Deltarune theory: The Universal Mother

“Does this town have a therapist?” It’s the roaring knight. Clearly the reason they keep opening dark fountains is to let the town’s teenagers have group therapy sessions

"Does this town have a therapist?" This is an AMERICAN town. People don't have insurance for that.

So, fun fact regarding the Berdly family situation from unironic berdly stan #12- female bluebirds have been documented as abandoning their eggs if their mate dies, which could imply some pretty dark things about Berdly's home life. It also reflects back on him calling Kris a "fellow bluebird", given how Toriel doesn't seem to provide much support beyond the necessities now that she and Asgore have split.

Interesting fact is that Toriel actively hugs Kris apparently frequently. While Asgore, when we first see him in game, backs off from his hug quickly before reminding himself that Kris doesn't like hugs. I think more than just not understand Kris, Toriel is either oblivious to many of their boundaries or doesn't respect them. She barely remarks that Kris is being weird while random townsfolk realize Kris is acting different now. I think Toriel doesn't know how to love her children, while Asgore was the more active parent. Whatever caused those two to separate, Kris being with Toriel seems like the worst outcome. Probably born out of Asgore's fluffy pushover personality. Man Kris can't catch a break.

Ralsei being made into a butler and then somewhat pushed aside by Queen is a great metaphor for him having the responsibilities of the prophecy dumped upon him and then being left entirely to his own devices until it was time for him to work to fulfill it.

Toriel being prone to alcohol abuse is something I didn't click on. Rudy even mentions that Toriel was the party animal out of the three of them. Plus the idea of turning a home into a prison parallels undertale's tutorial, in both universes she provides a 'loving home' by not allowing them their freedom. Very excited to see how this plays out.

Another note about Susie not connecting with her mom, is that she was incredibly surprised when Ralsei created a room for her that was a) JUST for her and b) was focused on what she liked. Throughout both chapters whenever someone did something for her that fit her interests she was often surprised and happy. She said Lancer cared about her contributions and was psyched when Kris showed her the moss in the alleyway.

That Berdley situation kinda makes me feel bad for him, because if he DOESN'T get the attention he so desires from his parents, and instead has to "be smart" to recieve the recognition of his fellow monsters, then I feel SUPER bad for killing him in the Snowgrave Route.

Another small thing that I think fits into Toriels flaws, ( though not really shown in any meaningful way) is that Toriel sorta ‘put off’ the human issue. We see from the books that Kris is uncomfortable even looking at humans, and it’s not hard to believe that they may very well never of met about her human in their life. We also know they didn’t even KNOW they were human till at least the start of puberty. I think Toriel very much ignored the issue that Kris was a totally different species from the feast of them, likely out of some fear they might choose their own kind over her. One of Toriel’s most persistent negative traits is an issue with letting go, of grudges(asgore), of trama ( still keeps chocolate in the fridge decades after Chara’s death) and of corse people. Instead she ignored it, believing Kris would just be OK with being the only human in town. I think this would make a nice encapsulating issue for the whole of Toriel’s and Kris’s issues. Kris has genuine issues with their identity and self image, but instead of trying to help them Toriel just focuses on the good old days to mask her own fears in worries.

Queen also uses the acid to shield herself in the fight, and a major part of the fight is forcing her to run out, either by drinking all of it, or the much more effective violently destroying it. Much like how people use alcohol to shield themselves from the outside world. When she forms the shield it puts a wall between the heroes and herself and Berdly... much like how alcoholism can put a wall between people and their friends and family.

i thought all the motherly stuff also ties in well with the internet basically raising children today. Parents handing kids a tablet like its a semi-permanent babysitter might as well be a mother as well. She kinda reflects that in her battle speech about everyone finding solace in dumping their woes and surrending their free will to the comforting bosom of the internet, which queen finds herself a proxy for as a laptop computer. Might be getting too philosophical with that but I think its interesting to consider.

I'm guessing that Chapter 3 could reasonably see toriel's flaws come into play a bit more. Something I realized is that if (more like when honestly) Toriel and Ralsei meet up, they're probably not going to get along. Honestly, I think they're gonna hate each other. Think about it; Toriel's not gonna become a party member. She's not gonna listen to Kris tell her what to do in battles or dangerous situations or whatever, knowing Toriel, she's gonna try to be the 'adult' of the situation and 'save the children' or whatever. If I had to guess, she's not going to think that Kris should be the leader but rather she herself should be the leader because she's the "Adult" of the group. And, additionally, I think that's going to lead to major conflict with ralsei, who firmly believes in the prophecy and that Kris is the only one who can lead to the survival of the world. I don't think Ralsei is just going to let toriel take control. And Ralsei has nothing to lose that I can think of by arguing with Toriel; Toriel has zero authority over Ralsei, and if anything, it's the opposite, because Ralsei is the PRINCE. (Though, whether he's prince of the entire dark world or prince of castle town dark world is kinda unclear to my knowledge) So ultimately I think we might end up seeing Ralsei be very mad with Toriel, which is definitely something I look forward to seeing in Chapter 3.

The Queen isn't Lancer's actual mother When she claims "After All... I Am His Mother" The King responds "WHEN WAS THAT DECIDED?" She says "Arbitrarily Right Now"

after hearing this theory, especially the Kris part, the dialogue line from the final boss battle where Queen says "And Kris... Ok I Don't Remember What You Like" suddenly seems to hit in a different light...

I remember enjoying Berdly the most of the new characters, and with this theory in mind it makes me feel so terrible for the kid

What if Ralsei's "mother" in this analogy is the Dark Fountain? It spawned Ralsei one day, leaving him alone with nothing but the knowledge of the prophecy, his "purpose" You can tell that is really messing him up. Ralsei has no identity beyond his role in the prophecy. He's only now starting to loosen up a little (mostly with Susie), but he still has no idea of what it means to be "Ralsei".

What if Ralsei was actually not supposed to be a part of the troupe, and just lied so he could be with the heroes on their journey because he's been alone for so long. He was just supposed to speak about the prophecy and send the heroes on their way, which is why he's kinda just left sorta in the background.

When you look at Queen and Berdly's relationship as between the Queen of the Dark World and a random annoying kid, it's something like "haha she got his name wrong lmaooooooooooo." But when you look at it as between a mother and her son, it becomes much more disturbing and worrying.

Maybe Queen forgetting about Ralsei could be because he doesn't have parents. How else would a character representative of all mothers interact with someone that doesn't have a mother?

Deltarune's main cast in the nutshell: PLEASE HAVE THERAPY