I would say that personally, I would not be surprised if Ralsei was hiding things from us for what he thinks is our own good. Maybe he thinks something terrible could happen to Kris and Susie if he just opened up to them about everything... something along those lines seems way more likely than him being evil. Not sure how I didn't fit that into the video! But that's sort of what I was getting at when I mentioned some greater force being involved.
Mmm.... Wild idea, but what if the prophecy is either fake, or includes one last part that could cause great harm to Susie and Kris.... Maybe even that their death is inevitable
It's like what happened in chapter 1. Had Ralsei told everyone that destroying the dark fountain would destroy that dark world, Susie probably would have refused. Ralsei wants the prophecy to go smoothly, so he's making sure to hide some information until necessary. He probably didn't want to scare Kris and Susie by telling them about the Roaring, as that would be too much pressure.
Plot twist: The reason Ralsei keeps omitting important information is that he actually wrote down everything in the manual, and assumes you already read it.
I've heard a theory that Ralsei is a heart shaped locket like the one Chara had. I'm not sure if it's right but it's an interesting theory. Another is that Ralsei is a picture Kris drew as a child of what he'd look like as a monster.
and the most sensible theory is? i cant believe no one has pointed this out yet but i will. ralsei is none other than the missing green crayon in the crayon collection. crayons are school supplies right? a drawing or a locket arent any school supplies.
@@oysteregg2537 That would be hilarious if the lore was spilled out to us like that. I was wondering if the goofy Ralsei face might have any significance. Lancer has a goofy face too but Ralsei's is the only one that seems to regress into something that seems like a kid's drawing. I'll remember this if you guys turn out to be right.
Y'know, the thing that gets me about the post-Spamton NEO-cutscene is that, despite everyone knowing that Ralsei was suggesting that Kris just think about him instead, Ralsei never specifically says that. He doesn't say, "Oh, Kris! Don't think about what mean-old Spamton said! Just think about me, Your Best Friend! =)" like some kind of Flowey knockoff. He starts listing off thing he *thinks* will make Kris happy, like sharing his scarf if he's cold. He offers Kris a Cinnamon or Butterscotch cake if you reply Yes when Susie asks Kris if he's okay. Everything that Ralsei does seems to be him guessing at what would make Kris happy. But it never seems to work. Ralsei's offer of baked goods doesn't cheer Kris up, but Susie calling the two of them "Idiot-scented cadles" does. Kris' room in the castle has a closet filled with special clothes and a shelf for trinkets, but Kris expresses no desire to use either of those things. Ralsei seems desperate to make Kris happy. Ralsei remarks during the Acid Trip Ha Ha Ha that Susie is rude and sarcastic and yet Kris is still friends with her. And, lo and behold, Ralsei starts trying to learn sarcasm from Susie during the City. Your point about Ralsei no longer frowning when ordered to attack stands, but the reason may not be that he has warmed up to violence. If you equip the PuppetScarf on him, he says "If I have to fight..." He still doesn't *enjoy* fighting, but he'll do anything you tell him to. If you keep attacking the Dummy, he even says that he'll let Kris hit him instead. The second time you tell Susie to flirt with a Head Hathy, Susie tells Ralsei to do it instead, and he obliges. He rarely even tries to stop Susie from attacking in Ch 1. He lets you use him as a stool! Ralsei seems dead set on ensuring the happiness of Kris and Susie, no matter the cost. Perhaps even him looking like Asriel was only to make Kris happy!
I think it's also noteworthy how Ralsei is also just totally subservient to Kris specifically, not so much with Susie. If you read into the healing values of the tea from Susie and Ralsei on Kris, you could be onto something, and the fact that Susie was the one who defused the situation with no effort could support that. I think there's some merit to the idea that Ralsei's entire self-imposed purpose is to make Kris happy, but he has no idea how to do it.
@@Fenrick There's also the fact that, given that Ralsei is that subservient to Kris, he probably just doesn't value that bond very much. It's like having a toy. Toys don't have any will of their own, they're just playthings. Other people have their own thoughts and feelings, you can form a real bond with them that you just can't with a toy. Another thing to note is that Ralsei claims frequently that the purpose of Darkners is to assist Lightners and make them happy, and yet he never recounts a previous encounter with Lightners. The residents of the Card Kingdom have been locked in the unused classroom for quite some time, and the residents of the Cyber World came from a public library, but Ralsei seems to have never spent time around any other Lightners. So, perhaps his complete subservience to Kris is due to being starved of the very purpose he speaks so passionately about?
@@FirstnameLastname-sb3hj It could also just be a reflection of sibling dynamics. It's much easier for a younger sibling to be attached to an older one... also, I think you are on point with Ralsei knowing less about liteners.
