Though two chapters ofDeltarunehave been released with the latter coming unexpectedly recently, it’s still unclear exactly how it relates toUndertale. Toby Fox is glad to see fans finally treating the game less likely a sequel or prequel and more like its own entity. But it’s difficult to blame players for speculating when many of the characters overlap. Additionally,Deltaruneis an anagram of the word “Undertale,” leading many to believe it’s some sort of alternate universe.
While much ofDeltarunefeatures a brand-new cast of original characters such as Susie, Queen, and Lancer, other faces are more familiar. Ralsei clearly looked like the young version of Asriel that players meet at the end of aTrue Pacifist run inUndertale. Even Temmie, a species of monster named and designed after the main artist of the game, appears in the school inDeltarune. But the most interesting, even if it may not be the most striking resemblance, is Kris, whose design is modeled after Chara, who appears at the end of the Genocide Route.
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Kris' Possible Appearance in Undertale
Unfortunately, it takes some digging to actually find “Kris”—if it is actuallyDeltarune’s protagonist—inUndertale. Firstly, players will first need to enact a Genocide Run ofUndertale,which essentially requires killing every monster they come across and completing the kill count in each area, designated by the SAVE points. Players will otherwise know they’ve properly triggereda Genocide Runif the music is slowed and distorted from its original version. The event will occur in the Waterfall chapter, which luckily doesn’t require passing any absurdly difficult boss battles like Undyne the Undying or Sans. Then, however, players will need to be running the game in debug mode, which can be done by manipulating the game files.
Once these steps have been taken, enter the puddle room after the umbrellas. Stepping across the puddles, the reflection should still look like Frisk, but after pressing the spacebar and looking again, Chara should appear in the reflection. This happens seemingly because the player has awoken Chara with their determination. However, it’s unclear whyToby Foxdidn’t include this Easter egg in the main game. Some believe it was to save the plot twist for the end of the Genocide Route while others think it’s because Chara doesn’t take over the playable character until the Throne Room.
While it’s clear that this reflection is meant to be Chara, the look on its face bears a striking resemblance to Kris specifically. Chara is iconic for their terrifying smile, but Kris' design does not feature eyes. This isn’t because they don’t have eyes, as shown at the end ofDeltaruneChapter 1, but rather modeled after an anime trope where a shadow from bangs covers them, giving the character a depressed or remorseless look. This has partially incited a theory that Kris is actually the antagonist of this story, which is a reflection of Chara’s role as well.
There’s currently no proof that Kris is meant to be some version of Chara or Chara from an alternate universe, but it’s thought that Kris' name is the combination of Frisk’s and Chara’s. But this small Easter egg could lend itself to the theory that Kris is actually some version of Chara.
Of course, this is a small piece of speculation, and it’s not super likely that Toby Fox put an image of Kris inUndertalefor an Easter egg of what was to come. If anything, it might be that the developer used this image or the asset as inspiration for Kris’s design. When it comes toUndertale, theories are a hefty part of the community, but this reflection will continue to remain a mystery likely untilDeltaruneis completed.
Deltaruneis out now for PC, PS4, and Switch.
