King Asgore is one of the most pivotal characters
in Undertale's story, but also one of the most reviled within the fanbase. Though some appreciate
the subversive nature of his character and how tragedy led him to make terrible choices for
the sake of his people, others lambast him for his crimes, harass his fans, and ultimately
view the character purely in bad faith. I think it's fine to dislike a character, but at the
same time, I feel as though Asgore's grossly misunderstood and overshadowed by more popular
characters, to the point where he's even absent from a lot of official merchandise and materials
where more minor characters get the spotlight. So in this video, I'd like to give the monster
king his dues and explore his depth, development, and even a little dash of Deltarune. Our first
look at Asgore is in the Undertale intro, where his silhouetted figure is put in contrast
to the humans as the story of the human and monster war unfolds. He's depicted as large
and imposing with huge horns and a massive trident. That's all we learn, however, until
near the end of the Ruins. In Toriel's house, we learn how the monsters journeyed far into the
Underground until they settled on a place to call home, which their king called… well, Home. This
establishes Asgore as being terrible with names and is the first lighthearted trait we learn about
him. However, when you try to leave the Ruins, Toriel warns of how previous humans have died.
How Asgore will kill you if you proceed. His name is spoken in red. It's very imposing. This
threatening image of the king is all you have to work with until you reach Snowdin and learn
that he named their capital city New Home. And then Papyrus talks about how he's a big,
fuzzy pushover who is really kind and would gladly let Frisk leave if they just ask. It's a stark
contrast to what Toriel stated before, and it's further highlighted because Papyrus refers to him
in yellow in contrast to Toriel's red. The Papyrus phone calls only add to the softer image of his
character. While Papyrus gushes about how much kids love deadly spikes, he mentions that the king
wants to ban them as they are unsafe for children. He also wants to be rid of the precarious bridge
mandate for similar safety-related reasons, which shows that Asgore cares a lot about
the safety of the youth and his people. In Waterfall, we learn the tragedies of the
human and monster war, which Asgore lived through. Humanity declared war very suddenly out
of fear that monsters would take their souls. The war was one-sided, with many monsters dying while
no human souls were claimed. While Asgore himself is not spoken of in depth, the powerful souls
of Boss Monsters are first alluded to here, which will be important later. Monster Kid
discusses a time when Asgore came to their class to teach a lesson on responsibility and
even donated his own flowers to the class. This once again shows a desire to guide
the younger generation on the right path. Gerson then tells a little more about Asgore,
including giving him the nickname "King Fluffybuns." He describes Asgore as a friendly,
happy go lucky guy who likes to walk around the kingdom and mingle with his people. In the
epilogue, he adds that the Fluffybun nickname came from a time when Toriel called him an
affectionate pet name that got picked up on a microphone, and then Asgore took it with stride
and proclaimed himself "King Fluffybuns" to all. This shows a good humored side of Asgore. Undyne
speaks of Asgore in a more intimidating light, mentioning how he will take seven human souls
to become a god to free monsters and wipe out humanity. Notably, she refers to Asgore in
both yellow and red text. Then, in battle, she boasts about how no human has never made it
past Asgore. Note: Past, not to. But in her date, she reveals more on the softer side of Asgore,
first by pointing out his love of Golden Flower tea and then calling him a total weenie. …Sorta.
She describes a time where she tried to fight Asgore, but he dodged every blow, but eventually
took her on as a student. On the day she finally knocked him down, he was incredibly proud of her
and eventually appointed her head of the guard. However, perhaps the most striking thing she
reveals is that Asgore… probably doesn't want to fight Frisk. She begs Frisk to talk to Asgore
and find another solution. Thus, by this point, we have a much clearer image of the true Asgore.
…and then we have the Mettaton quiz, where it's revealed that Alphys has a huge crush on him
and calls him Mr. Dreamy. Bratty and Catty also reveal that Asgore had a deep interest
in soul research, and how Mettaton was the reason Alphys got appointed as head scientist.