@@Fenrick yknow, something sticks out to me about a line a Rudinn gives before the maze. He says Lancer made "Real Friends" with a Lightner. One of the other Rudinns in the same room mentions the same thing. But why the distinction? Well, given that Darkners are given "purpose" by Lightners, the distiction was necessary. Lancer isn't friends with Susie because he's "supposed to be," it's because they have shared interests and enjoy each other's company. I bring this up because by that definition, *Ralsei and Kris aren't "Real Friends."* They don't have any interests in common, they don't spend any quality time together, Kris rarely even SPEAKS to Ralsei. After the Acid Trip if you return to the starting place Ralsei assumes Kris is reminiscing about their ride, but Kris is just thinking about clogging the ride with more Geese. Ralsei wants to fufill his "purpose" by befriending Kris, but rather than trying to find things they have in common and getting Kris to open up, he simply forces himself on to him. He says that if Kris is jealous of Susie and Lancer getting fanned by the Rudinns, he'll go and find a big leaf and fan him himself. Ralsei treats Kris like a god to be worshipped, while various pieces of flavour text seem to relay that Kris views their relationship as strictly business. The save point outside Kris' room in the mansion lumps in the room Ralsei made with the one he just escaped from, referring to them both as "vacation homes." As for all the Hug Ralsei options, Kris is known to pull mean pranks on people. Maybe he only thought to do it because he knew it would bother him? Tl;Dr, Ralsei and Kris aren't real friends because Ralsei never attempts to view Kris as an equal and Kris has no interest in befriending someone with no will of their own.
@@FirstnameLastname-sb3hj I always interpreted any dialogue or action choices to be something (YOU) decide, rather than Kris's conscious decisions. The fact that there is a heart that selects those options, the same heart which, when removed from Kris, removes our influence, is one of the things that clues me in on it. All of this means that Ralsei is trying to please us by proxy through Kris, if you think about it... Ralsei probably means well for Kris but ultimately Kris is nothing more than an intermediary between Ralsei and his real buddy, the player/soul. It's also easy to see why a mischievous kid like Kris wouldn't be overly fond of a goody two-shoes like Ralsei...
"I doubt Ralsei is evil, he's kind of a pathetic villain. Nothing could make Ralsei intimidating" If you think about it though that would be totally on brand for deltarune. It would be so funny watching Ralsei trying to be evil but failing in every way
I think Ralsei isn't evil, I think he knows about the player and their control over Kris. I think the information Ralsei seems to be hiding, he's hiding from the player, he trusts Susie and Kris, but is holding his cards close to his chest in order to keep the player in the dark.
The more I think about it, the more I think Ralsei's motivations are toward the player. When he does the "What's Susie doing?" breakaways, I think he's trying to avoid breaking the 4th wall to the player as he talks about game-stuff with Kris. Also, Ralsei is always asking Kris (us) to make decisions and control the party. Susie makes a comment about this saying "Why does Kris always get to decide??" before forcing Ralsei to go off on their own in the city, against Ralsei's will. Ralsei apologizes to Kris (us) for not getting to make the decision. Ralsei also wasn't willing to do actions without Kris (us) and Susie also called Ralsei out on this ("why do we need Kris to do actions?"). Ralsei is aware that our connection is through Kris. I think Ralsei is aware of the players choices and that his ultimate fascination isn't with Kris/lighteners, but with the player. He wants more fountains to be made because it means more games to play. Everything he does, I think he does for our benefit. That being said, I still believe he has a relationship with Susie and wants a genuine relationship with Kris - he does a lot of things to try and appease Kris. But I think hes ultimately playing out his role as a video game character to us.
@@Fenrick I wonder if, specifically, the theme of following the game path vs. going off the rails will have to do with player choice? There are a lot of themes of choice and control in Deltarune - "your choices don't matter," *spoiler* us controlling Noelle, the themes of puppets and Spamton/Kris being controlled by an outside force, etc.
@@idkidk3407 Oh definitely. I think it's also making a point about our choices as players in regards to video game characters with established backstories and personalities.
@@idkidk3407 I feel like the Snowgrave route, which Spamton sort of implies is correct, is the way to grant Kris "freedom." I also think the whole thing is designed as a thought experiment about the nature of a player making choices on behalf of a preexisting character as we've been used to doing for so many other games.
Ralsei was suspicious from the start; without his hat, his overworld sprites have his horns curving inward while his talking sprites have his horns curving outward.
Or him orchestrating every major event in the game, possibly including the end of character creation in ch. 1. (not saying he's doing so, but it would go a long way towards making him intimidating if done well)
I certainly believe Ralsei IS the goat horns that Kris used to wear and I believe that he is hiding things only to prevent US ,the player, from learning. Maybe Ralsei wants us to close the dark fountains to make Kris grow past him and this old world? Either way I’m certain Ralsei is who Kris WANTED to be, a perfect and widely loved little sibling to Asriel.
I'm leaning towards Ralsei is who Kris was/saw himself as as a younger child. Kinda childish, very loving, goat monster to fit in with his family. Grow up into early teens, and looking back on that time with a bit of wince.
