed down here, you might never get up. If you believe that Chara is the narrator. They never want to kill monsters in pacifist. That is very clear. They always defend monsters, saying that the dogs only want to play. Toriel knows whats best for you. And undyne is the hero who never gives up. What flowey says is also technically not evidence that Chara controls Frisk in genocide. Its just evidence that Flowey THINKS that. Maybe he could never imagine that someone with a soul could be just as evil as him, but of course, the player in genocide is. Frisk sometimes move in genocide even if you don’t control them. I think that this is where Chara controls them. In genocide Chara is forced to kill everyone including their family, since they share a body with Frisk. This isn’t good for Chara, and they become more and more evil. Some also say that all the stats you increase and LV you gain, is given to Chara, and they then become stronger. Your actions was what taught Chara what their new purpose was. After making a terrible decision that led to the death of their brother, they could no longer trust themselves, so they turned to you. In genocide you teach them, that their only purpose now if to kill, so they think you must want to destroy this terrible world that made them like this. They think you kill everyone to be strong enough to destroy the world, and not be attached to it. If only humans remain in the world, then there is nothing left worth keeping according to Chara. If you choose not to destroy the world, they feel betrayed because you didn’t kill for a greater purpose. You did it for fun. And then they don’t want you to escape consequences. At the end of pacifist after a genocide, Chara shows up. Even if it is a possibility, i don’t think they killed anyone here. They just wanted to remind you of what you did, so you never escape your consequences. Then there at least is a little justice. Chara doesn’t think you deserve this ending. Thanks for reading the long comment. My interpretation is pretty must just that Chara is a helpfull spirit that follows you, and even though they made a lot of bad choices, you can help them in pacifist. They learn that not all humans are bad, and gets over their past actions and grudges, just like a lot of other characters in the game. They aren’t perfect. They’re not the greatest person, as Asriel said, but I don’t think they are evil either.

I just wanted to use this comment section to share these small thoughts I think it is both absolutely so sweet yet so heartbreaking that Toriel took Chara's body and buried them where she did. In the only place that receives natural sunlight from the surface. She interpreted Chara's want to see the golden flowers and their plan as them wanting to go home. So she tried to put them as close to "home" as she could. The game over screen. The fact that, whether good or bad, Chara remembers what Asgore said to them on their deathbed. In a neutral or pacifist route, they remember it as if they're thinking "yeah, I am the future of humans and monsters. I can do this", and in the genocide route, it's like they're thinking "yeah, I am the future of humans and monsters, and I'm going to destroy it"

For a 50 minute well edited video that obviously took a long time to make, this deserves many many more views.

10:44 I think Chara was trying to laugh it off to work through the painful feelings. We see other examples of characters trying to laugh through grief, sadness, and other painful feelings. When you kill Toriel on No Mercy Run, right before she dies, she laughs to herself realizing that you were the true ‘monster’ all along. Snowdrake’s father laughs about his son hating him, and then says “…that’s not funny”. Snowdrake is also trying to tell jokes, which could be a way of him trying to ignore his pain about his mom (and his dad). As Undyne the Undying dies, she laughs and proudly says that Alphys will be able to hide everyone from you. She even has a big hopeful smile right before she turns to dust.

It's nice to see a video covering all the information we know about Chara while staying mostly unbiased about their true nature, this might be my favorite one on the character even.

I'm sure someone has already made this comment before, but, laughing can be a sign of distress in those who are mentally unstable. As someone with PTSD, I myself have laughed and been so upset that I couldn't help but loop back around into thinking that it was funny, because I physically couldn't be any more upset than I already was. It can also be a panic response! You might not know, but tickling someone and making them laugh is actually triggering a panic response, most of the time- supported by the fact that a lot of people don't actually like being tickled.

Not only is this a perfect and unbiased video for Chara but it also got me back into making theories.

I love the idea of Chara being "evil" in the genocide route because of an overload of LV, instead of just being someone irreedemable since birth Edit: wtf happened in the replies

Very good video! I'd like to add that Chara seem to, at the very least, not be openly suicidal. However, one of the previous humans was. Toriels house is very "child" proofed, or proofed for a child that wants to harm themselves. The fire isn't hot, the fire tools are dulled. There's no knives we have access to. However, New Home, which is a place Chara lived, has no such messages. In fact, there's a knife in the bedroom, implied to be a gift for Chara. Wouldn't it be such a cruel joke to leave a knife in your dead, previously suicidal child's room? While it's possible they were suicidal in the traditional sense (wanting to die to no longer be around, with no intentions of coming back in any form, rather than wanting to die to come back and share a body with their brother), its unlikely they were open about it to anyone. Or, anyone besides Asriel.

Chara: "maybe you should pick another route?" Me on my umpteenth genocide run: "Chara, wake the fuck up, we got more killing to do!" Chara, the literal demon: (genuine concern) On a serious note, loved this video. A lot of people forget there is actually a deep personality to a lot of these characters and just depict them as like 2 traits from their most memed aspects. Also like how you sorted out the player, Chara, Frisk relationship there, as it was a lore aspect I was always questioning.

based on the ACT narration in Woshua and Snowdrake's Mom's fight, I think Chara is the one providing the ACT options - but Frisk can refuse to "act" them out.

42:21 id like to point out that some of the stuff Chara did to Asriel that gets labelled "abusive" is just stuff people do with their siblings, like calling them a crybaby. It's not nice, but it's also not weird for someone to say this to someone they see as a brother.