Unfortunately, unlike Undyne, they are still totally hyped for the destruction of humanity,
which demonstrates how eager the average monster is for Asgore to seize the final soul and the
difficult situation he has placed himself in. Before heading to New Home, we also
learn that Asgore is a boss monster, one of the few monsters whose souls can persist
briefly after death. It turns out that the power of a human and monster SOUL is required to leave,
thus fighting Asgore is required to cross the barrier. This presents a moral dilemma that grows
even worse when you learn about him in New Home. From the very beginning, New Home characterizes
Asgore impeccably. The entire area is in greyscale, which is greatly evocative of both
the past and of a sort of emptiness and a lack of color in his life. When you first enter his
home, you're immediately hit with familiarity, as the layout is identical to Toriel's house, minus
the locks on the stairway. The stairs have a note urging visitors to look for the keys and pointing
out where to find them. This shows that Asgore is open to anyone who wishes to visit him. There are
many potted golden flowers all throughout as well, and once you pass the chain, you'll find
a calendar with a date in 201X circled. In the genocide run, you learn that that is
the date that Chara came to the Underground. Unlike Toriel's home, the fireplace is dull.
The chair looks as though it hasn't been used in some time. The tools are not filed down.
The kitchen contains more telling traits. A trash bin filled with crumpled up butterscotch pie
recipes that shows how desperately he's tried to recapture the missing piece of his life. The
fridge is full of unopened snail containers, which further calls back to Toriel and her own
love of snails, while there's a note welcoming guests to take whatever they like. Already,
it's clear that Asgore is a kindly king. But as you explore the home, monster
visitors recount a tragic tale. Long ago, a human fell into the Underground
and was found by the monster prince, Asriel. The little prince brought the human to
his home, where Asgore and his wife took them, and the Underground was full
of hope. The human even became part of the family and formed a close,
sibling-like bond with the young prince. As you explore more of the house, you find a
children's bedroom with unopened gift boxes. A happy family photo sits on the shelf. Striped
shirts fill the wardrobe. Childish artwork lines the walls. The beds are perfectly made, even
though no one has used them in a long time. More golden flowers fill the hall. The
next room is closed for renovations, a clear parallel to a similar room
within Toriel's home. The next room is Asgore's own bedroom, which sheds
further light on this lonely king. He has a trophy for the Nose Nuzzle championships
of '98, first place. His clothes drawer has many different clothing, including a hand-knit sweater
that says "Mr. Dad Guy," likely made by Chara, the human child. His bureau holds a Santa Claus
outfit, which calls back to earlier mentions of Santa, from Papyrus in his date to the gifts
outside in Snowdin Town. This further showcases Asgore's kind heart and how deeply he cares
for his people and the younger generations. On his wall hangs macaroni art of a flower
that his son made, while on his desk lies an open journal that says "Nice day today,"
showing that he tries to have a cheery spirit. This is starkly contrasted with the tragic
story that continues in the basement. The monsters reveal that one day, Chara
fell ill, and their dying wish was to see the golden flowers in their village.
Upon their death, Asriel took their SOUL, went to the surface, and was attacked. Despite
having immense power, he refused to fight back, and returned to the Underground with
a smile before crumbling to dust. Upon his death, Asgore was outraged
and heartbroken. He had lost two children in a single night, and after the
centuries of banishment beneath the ground, humanity stole the kingdom's future away. And
so he declared war on humanity in a fit of rage, claiming that he would take the human souls,
cross the barrier, and enact vengeance. However, Toriel was disgusted and left to the Ruins in
order to protect any humans that fell down. Yet Asgore's actions restored hope to the kingdom. Many monsters anticipate the
final soul with excitement. And so, when Asgore finally appears onscreen…
it's a rather tense moment to say the least. First, there's his voice. The moment you hear
it, it might click. You've heard it before, on the game over screen. There, he provided
words of comfort and encouragement. Here, however, the context is strikingly different.
He is friendly, but undeniably sad. He wishes he could simply play catch or make a cup of
tea, but his people expect freedom. He has boxed himself in a cruel corner.
He remains friendly despite the circumstances and even gives Frisk every chance
to turn back. He will not fight unless YOU want to. His small talk and hesitance show that
he is trying to put this off for as long as possible. That he does not WANT to do this.
Asgore not fight until YOU are ready, and even then, he remains cordial before
saying goodbye and smashing the mercy button. There's a lot you can read into with the Asgore fight. While
it might be easy to assume him destroying the mercy button means he will not SHOW
mercy, I think it becomes clear very fast that it's because he won't ACCEPT your
mercy. He doesn't believe he deserves it. If you talk to Asgore enough times,
and you have a low level of violence, his attack and defense drop. If you eat the
butterscotch-cinnamon pie, his attack and defense also drop as he's reminded of his lost love. If
you talk to him upon dying, he nods his head, deeply sad, as if he knows what this means.