here's a question: Toby Fox has made it very, very, very, very clear to not ignore a SINGLE thing about his work. It's always what we take for granted that can turn on us in a second's notice. As such, I have a few things to think about. 1. How does Ralsei know of the game mechanics to the level of giving tutorials on them? Heck, Ralsei is *aware that the game mechanics changed from chapter 1 to 2* and says things like "from now on, [tidbit about recruitment]". 2. Susie defeats enemies through violence in the Noelle's room cutscene, but it doesn't affect your recruits. I genuinely believe that Ralsei is a mastermind in some way. But not necessarily evil. I think he has control over the rules and functioning of the Dark World in some way and is moving the narrative along to create the perfect world for Kris. One where they may still not have choice, but can still *feel* they have fulfilling choice with the mechanics of Sparing and Fighting. Top comment already stated just how much Ralsei is attempting to appeal to Kris in every possible way and getting on his good side, and i believe one of the things he's desperately trying to do is to distract them of feeling like they're being controlled by a higher force, be it the player or the soul. This is why the game's mechanics are being finetuned with *them* in mind, and don't necessarily affect others. Although with how Kris seems to have a bit of control over what they say in most of the answers through tonal conveyance, such as faltering, yelling or acting unenthused while giving the responses given by the player, maybe the darkness itself/the building of level over chapters might actually be giving them the power to get slightly more freedom every run. who knows. TL;DR: Ralsei is meta-aware, and may be changing the Dark World's mechanics behind the scenes, not from evil intent but from attempting to appeal to/help Kris in some way.
I feel that the snowgrave thing is setting up a potential conflict against Ralsei, but you have to be a very very bad child for it to come about. My perspective is that Ralsei's goal is simply to make sure the Prophecy, i.e. the Conventional Game Storyline, runs smoothly.
@@Fenrick and then the question simply moves to why, exactly, the prophecy has been made in the first place. I mean, yeah, it certainly exists and Ralsei may want it to keep going, or... Maybe Ralsei was the one who made it in the first place. A narrative where Kris becomes the hero, makes friends, and lives out a perfect game fantasy, if they so chose. I do find it interesting that the only way for it to start to completely break is for the player to command it, *and* for Ralsei to be away.
there is something interesting, so there is the theory that [[hyperlink blocked]] actually means "choices" during snowgrave spamton will say "IT WAS YOU AND THAT [[hochi mama]] YOU'VE BEEN MAKING [[hyperlink blocked]] DIDNT YOU? NOW THAT YOU HAVE YOUR OWN SUPPLY YOU DONT NEED ME" and now also during snowgrave ralsei will be shocked that a scene played out completly diffrent from how it was supposed to be in main route, saying "But we were supposed to" it feels like snowgrave is something more than just simple genocide basically it backs up the theory that Ralsei knows meta things and things about snowgrave
@@damaton imo it could mean LV/LOVE. While I'm *very* conservative on making references to Undertale on my Deltarune theories, the thorn ring *does* stop hurting you at 55 HP, which is "LV" in the roman numerical system, so that basically opens the floodgates for other references to it being present in Snowgrave. And, well, you do kill someone so yeah we do have our own supply of it thanks to Noelle. Agree with what you said about Ralsei though.
@@SereKabii I honestly dont know what [[hyperlink blocked]] could truly mean, i said it could mean choices bc of some theories i heard, but i feel like the word [[hyperlink blocked]] gets used in diffrent contexts or something it just feels like choices doesent fit sometimes i wish i could get every single piece of Spamton's dialogue with [[hyperlink blocked]] so i can try out diffrent words and see if that word fits to every dialogue
If ralsei just said go to the EAST it wouldnt make him suspicious because of the great door, which is east, but the fact he knows that its the unused classroom thats there is real sus.
I think that, regardless of what's truly going on with him, his inability to know what being "Ralsei-like" means is still that he's never really given it any thought. Why would he need to? It's only when we compare ourselves to others that we truly start to wonder who it is we are. Ralsei likely didn't have a reason to worry about who he was before, since he had no subjects and no friends. It was all he knew. Ulterior motive or no, becoming an antagonist or no, he'll likely need to figure out for himself what it means to "be Ralsei". It may even be very important for him to do so.
I think it's most likely that it's just because he's been completely alone for most of his existence, and he's still getting used to having a distinct identity within a group.
Regarding the source of Ralsei's knowledge, while you said you aren't saying it's Gaster, it is worth mentioning that the prophecy we're told by Ralsei was "foretold by time and space." And Gaster has been said to have been shattered across time and space. It's kind of frustrating that Gaster sticks his nose into every part this game because it is both impossible to dismiss and also a dead end, given we know virtually nothing about Gaster.
I feel like the game is building up to giving us some sort of information about Gaster, but it's not entirely clear. I feel this is all up to the fact that we just don't have the full picture of what's going on, with 5 chapters still left to be made and all.
same. im so tired of hearing about gaster in this game lmao but the truth of it all is there are so much things in this game that remind us of him that its really hard to dismiss him
I'm so tired of hearing about gaster. All the evidence pointing to him are just references that're extremely ambiguous and it feels more like toby is setting up an obvious red herring then actually involving gaster. If it is gaster, then he's being handled way too obviously considering his role in undertale.
@@juicebox3495 I think Gaster is one of those things that's better the less you use him. I don't think he'll ever come to the forefront, so if he is Ralsei's source, we probably won't ever learn definitively.
@@juicebox3495 i feel like he will never appear and will only be referenced forever. I think it's the best way to show him. His whole purpose is to be a mystery, all we can do is just to search for refernces of him.
Personally, I think Ralsei is able to be in the cyber world because, as he puts it; the dark fountain in the closet at the school is made of pure darkness. This is his explanation as to why all other darkners are able to exist in his kingdom. I believe Ralsei originates from this dark fountain of pure darkness, hence his ability to exist in other dark worlds. This also explains why he is the prince of darkness because he is able to exist in all dark worlds. This isn’t to say he’s trustworthy as I feel he knows more than he lets on.
