> Be warned - this might be a crazy theory, but I think it makes sense from a storytelling perspective.
> Player versus game:
Only just now did it become clear to me that there is a very strong 'Player versus Game' theme going on here. Or should I say - Player versus Asriel & Sans[2] in Neutral/Pacifist and Genocide playthroughs respectively. Because those are the two characters who are directly aware that they're in a game, repeatedly breaking the fourth wall.
During the credits of a neutral run, Flowey (containing Asriel) prolongs the game by suggesting the player either resets the game to try a different path or if the neutral run has been pacifist up to that point, try for the True ending. Asriel in the true ending is fully aware that you're mutually playing a game with each other - and he doesn't want it to end. He wants the player to let him win, because it keeps the game going. Having played with you for a while, he feels that he's gotten to know you (who came from the outside world - outside the barrier) and considers you meaningful - a friend, even. A sentiment possibly mirrored by the player, feeling they've gotten to know the other characters. In that sense, there's a sort of Status Quo where both parties reset, load, and save to keep the game going.
> The Barrier: the interface between two worlds
I realize the 'Barrier' can be seen as a symbol for the player's computer and monitor - the interface between inside and outside the underground - or inside and outside the game, monsters being trapped on the inside, the player on the outside. After the final battle against Asriel, he shatters the barrier drawing a sharp line across the screen, as if the barrier is the screen. And this unites the two worlds - game and reality, ending the play time with Asriel...
Asriel:
...he doesn't want it to end. He doesn't want to let go even if he knows it's the only way the story will ever be resolved. His sacrifice frees the monsters, but breaks contact with the player - because after all, the player might not want to keep resetting the game after achieving the true ending.
During the credits, he pops back up again, with the line 'Did you really think this was over? We haven't even done the special thanks yet', giving you infinite health and one last round of playing with him. It also demonstrates that the character knows full and well that he's in a game and he's playing with you while you're playing with him... his best friend, even?
Now, Asriel ascending in the final battle, revealing his true form through the power of being filled with every soul of every monster (equivalent to the power of one human soul - one human to one game world) is somehow able to maintain the form of Asriel Dreemurr, goatbro, even after the souls dissipate, and all the way into the credits - whose soul is invested in him then? The player's obviously. He knows he'll turn back into a flower as soon as the game is over, because the player is no longer pouring their soul into the game, and by extension, him.
Sans on the other hand: is the guardian of the game for the instance that the player absolutely refuses to play with Asriel (eventually murdering him in the form of flowey in a genocide run). His only job in the game is to prevent the player from completing a genocide run. Anything else and he won't care much, because he knows the player will most likely end their playthroughs in a reset until reaching the 'true' ending...
Both of the characters in the game that are aware that they're in a game, communicating not with the protagonist, but with the player, are essential for the game to continue. Killing both of them therefore literally kills the game world, as they're the characters upholding the place and the story. It can be brought back by selling your soul - but it's no longer their game world - you forced it back into existence, so it belongs to Chara - the player's self - now. Meaning no more happy endings. The characters become mere puppets that the player can choose to play with...
> In the end, what does that make Undertale?
For starters, the player is told brillant story about the characters, as the characters engage in an equivalent story with the player. As I wrote in the other post, there's a general theme of whether the player is playing the game or the game is playing the player... It seems intentional to me, though I might be stretching it - Undertale it's meant to be a portal between worlds - the fictional world and the player's.
> Think about /v/ and /vg/ - we're continuously telling the stories of the game world, bringing it back to life even after the story ends. Don't we have anything better to do? Sure, but as long as we, the players give our souls to their world, they will keep on living through the stories we tell. It's the neverending story all over again.
Asriel going back to being a flower as the only inhabitant of the game world, so they can greet us again after a True Ending? The purpose that serves is leaving him as the guardian of the game world, after everyone leaves. A guardian against the player.
> You really want to save goatbro, don't you?
What if I told you he's not needed as a guardian of his world as long as you remember him and keep telling his story onward? All you have to do is give a fictional character a tiny bit of your soul, and they'll instantly come to life. Stories telling stories... how crazy is that?
kill yourself.
>Undies are autistic
more news at 11
>>320575520
Go back to your containment channel, Matt
ur gay lol
>>320576743
>Undies
>>320576743
>Undies
KEK
>>320576743
kek
>>320575520
>>320575736
>>320575831
>>320575905
>>320576743
Got me pretty good.
BUT ITS JUST A THEORY,
>>320577812
A GAME THEORY
Is UNDERTALE an allegory for COMMUNISM!?!?!
IT IS BUT MERE SPECULATION.
>>320576743
>Undies
>>320576745
>20 words or less
WTF IN THE MANGA HE SAYS ONLY "10 WORDS OR LESS" FUCKING ANIME RUINING SUPERIOR MANGA, THATS NOT WHAT HE SAYS REEEEEEEEEEE
>>320579994
And the manga ruined the webcomic.