And it's very likely he does, as there is dialogue in the game suggesting the previous humans
had the power to save and load at one point. And simply gave up. Plus the fact that Flowey's
able to access multiple save states from the SOULs. Moreover, Asgore will not kill Frisk until
their HP is at 1. He doesn't dodge attacks the way that he did against Undyne. He hangs his head
and does not speak. This is a man who is clearly trying to hold his emotions in, and it's very
likely that he fights not to succeed, but to die. When Asgore's knocked to low HP, he opens
up about his intentions and regrets. He reiterates how much his kingdom lost hope when
his son died. How his anger prompted his war declaration and his statement that he'd kill any
humans who fell underground, take their souls, become godlike, eradicate humanity, and let
monsters rule the surface in peace. While this restored the people's hopes, again, this
caused Toriel to leave, and she never returned. Asgore reveals that, deep down, he didn't
wish to hurt anyone and that he only wanted his people to have hope. He is fully aware
of his crimes and wishes to break the cycle of hatred he perpetuated, and offers up his life
so that Frisk can return safely to the surface, even if it means leaving his people without
a ruler. A lot of people give Asgore a lot of grief over the lives he claimed, acting
as though he takes pleasure in doing this, when all signs point to him acting to appease
his kingdom and trying to prolong it as much as possible in order to give the humans a chance to
turn back. What a lot of people seem to forget is that it requires a boss monster soul to leave, so
it is possible that some of the humans tried to confront Asgore to go home, but lost so many times
they eventually just couldn't continue anymore. That doesn't make Asgore's crimes OKAY, of
course. In the end, six lives were taken, and it was entirely his choice. He could have
changed his mind, but the fear of disappointing his people and the excitement of pressure
upon him weighed heavily on his shoulders, and so he continued down this dark path for the
sake of the future. In the genocide run, Gerson even mentions how at one point he and Asgore
agreed that it was best to give up trying to return to the surface, lest they be killed again.
Gerson felt betrayed when Asgore changed his mind. This further shows that Asgore's decision was
one born of grief and impulse, not practicality. If you choose to FIGHT Asgore, he dies with
a smile. If you choose Mercy, he's shocked, but offers to take care of Frisk and treat
them like his own child. There's something I find interesting, however: he mentions his wife
and him will care for Frisk, as if Toriel will suddenly come back… but what if that's not it?
What if he's lost in a memory- reciting the words he once told Chara when they first met?
As if taking Frisk in will fill a void left by his children's deaths so long ago.
However, this moment is cut woefully short. Flowey lands a killing blow if you don't
kill him yourself, and Asgore crumbles to dust. However, if you replay the Asgore fight later and
choose Mercy again, under the right circumstances, Flowey will not attack. And so when Asgore makes
his speech, he realizes this is just a fantasy, comparing Frisk to Chara and how they had
a similar look of hope in their eyes before bringing up the Delta Rune prophecy and
how he believes Frisk can fulfill it. He urges Frisk to take his SOUL,
cross the barrier, and find another way to free the monsters. He does not give
them a choice, as he takes his own life. You can say this is unfair, as he's placing so
much responsibility on a child he just met and making them watch him end his own life.
I completely agree, this is not a good choice on his part, yet the fact that he is so
broken that he would rather end his life than keep another human prisoner shows just how deeply
Asgore's actions have crushed him. Deservedly so, perhaps, but this is why so much of the
bad faith criticism of Asgore bothers me. When he's boiled down to "kid killer," you lose
so much of the nuance and tragedy. This is someone who is kind, caring, compassionate, and loves
children… and still he made terrible choices, because the only other options were to let
monsters languish Underground with growing concerns of overpopulation and hopelessness
creeping back in, take a single SOUL, cross the barrier, and immediately get six
more SOULs… But this is precisely what Chara and Asriel tried, and the humans assumed the
worst. To do this would risk another war, whereas the long game would at least allow what
happened with Asriel to fade from human memory. You can certainly argue that letting the human
children living out their natural lives would be better, but that would require the humans
to want to stay for the rest of their lives. We know so little about the other humans to know
if they would be happy with that. A big part of the tragedy in Undertale is that there was no
simple solution. The humans who banished the monsters made it so the barrier could only
be broken with SOUL power, and made it so that a human who falls would have to kill a boss
monster to escape. Asgore took six young lives, and that isn't okay, but it is still possible to
understand how he got to this point, especially when you consider the war and how many monsters
had likely died back then in a one-sided battle. And the true tragedy in the neutral run is how
Asgore cannot be saved. No matter what you do, he dies. The SOULs are lost, and
the monsters are stuck underground. Even in the most ideal endings, the human SOULs
are gone, and Asgore is deeply missed by those who were close to him and the future is uncertain.