I whole heartedly support the pure dark fountain theory, but I'm still rather confused about how Ralsei got into the cyber world. With the card kingdom it's easy to understand because the great door=the closet door inside the unused classroom that just happened to be open at that time. However, there isn't a clear way on how he entered the cyber world considering the great door is closed. There truly isn't much of a firm way to answer how he entered the cyber world unless there just happened to be a way for him to cross over land incredibly quickly within his own dark world.
Maybe Ralsei is more an idea rather than a physical object in the real world, meaning he is an exception as he lacks many physical bounderies, and is compatable with other darkener worlds. An imaginary 'friend' of sorts.
what i find interesting is that ralsei is letting the player make the usual protag main character hero choices for example that one time where he asked kris who they want to go with but then susie made a choice
If ralsei is kris’ idealized version of asriel maybe asriel never gave kris that much attention, or maybe they constantly lived in his shadow. Feeling like you aren’t acknowledged by your older sibling is a very common thing for people (especially kids) to go through. So if ralsei is an idealized version of asriel, that would explain why hes so fixated with kris and so obsessed with making them happy and showering them in praise.
If Ralsei was idolisation of Asriel. Why queen have a room for Asriel and when we find again Ralsei he sayed there was no more rooms? And we cant properly look into Asriels room?
I feel like Kris's household has some really repressed shit going on, I mean look at his room, his side is absolutely empty while his brothers a prodigy and everyone talks about him, his mom is way too happy to the point where it feels forced, plus yknow divorced family stepchild, and he acts out violently whenever he throws his heart(our control) away
If his face wasnt coloured, it would be way too obvious of a spoiler if he was a lighter, the fact you're pointing this out is probably why his face is coloured IF he is a lightner
@@valentinorubio703 He is not. Otherwise Queen would put him in Asriel room. Instead we meet Ralsei in nice suit saying he started working here because there we no more rooms available. And we cant even go inside Asriels room. Aaaand. Queen have face recognition aswell.
@@kaitokirusama7653 I never said he was, in fact, i was just pointing that he can't be because of the face sprite but... you're right. I wonder how someone could think that they're the same.
Another object Ralsei could be is a green crayon. His colors with his hat on match the stripes and such of the wrapping of one, and the drawer in Kris's house has no green crayons. Not the most interesting but that's another option I saw somewhere!
Yo here is nice detail. Why castle town named after YOUR name? Probably because Ralsei is a narrator for the game (at least in the dark world). For example: If we save in castle town then save would be named "My castle".
Also if i remember right when you first save in the beginning of ch2 it says that name of the save is Kris and location of the save named "Your house" Edit: I just checked for it and looks like i just imagined it.
Also how he explicitly tells Kris to SAVE and TAKE A BREAK. How does saving help him take a break? How? Kris is just standing around whenever we leave the game, almost as if time freezes... but WE get to take a break. Not to mention, how does Ralsei know about saves, the light that only Kris "can see"?
The horns that Ralsei would have become would have probably ended up in the closet or abandoned classroom after Toriel took them, likely for toys for her class.
I, to, am nostalgic of Ralsei's first design. He was so much cuter but to be honest, the new design fit his more mature personality better. After all he have a bit of Thoriel in his stance and glasses.
For anybody wondering, the weird sound after he dismissed the theory that Ralsei was litterally Asriel, that was just the sound of every Krisei shipper breathing a deep sigh of relief
What i havent seen brough up yet, is one detail about our new town for all the recruits. It's Ralsei's castle, powered by the True Dark fountain (Ralsei's fountain). Why dont all the recruits turn to stone? it isnt their fountain after all? Well, its because, again, Ralsei's fountain is the true dark fountain. It's different from Cards or queens castle fountain. It's able to host Darkners of all kinds. And that's most likely why ralsei doesnt turn to stone. He is created by the true dark fountain, and therefore should be able to exist in any other dark worlds.
great vid! another theory id be interested in seeing you explore is the fact that noelle says "seems familiar?" if you give her the dealmaker through hacking. no ones really talked about this and its SUCH a weird detail that im DESPERATE to know more about
That is interesting. I'm a little intimidated by the prospect of talking about Spamton though, haha. Toby Fox seems to be placing a lot of value on the items you get from the secret bosses, everyone already knows about Tasque Manager's reaction to the Jevil items after all.
@@janLilin true but in the snowgrsve route when you go outside of spamtons shop she says she feels "oddly nostalgic" and that combined with the fact she says the dealmaker "seems familiar" definitely seems to imply there's some sort of connection between the two
I saw someone mentioning the door on the computer toom of the library saying that is just to place Berdly to hide his body, but you still get the expecific info about that is a a closet huge enough to fit a person inside in the normal route and is so expecific, I mean, wouldn't that imply more that someone was already in there to open the fountain? After all some people had been comenting that Bedly and Noele was already sitting and studing together, if the fountain was done that they might just be laying on the ground the moment that fountain closed because that would the moment they enter and also....hold on a moment.... I just realize...if that fountain was made that night, why would Berdly and Noelle would go inside? they would inmediately see that is emiting some stange dark light, they would freak out the way Susie and Kris did when they went to get the chalk, they could even call someone to check on the room.