While some offer glimmers of hope, it is clear that this is not the perfect finale.
Which brings us to Pacifist. Asgore's absent for the first stretch
of the Pacifist portion of the story, although True Lab does shed some light on his
relationship with Alphys. He was the one who tasked her to research the SOUL, he was the
one who gave her the dying monster bodies, and if the imperfect pacifist ending is any
indication… He did not check up on Alphys during her work very much. He did send her a cute teacup
and he did tell her about people's complaints, but otherwise he was pretty hands off during
the experiments. When you approach Asgore after the True Lab everything seems familiar at
first… until Toriel fireballs him off camera in a callback to the first scene with Flowey. Asgore
is overjoyed to see Toriel again, but the feeling isn't mutual. She tells him not to call her
"Tori" and that they are through, and though Asgore asks if they can at least be friends,
she says no. He respects this and backs down. Toriel brings up an alternative I briefly touched
upon: that he could have taken a single soul, crossed the barrier to get six more, and freed
their people peacefully. Many people interpret this as being something Toriel wanted when
it's more likely that she was just making a point. Namely, if Asgore really wanted to let
monsters free, he could have done so MUCH sooner, but simply couldn't face his people and
admit to his own cowardice and regrets. Still, what bothers me about this scene is how
much Asgore becomes a punching bag. When Undyne comes in, rather than defend Asgore, the scene
instead shifts focus to how Toriel is Asgore's ex with an Avatar the Last Airbender reference.
There are a lot of charming interactions, but it's just kind of weird how tonally
different Asgore is handled here, going from tragic and dignified to basically the buttmonkey.
And as soon as Toriel and Sans start talking, he bursts into tears, which further hammers
in Asgore's role as more of comedic relief.. Personally, I'm not super invested in the
ship discourse, and Asgore's openness with his emotions is certainly refreshing to see
for a character of his status, but I dunno. It still feels odd to see him shift from this
much heavier and more dramatic character to this. Flowey attacks, and everyone's ensnared in
vines. They all say hopeful words. Once again, Asgore shows his tendency to place
responsibility on others, albeit for good-natured reasons like instilling hope.
His Lost Soul segment further sheds light on his character, too. "Forgive me for this." "This is my
duty." It's clear that these feelings have pushed him forward even though he did not wish to take
those lives or cause so much hurt. This further hammers in the tragic nature of his character.
Some people have pointed out how Toriel says that Frisk's future is up to them, while Asgore says
that they are the future and how this is cruel and unfair on Asgore's part. While I do think he has
a bad habit of placing a ton of responsibility on others without their consent, I do think he meant
well, simply offering inspirational words. Stuff's complicated, yo. After the battle, when Frisk
wakes up, Asgore tries to comfort the others as they process what happened and fret over Frisk. He
is happy that Frisk is all right and offers some tea, though Toriel tells him to give them space.
Notably, Asgore is one of the only characters in the entire game to apologize to Frisk. While I've
seen a few posts giving him grief for retracting that apology, what they neglect to mention is
that Undyne told him to not feel bad because they all tried to kill Frisk… which is pretty
messed up? I love Undyne, but it's not like she ever apologized for what she said and did.
In fact, the only time Undyne earnestly apologizes is in the neutral ending, and not because of
her actions, but for what happened to Asgore. Conversely, only Asgore, Alphys, and Asriel
give genuine apologies out of the main cast. Napstablook and Muffet if
you count side characters. Instead of picking on Asgore, I think it's
more telling that Undyne refused to say sorry for chasing Frisk down, threatening
to tear their soul from their body, and saying they'd be better off dead, but I
digress. Undyne's flaws do make for a great character regardless, and it shows a doofy side
to Asgore that he took her words so literally. Plus, remember, this is in a Pacifist Run.