We know that he's been having private conversations with Kris while the red soul is away. He misses the chance to do this in Snowgrave, and it genuinely flusters him.
Ralsei and Asriel's connection is becoming more uncanny with each chapter/installment of deltarune. I am fairly confident that, while they may not be the same "person", the two characters are linked directly--for us to later find out.
When you mentioned Ralsei being book-smart but not knowing what the book is, I thought about the manual he gives Kris that is apparently too dense to read through.
haha. I never considered it. It would be hilarious if we're all just in the dark because you can't read the manual and we were wrong to distrust Ralsei.
@@Fenrick Ralsei is a last minute antagonist, but only because you didn’t read the manual telling you everything you needed to know about the world. He just gets pissed that you assumed that he was a villain hiding things, even though everything was in the book given to you in the beginning of the game.
Honestly, yeah. I'll throw in my own thoughts if that's OK. People may talk about Ralseihiding the specifics of the legend, and possibly making it up, but it's not like he contradicts himself in either parts of the legend. He did imply that there would be really bad things happening if too many dark worlds were opened in chapter 1, and then gave us the manual to read. It's not out of the question for Ralsei to have also put every single part of the legend, described in detail, into that book. And then got frustrated when he realized that nobody actually read his manual at the end of chapter 2. As for why he knows it in the first place, well, he's from the universal dark fountain, it's not out of the question that he was born with that knowledge, and as such, assumes that everyone else has his level of knowledge, or at least every other darkner. It's possible that he's telling Kris about important stuff after diverting our attention to think about Susie and what she's doing, or intending to get us to stop for a minute so he can explain something and trying to give us an excuse to do so. As for why he gets flustered on the Snowgrave route if you refuse to think about Susie's actions, it's because you're literally saying to his face that you don't care about her or what she's doing at all. Anyone would be at the very least put off by their friend saying they don't care about their friends. I don't think Ralsei's going to be evil or malicious, unless you royally mess things up, since Toby Fox kinda pulled that in Undertale with Asriel. It just seems like it'd be retreading the same ground.
I have a theory that ralsei turning into clothes when he dies is because that's what he is in the light world? like if you killed a hathy they would turn into a h earts card, we just don't get to see this. Now ralsei just being some clothes that are imbued with powers would be a little lame so they would need to be plot important. I also have another theory but this is mostly just for worldbuilding. What if the reason darkners can be in the closet is because they 'belong' there? People took ralsei saying 'they don't belong' as they weren't created there, but what if it's just cause you wouldn't really find a playing card in a computer lab. Although, you would find a computer and a playing card in a closet. Also also about that 'ralsei's black fur isn't a shadow thing' in chapter 1 his legs are jet black, like his head, but in chapter 2, his legs are white, even though he still has a robe over him (which was presumably causing the shadows on his legs before)
Another thing that weirds me out about Ralsei is that he has no *character theme* ...Like...bro Susie and Lancer each have one, the Queen and the King have one, Spamton and Jevil have one, Berdly and Noelle have one. Even freaking Rouxl Cards has one But Kris and Ralsei do not (Kris for being the MC I assume) For a game made by Toby Fox, I genuinely believe there is no way this isn't some kind of nod; if the similarities between two characters themes are purposely made to show some sort of connection between them, I guess the lack of a theme could also indicate that?
my friend, kris has a theme. infact 10 themes. the ending of all the 7 chapters and the three game over themes. one being undertale game over and the other two being normal ones. also, ralsei has themes too. the legend is his theme. the lullaby as well. the town, and my town as well. also rude buster is every party members theme so ralsei technically has one too.
Ralsei has a leitmotif for sure, the song that plays in castle town seems to be associated with him and I think it's fitting for someone called the "lonely prince." He sings it as a lullaby as well.
I noticed something. Kris seems to snap after the Spamton fight regardless of wether you destroy him or cut his wires. Kris doesn't freak out exclusively after Spamton becomes helpless when his strings are cut, they also freak out after Spamton explodes trying to evolve into his next form. Isn't that kind of a weird detail, that Kris is deeply unsettled by Spamton wether or not it's revealed that Spamton is nothing without his wires?
Honestly, I believe a more reasonable explanation for Ralsei being able to survive is similar to how all of the others can survive when in Ralsei's kingdom- Despite the fact they're not from there. I think it has to do with how Ralsei's fountain is the original fountain. It also seems to almost be abandoned. Maybe his family line or something barely managed to survive on of the titan-things (I fogot their names) by ending it before they turned into stone. Being the main fountain, maybe the darkness can adjust to be able to hold all of these darkners- Even if it's not their normal home. Summary: Not that Ralsei is Asriel, just that Ralsei is the prince of the main fountain which probably has all conditions necessary for all darkners to live in their own. This could also explain why they don't turn to stone instantly- Because the dark fountain can hold all of it, from technological to card game-like it's capable of holding all of the things close enough to all of their homes that they don't turn to stone.
1:52 judging by Susie and Lancer's rooms, Ralsei made all of the rooms based on what they wanted, and it makes sense that Kris would be jealous of Asriel and wants the same respect/acknowledgements (in the physical form of trophies) that he has. How does Ralsei know exactly what Kris and Susie want? I have no clue.
We actually DO get an explanation on why Ralsei turns into a pile of clothes when he dies... Just not one you can see in-game. In the files for chapter 1 is a fully drawn version of the Manuel explaining plenty of gameplay assets in detsil. Also featured in this msnuel is a sort author's note from Ralsei, wjo mentions, "The fountian of darkness that gives us all form." I assume they mean this literaly, the dark fountians shape darkners into people based on the inanimate objects they're made from. Meaning when Ralsei runs out of HP he kinda... Loses connection to the fountian, I guess, and reverts to an inanimate object convenently covered up by his clothes.
Ralsei can't be an inanimate object, as he was still doing stuff in the dark world while Kris and Susie were in the light world. Also, if Ralsei was an inanimate object: A - Why was he in castle town while everyone else from chapter one wasn't there? B - Why don't we see him released when we enter the cyber world, yet we see Rouxls Kaard released?
@@sauce86031. castle town and card kingdom are different places 2. because rouxls kaard was in our pocket ralsei was not i do agree that he cant be an inanimate object, though, plus castle town probably takes place in the closet, and i cant imagine what ralsei could be inside a closet
I have a couple of specualtions for the game 1. Humans souls are vessels for players to posses 2. Humans souls and the human body are 2 separate entities as seen Chris removing his soul in the game 3. Monsters target to get human souls not only because it can destroy barries, but because it also can defy and bend the reality of deltarune. 4. If the hidden bosses in delta rune are created by Gaster, then it is proof for number 3. As seen in the game Spamton did defy the reality of deltarune a couple of times. 5. Gasters objective is to transcend above the reality of deltarune, in the players reality as he is aware that he is in only in the game of deltarune.
Ralsei kinda gives me DMPC vibes, like he isn't necessarily the villain or the actual orchestrator of events, but he is here to help us out and keep the campaign on rails so to speak.
I always thought the "closet being large enough to hide a large person" was somehow related to the whole giant robot thing in the cyber world, given aspects of the room will be present within the dark worlds they visit.
One note: is it entirely possible Ralsei is the knife. Inbetween chapter 1 and 2, if you carry a save file, when you visit the first save point in the dark world you can find, you'll see that your name has been replaced again by "Kris," meaning that Kris visited the dark world inbetween chapters 1 and 2. One point against the Knife theory, however, is ghat ralsei doesn't leave with you when you exit the dark world.
Y'know given the amount of Ralsei Betraying you theories out there now this makes me think Toby is going to scrap that plot point or reworking so its totally different
I doubt he will be evil as if the tea theory is correct he does legitimately care about kris and susie. But kris seems to not like ralsei much at all as he gets healed by 60 for ralsei tea, 70 for noelle tea and 120 for susie tea.
This could point to Kris being the villain, since given that* they're opening fountains with ill intent, it stands to reason that they wouldn't like the person who wants them closed. *Let me be clear, I am not claiming this is certainly fact. That it isn't is the point of the phrase "given that" in this context.
Out of context, but itd be cool if toby implemented a new dressing room mechanic for each character in chapter 3, like ralsei with his hat, susie with her ponytail, an unused thing in the sprites, or just stuff like that
He was probably planning on it (There's an unused sprite of Ralsei in his Ch1 outfit in the coaster you ride in the Berdly fight) but scrapped it, since all of the cutscenes are designed with the new facepics and it'd require a lot of effort to change that.
I know it’s a bit off topic, but it’s one that I feel is interesting to look into Kris came from the underground theory While far fetched, there is some believability to this. I’ll start where the idea began for me. The origin of the concepts is based around the idea that in this timeline, the monsters won the Great War, and humans were sealed off underground. While both species were capable of practicing magic, only humans kept the ability to practice it. Using their magic, the humans were able to survive while trapped deep underground. Monsters, now not having any reason to use magic, forgot how to use spells over time. That is why now they cannot practice any form of magic, and rely solely on technology to get by. Now, this makes sense because in the dark world, kris has a magic stat, only he has no magic skills (at the moment). But since we as the player control kris, we don’t have such abilities, which explains the lack of skills. Regardless of that, kris was able to open a fountain (and presumably the others), which would line up with kris coming from the underground where humans know magic. And while Susie and Noelle have base magic stats in the dark world, it is clear that their powers stem from the fountain, or the dark world they are in. That is why berdly may have been able to open a ‘neo’ dark fountain from within, and why they can’t use magic in town. Next, I noticed a small detail with the in game menus. When in the light world, undertale and deltarune share the same basic UI, to me representing that it is the “real world” UI. This makes sense because in undertale, the underground was a real place, and upon escaping the underground, they were let out into the real world. When exploring the light world of deltarune, we see this same menu, adding another similar connection between the two. When in the Chapter 2 prologue, if you visit the strange door directly to the south, there is an extra interaction where monster kid and drake are daring each other into peeking behind a mysterious door. As you overhear the conversation, they joke about how kris “chickened out” of something related to the door. Susie defends kris, because of something everyone in class obviously knows about, and the fact that kris is shook from that experience proves there is some connection between him and the mysterious doorway. From here, it begins to go a bit off the rails. If there is any semblance of truth to the gaster theory, then perhaps he is the reason kris escaped the underground. Kris likely used magic to communicate with him, like in the intro where the player makes a deal with an unknown individual (also likely gaster). The whole sequence makes it seem like gaster has a plan. By using kris and his abilities, the fountains may be key to gaster’s (or whoever this entity is) freedom, in exchange for kris’s freedom from the underground. This may be why spamton also seems to be split minded, like there’s another entity pulling the strings. Maybe darkeners like him and jevil were given the promise of true freedom, only to be corrupted to insanity and forced to do the will of others. That may be why kris seems so insane when the player loses control of him, and why he only opens fountains when he is in that state. All in all, a pretty out there theory but one I feel can work depending on the context.