The previous fight you had in the neutral run was completely erased from time, and
regardless of any deja-vu Asgore might feel, that fight simply didn't happen thanks
to Toriel. So ultimately, he has a lot less to apologize for, at least to Frisk.
In fact, a lot of Asgore's dialogue here is comical in nature. He wants to be pals
with Frisk, still wants to make them tea, and would love to go on walks with them. He seems
so happy that he can face humanity on happier terms at long last and even plans to disband
the royal guard now that they're at peace. He also shows curiosity towards anime and
asks Alphys for information, and wants to see it for himself. It's a charming moment that
foreshadows his nerdy interests in Deltarune, too. It's also worth noting that when Alphys told
the truth, he offered her a comforting hug. Asgore once again shows his tendency to place
responsibility on others when asking Frisk to be ambassador. On one hand, they're probably no
older than 13 (I personally see them as around 12 - 13 due to the series' Earthbound influence),
but on the other hand, they did change the hearts and minds of so many monsters and brought
about this new, peaceful era. In the end, he won't force it on Frisk, however, and
if they decline, Papyrus takes the role. During the credits, we see Asgore tending to the
garden outside of Toriel's new school, showing that while they may not be together, they have
patched things up enough to be around each other. Even outside of the game, there are still
additional bits of Asgore characterization. In the first anniversary Q&A blog, he stated that
his second favorite thing to eat is tea and a biscuit. He tries to sound hip, mentioning a
"life's hack" and making tea time "epic." Alphys regrets sharing the internet with him after that,
but it goes to show that Asgore is desperately trying to get with the times. In the winter alarm
clock dialogue, Asgore explains why he loves Santa and how he always calmly laughs and helps everyone
feel better. He believes he wasn't a great leader, but does enjoy playing the role of monster Santa.
He even tried going down the chimney once, but got stuck in the process and the kids drew on his bum.
He then reflects on Rudy, a close friend of his who would join him with a glowing red nose
in giving gifts to the children. Asgore was Rudy's Santa and Rudy was Asgore's Rudolph. The
way Asgore says this has led many to interpret him as bi, which I think is pretty neat.
Asgore seemed to find Rudy's house as a second home, and his family as a second family
in the aftermath of Toriel's departure. The two had a long history, too, as Asgore had met Rudy
during Rudy's university days, but over time, Rudy began looking older than Asgore. One
day, he fell down, perhaps due to his illness, which might have lacked the proper medical
resources it has in Deltarune. I suggest this over old age simply because Asgore mentions
that Rudy's daughters will get to grow up on the surface, and Sans in the Xbox version
of the game talks about an antlered girl. And speaking of the casino, we learn from Sans
that one time he did a pun, and Asgore just burst into laughter before he could land any
more jokes. Asgore's laughter was so nonstop, in fact, that Sans just stood awkwardly on the
sage until they finally closed the curtains on him. But he still considers it his best show.
Regardless, Asgore knew Rudy since his youth and watched him get married, become
a father, and so much more. This illustrates the tragic nature of being a boss monster, as Gerson reveals in
the Pacifist epilogue that boss monsters like Asgore only age if they have living biological
children, or if they are children themselves, if they have biological parents.
Asgore has probably outlived many monsters over the centuries, though Rudy's
children live on and get to grow up on the surface as previously mentioned.
The rest of his alarm clock scenario is very sweet, as the other monsters come in
and celebrate the holiday together. Asgore and Toriel both reflect on how Chara used to
fill water glasses to the brim for efficiency, and Asgore seems to have taken after them in
that respect. This shows that Asgore still holds Chara near and dear to his heart.
But overall, that's all we have for the Undertale version of Asgore, so with
that, let's move on to Deltarune. From the beginning of Deltarune, it's clear that
Toriel and Asgore are divorced. There is no sign of him at home, and Toriel makes no mention
of him. She seems to be Kris' sole caretaker, and the garbage can is filled with a strangely
floral scent. It's not until after the first dark world adventure that we learn more about him.