I think that Raslei's differences from other darkeners are a result of Castle Town being different to the other Dark Worlds formed by Dark fountains. Maybe the others were formed by the Knight, but Castle Town is a natural Dark world?
Based on the cute drawing you can find by cutting up the Ralsei plushie My theory is that Ralsei is a childhood drawing Kris made. Whether this was meant to be Kris's ideal self as a goat or an imaginary friend or something else who knows. But I theorize that Ralsei is a drawing Kris made.
I always thought Ralsei's frown during battles in Ch. 1 was him gearing up to attack. I didn't even consider that it could have something to do with his demeanor, although I didn't attack in Ch. 2 so I didn't even know there was a difference
The "it's big enough to fit a person" quote is a grimm suggestion you will stuff berdly's corpse in that closet so it takes longer for people to found it
There's another item that may correspond to Ralsei: if you interact with the angel statue in the hospital, Noelle's father tells you that Kris and Ralsei also made an angel statue with wings too big, clearly a refernce to the God of Hyperdeath. So maybe it's this statue.
When facing the king, Ralsei is as naive and friendly as ever, even though the king is quite violent, BUT when faced with Queen, he's downright hostile from the start. I wonder what the deal is with those two.
Remember how in Undertale how Flowey/Asriel treated the underground like a game and wanted Chara to play that game with him? I think Ralsei is imitating that but on a less 4th wall breaking scale. I think Ralsei created these worlds so he could play with us. That would explain why he has extra knowledge of the world and is surprised when things don’t go like normal in the Snowgrave route. Kinda like a Dungeon Master in D&D I’m probably completely wrong but it’s fun to think about
haven't heard anyone talk about it but I felt weird about him specifically suggesting I save at the end or checking recruits from the save points which is apparently something only kris can see
Kris's horned headband was RED, not pink. Darkners _are_ meant to serve lightners. They are literally objects made for lightners. All darkners are aware of the light world they come from. King mentions being abandoned, Queen knows what people look up, Swatch knows he's a paint program, etc. The roaring is already mentioned in the original prophecy, it's just not as expanded upon. Yanno, the sky running black with terror, the land cracked with fear, etc... Ralsei doesn't turn to stone because he's from the true dark fountain, made of pure darkness, compatible with all darkners. The symbol on his robe has always been an upside down spade. It just wasn't as well-shown in his hatted front-walking sprite, but you can see the spade's tail in his battle sprite and pose concepts by Temmie. An upside-down-spade is known as a "leaf" symbol, so it may be just a way to connect him to nature.
@_boi5 The symbol on his robe has always been an upside down spade. It just wasn't as well-shown in his hatted front-walking sprite, but you can see the spade's tail in his battle sprite and pose concepts by Temmie.
Ralsei says he has been waiting for a long time. Sounds like a lost headband. The Darkners in the first Dark World also talk about the Lightners being like Gods to them but being abandoned (or at least, this is the King's view of things). The Lightners are all teens so far; old enough to have abandoned most of their childhood toys. This could also explain why the Queen is a bit warmer towards them; Cyber City comes from computers and programs, which teenagers are *definitely* known for using (if anything, overusing). Sure, there's conflict, but there's no true animosity; the Queen is doing what she believes to be right, even if she's horribly mistaken. There's a real connection between the objects used to create the Dark World and the world they manifest as a result. Which means the fountain created in Kris's home is going to be *really* interesting, especially if there are any skeletons to uncover.
Isn't The Original Starwalker also immune it becoming a statue? It could be because they were in your pocket the whole time, but in the snowgrave route Lancer becomes a statue in the pocket anyway. I think we darkners might be "compatible" with the fountain but Lancer and Rouxls happen not to be.
Maybe only darkness that don’t fit in that theme turn into stone Ralsei fits with basically anything he even becomes a butler, while Lancer and Roulxs’ themes were cards.
I think the Darkners get like, false memories when new fountains are made?? I might’ve heard that in a theory video though so take it with a grain of salt
About the clothes thing, you can see ralsei's old set of clothes on the mannequin, so maybe he is just wearing a second set of clothing and put the old one on this mannequin? Considering the old mannequin had no heart symbol on its clothing.
Ralsei also casually mentions saving the game at the end of ch 2. It's really weird since in undertale it was a huge deal for an ingame character to break the 4th wall like this.
Here's a thought "Everyone in the end was together in the old classroom when the fountain was closed they should all turn to items yet magically Ralsei is back in the closet even though Ralsei shouldn't be able to get back in the classroom." so I'm guessing Ralsei is not an item in the closet or the old classroom. Also I think Ralsei can be in any dark fountain cause they're the prince of the dark world. But of course this is no excuse for Ralsei trying to talk to Kris privately with out the player knowing what's happening.