At the end of Chapter 1, we learn that Asgore frequently gives Alphys bouquets of flowers and
asks how Kris is doing in school. This leads her to wonder if Asgore likes her, though she deflects
and claims it's that he likes the comics she lends him. Asgore runs the town's local flower shop,
though it seems that since the divorce, he and Kris have fallen out of touch. He's shocked and
ecstatic to see them and pulls them into a huge hug, only to realize he's not sure if they
even like those kinds of hugs in the first place. In the shop, you can learn a lot about this
version of Asgore. He collects car magazines. He keeps the flowers from his wedding preserved
in glass. He keeps a wedding picture on his fridge. A fridge that has no food besides
his pickle, which is worrying on its own… In Chapter 2, we learn that he goes
to Sans specifically for free pickles. But he sleeps on an air mattress and is due for
eviction unless he starts paying rent. Seems Asgore has a problem giving away product for free.
When you leave the shop, he gives Kris flowers to give to Toriel and says to keep it a secret. This
seems to be a troubling and recurring habit of his, as the garbage in the Dreemurr house has a
floral scent I mentioned. He's also given flowers to Rudy before, prompting Rudy to tease Asgore,
calling him a fruit and making Beauty and the Beast references. Asgore's TV has superhero comics
on top, while his car contains country music. Toriel later mentions that for one of
Asriel's birthdays, Asgore painted a bunch of eggs with green spots as a reference
to Yoshi, one of Asriel's favorite video game characters. Unfortunately, the next day,
Asgore used those same eggs to cook breakfast, and Asriel burst out crying, hating
the book Green Eggs and Ham ever since. These are the main things we learn in chapter 1.
But in Chapter 2, we learn that he used to be the police chief before he was forcibly removed for
unknown reasons, and that he left huge shoes for Undyne to fill, while the grocery store scene
reveals that he's still very awkward with how he interacts with Toriel, offering her flowers
again and, once she leaves, asking Sans for how to get her to remember how she used to feel. He
apparently talks to his flowers a lot, and it's clear that he's still struggling with the divorce.
But the problem is that he doesn't respect Toriel's boundaries and just expects things
to go back to the way they used to be. For now, it's hard to say where this will go.
Personally, I think Deltarune's Asgore needs to be more respectful of those boundaries. It's
understandable that he's heartbroken and wishes for the days when their family was happy. They
used to all go to QC's together, and Asgore even brings it up in Chapter 1, suggesting that he
can bring Kris and Asriel there like old times. But at the same time, it was a bit awkward for me
to see, and made me slightly uncomfortable, even though I do feel bad for the dude. The problem is
that he still butted in on a conversation between two good friends and just… shifted the focus about
him, kept pushing the flowers on Toriel, and then tried to get Sans to give him romantic advice. I
suppose that unlike his Undertale counterpart, the divorce is recent enough that he hasn't accepted
it yet and is still in the bargaining stage. We'll have to see where his story
goes in the future, but I really do hope that he learns to chill out on this front.
As some final Deltarune factoids, Asgore is a fan of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 2 according to Alphys,
and he seems to be on friendly terms with Mad Dummy/Mad Mew Mew, as she talks about Asgore
in a way that suggests she has a crush on him. And yes, that is the Mad Dummy/Mad Mew Mew ghost,
as both she and Mettaton live in the same house. Unfortunately, as I've already alluded to,
Asgore is a character who's the center of a lot of discourse. I don't wanna name specific
names or use too many screenshots of posts, just because that would be a bit disrespectful to the
people who made those messages in the past. But regardless, many people hold him so accountable
for his crimes that they will go up to fans of the characters just to joke about dead kids, or when
people post fanart of him shipped with Toriel, will make divorce jokes without considering
that maybe the person doesn't wanna hear that. I have seen people get bullied and harassed on
social media simply for enjoying the character, and while he has many fans and staunch
defenders, it's still really upsetting to see a game that encourages mercy and compassion
bring about this nastiness in the community, even if it's not exclusive to Asgore. And
what really bothers me about this is the double standards at play. People will give Asgore
all this grief, yet Flowey is a character who has killed just about every monster in many ways just
for fun. True, his crimes were undone thanks to reloads and resets, and he did break the barrier,
but the sad truth is that this wouldn't have been possible without those six souls. That doesn't
make those humans' deaths acceptable either, and Asgore even feels that they aren't, but it's
just so strange to me how people give Asriel free pass while they just hammer in on Asgore.
I even recall seeing posts saying that Asgore never loved Chara, even though he speaks so fondly
of them before he takes his own life. I've seen it argued that Asgore "groomed" or "brainwashed"
Undyne into hating humans and being a soldier, that she doesn't really wanna fight… when Gerson
outright states that she loved picking fights even as a little kid. Asgore is not solely to blame
for the attitudes towards humanity. There was the war. There are the ancient plaques. By placing
all the blame on Asgore, it removes the agency of the individual characters and ignores that
this is all part of a larger cycle of hatred, hurt, and loss that finally breaks in the pacifist
run. Asgore is fully accountable for his choices, sure, but at the end of the day, the other
monsters have their freedom of choice, too. It's okay if you don't like Asgore. It's okay
if you don't forgive him for his crimes. There will always be an element of subjectivity when it
comes to character preferences. And of COURSE the alternative mindset isn't better. The way some
Asgore fans will go on about how hypocritical Toriel is or how she's just as bad… guys,
that doesn't solve anything. Both of them are tragic and complex and made bad choices.
But I can't help but wonder if the discourse surrounding his character is why he's seen so
little merchandise. Photoshop Flowey and final boss Asriel both have their own merch, so it can't
be spoilers. Asgore has a poster and appears in the stickers, tarot cards, and on some shirts,
but beyond that, he has so little dedicated merch and has been left out of things like the
holiday newsletter despite his Santa motifs. It would be wonderful if Asgore fans got a
little more merchandise. A figure. A plush. Just something simple and fun. There's a hashtag on
social media going around: #GiveAsgoreSomeMerch, and maybe if enough people signal boost it
and perhaps (politely) tweet at Fangamer, we can see a lil' more love for the big guy.
But enough negativity! Before closing things off, I'd like to talk about some
cool development trivia. Asgore is a character who had an interesting
development history. While his general look was established years before the game released,
his finer design details and characterization took some time to develop. Originally, Asgore was
intended as a more serious and somber character, taking inspiration from games like Brandish.
Early on, it wasn't even decided if he'd have facial hair or not. He also was originally
going to include far more complex attacks, such as spinning his trident and an attack
where he roars. Eventually, Toby took a different turn with Asgore's character, inspiring
his personality on his friend Reid from Fangamer. His hair became blonde for better contrast, and
that's how Asgore's final appearance took form. This video ended up longer than I initially
expected. I understand that Asgore is always going to be a divisive character, but I do hope
that this analysis has given you a bit more appreciation for the complexity of his story and
writing, even if you don't forgive his actions or like him as a character. The great thing about
Undertale and Deltarune is that the characters are so rich and diverse. There's a character
for everyone to enjoy, and ultimately you can't expect everyone to share a universal opinion.
I just hope that in the future, we see a bit more to him. I'd love to see him develop
in Deltarune to find happiness even with the divorce and to learn to respect Toriel's
boundaries rather than clinging to the past. I'd also love to see more merchandise options for
him, such as a plushie. And more than anything, I'd love to see the hostility in the fandom
surrounding him and Toriel simmer down. Too often people act like if you like one, you
can't like the other, or try to oversimplify the actions of Toriel to make Asgore look good
(or vice versa), when the whole point is that they are both flawed in their own unique ways.
But I digress! Lemme know your thoughts on Asgore in the comments, and if you have an Undertale or
Deltarune character or topic you'd like to see in the future, feel free to mention that, too. I
have a lot of video ideas for 2023, though some will take a bit more time in the oven. I'd
certainly like to give my thoughts on Ralsei's characterization based on what we know now,
for instance. I got some other content outside of Undertale and Deltarune planned, too, like a
video on Ventus from Kingdom Hearts and the SatAM version of Sonic, so stay tuned in the future.
If you like my character analysis and wanna check out my Undertale webcomic, visit the link in
the description or onscreen right now. Inverted Fate has been going strong since 2016, and we're
gearing up for an awesome finale this year, and I hope to upload more music to this channel soon,
too, and maybe some fun behind the scenes videos. If you like what I do and wanna stay up to date
on all my projects, please consider pledging on my Patreon! Every bit of support matters
because I can't always count on Youtube revenue to supplement my patreon income, and right now
I only make enough between both to cover rent. I wanna keep this going as long as I can, so
the more I can grow my platform, the better! If you made it this far, thanks so much
for watching, and I'll see you later!