I hope that we get to help Ralsei realize what being "Ralsei-Like" is. He mentioned he used to think being friends was just about being nice but has realized it's more than that. Watching him develop as the story goes on is something I'm looking forward to regardless of whether or not he has an ulterior motive or secrets. I really like your videos, I look forward to watching what you make when chapter 3 - 5 come out.
I do genuinly wonder if Toby is expecting to do a twist with Ralsei, or Is just baiting people with his character deisgin. Kind of the Way rei's parents were set up, and theres a boring explaination for why he understands things he shouldnt. My personal Idea is that Ralsei does know more than he lets on, but not that much more and is genuinly caring and nice, but something will result in him coming to odds with us, and despite it he will still be on our side and regret his decision to not stick by his friends. Because thats the way the story is more likely to develop realistically. The way Ralsei interacts with the other characters is simply too genuine.
ralsei might be a book., like a dictionary or something really big with alot of info. that would explain his knowledge, maybe like the book that contains the prophecy?
Loved the analysis, Fenrick! I've got some more info to add onto your theory. Post Spamton NEO you can to back to Swatch, the shopkeeper in Pandora Palace. He speaks of the robot in the basement and how it was created, saying, "That robot was the embodiment of a Lightners dream... Splashing color from the motion of a hand, the Lightner filled it with their own hope, giving it an incredible power." Swatch isolates this from Dark Aorld creation, the robot was specifically created. (I almost think of it like placing a dark world inside an object.) This would aid your theory about Ralsei being the knife.
also no one is going to mention about the shadow mantle that Seam mentioned after you defeat Spamton? I dunno about it but it seems like ralsei been wearing one when they first meet, possibly Ralsei will either give it to Kris as such a coincidence that he have the mantle or he will keep it for himself until it can be use as story-wise material
You know, have any of you ever thought of why the “Imagine what Susie is doing…” cutscenes exist. If Ralsei knows that WE, the player, is controlling KRIS to do stuff, wouldn’t he simply be trying to please the player to see him as a good boy? And behind the scenes, maybe he might have been talking to Kris about, you know, the SOUL. Or maybe we’re overthinking and Ralsei is really our fluffy boye, which I would definitely love.
If I had to take a guess, I'd say Ralsei is a character who grew up believing that the prophecy was the only reason for his existence, and that he needed to just play his part regardless of what that entails. Ralsei isn't playing Kris and Susie for fools, in fact, I think their friendship is actually changing Ralsei, he's slowly becoming more of an individual, and perhaps might go against the prophecy at some point. I still don't think Ralse's evil though, I don't think he's even downright lied to us yet, he's just hiding certain details so the prophecy can play out as intended and both worlds are saved.
I've watched this video like 20 times now. I don't know why I keep coming back to it, but it's really nice to have in the background. I really like how you don't really focus on one large theory and rather bring up all the suspicious points about Ralsei. It's nice to keep all of this in mind when theorycrafting.
here's my theory and i'm surprised not many others have brought it up ralsei doesn't turn to stone because he lives in the world with the only true dark fountain castle town and the card world are two different dark worlds castle town contains the only real dark fountain which is said to flow with pure darkness ralsei's dark world *is* castle town so in theory he should be able to exist in any other dark world without turning to stone if he was meant to turn to stone in the cyber world he would've turned to stone in the card world as well since it too was a different world from castle town hence its fountain being linked to a different room
I just realised in the scene where you first meet ralsei in chapter 1 he is wearing a cloak over a HAT and another CLOAK this is either pure evil or pure confusion
This video pretty much encapsulates perfectly how I feel about ralsei after my playthrough of chapter 2, right down to the ending. Cuz yeah, ralsei does look better with his hat on and this is a fact.
My thoughts so far is that Ralsei is a being made to serve the player, since his game functions revolve around this. He knows about our existence and knows he’s meant to serve as a guide to the game mechanics… and can make some of the decisions in how the player interacts in the game. Which is why there are so many options to hug him, he desperately wants not only Kris’s and Susie’s attention but the player’s too.
I think to how Flowey's motivation to mess around with time loops for Chara is to be able to spend more time with them. If Ralsei's trying to do the same with the player, it makes for an interesting parallel.
I think Ralsei’s hat has been enchanted in a way that causes it to either cast an extremely dark shadow over his entire body or just turns his fur black. Regardless, I still think the hat is responsible for the color change even if it’s not as simple as conventional shade.
I see this unlikely, but, he's literally the only one we've met until now who we can say 100% sure knows about "the roaring". We haven't heard this legend from any other character, not even Seam, the shopkeeper, who seems one of the most omnious characters from the game, and he (Ralsei) could be making it up to make Susie and us, the player, control Kris to do so as well even if they know Ralsei's story is a fake and watch as they can barely control themselfs
My head canon on Ralsei turning into clothes apon being down is that he and any other darkener turns into whatever object they are, and you just can't see him under the clothes
Kris has been to a dark world prior to the start of the game. There is a Kris save file that will appear if you have a fresh install and save the first time. So that's one way for the horned headband to have gotten there.
