Lancer

Lancer
Not to call a spade a spade, but he's a spade.
Character Information
Also known as	Dark Jack Lancer (himself)
First Appearance	Castle Town
Relationships	King (father) Rouxls Kaard ("lesser dad") Susie (teammate; friend; former enemy) Kris (teammate; friend; former enemy) Ralsei (teammate; friend; former enemy)
Leitmotif	Lancer
Battle Information
HP	550 (first battle) 700 (second battle) 2400 (third battle)
AT	7 (check) 2 (first battle) 3 (second battle, alone) 4 (second battle, with Susie) 1 (duel with Susie)
DF	1
D$ on Win	30 (first battle) 0 (second and third battle)
ACTs	Check, Compliment, Warning (Castle Town battle) Check, Anything, X-Anything (Forest battle)

I'm...! The bad guy.

Lancer introducing himself to Kris and Susie

Lancer is a nefarious Darkner child and minor antagonist in Chapter 1 of Deltarune. While his initial goal is to destroy the party before they can reach the Eastern Fountain and seal it, he eventually joins the team and becomes an ally.

Profile

Appearance

Lancer is a short and rotund black, blue and white Darkner with a teardrop-shaped head. The upper half of his face is hidden by a large, spade-shaped shadow. He has a large mouth and a prominent blue tongue that he usually sticks out.

According to Kris, it is difficult to tell Lancer's body from his clothes. For example, it isn't clear if Lancer is wearing clothes, or if that's his natural appearance.

Personality

Lancer is very childish and generally immature in his behavior and speech. He delivers his lines with a near-constant smile on his face. He is easily preoccupied with childish games and pursuits, and likes hiding things and irritating people. He generally assumes that the party naively follows instructions on signs he writes. He has a poor sense of direction and gets lost in mazes quite easily. He can be easily intimidated by strong enemies like King Round, although he remains calm and jovial while doing so.

Lancer values and idolizes his father, King. He tries to project a tough facade in imitation of him, hoping to be designated "son of the month," and caring for his father's well-being and approval despite being neglected. Aware that his father's subjects don't like him and only put up with him due to King's orders, he seeks real friendship and gradually becomes an ally to the party despite his initially hostile role.

Main Story

Chapter 1

Lancer first appeared as a dark silhouette, glimpsed a few times as Kris journeyed through the ?????? region. After Kris reunites with Susie, Lancer attacks them both, flinging a large number of spades at them until they escape.

Lancer properly reveals himself in Castle Town by ramming his bike into Ralsei, who has just introduced The Prophecy to the party. A brief battle ensues, in which Kris and Susie can either attack him, knocking him off-screen when his HP reaches 0, or prolong the battle so that his bike "runs out of fuel" and he leaves to get home before dinner.

Lancer appears repeatedly throughout the Field leaving numerous written signs intended to mislead and warn the party. Towards the end of the Field, Susie becomes tired of his childish attitude and decides to scare him and teach him how to really be threatening – Lancer however takes it as friendly criticism, and begins to think of her as a role model. Later while crossing the Great Board, Lancer reveals that he has put Susie's lesson to practice with an intimidating laugh, as he threatens to smash the party into blood, before asking Susie if it was scary, endearing her to him in the process.

At the end of the Great Board, Lancer is too afraid of a K. Round to cross past it into the Forest, and the party has to defeat it for him. Ralsei gently admonishes Susie for making the fight harder with her attacks and asks her to stop fighting enemies. Susie is annoyed by this and decides to be a bad guy, joining Lancer's side. The two proceed to try and thwart the party, which is only made up of Kris and Ralsei, throughout the Forest. This includes selling the party a cookie to fund their own downfall and getting them to design a weapon to "thrash your own ass."

Susie and Lancer eventually build the designed weapon out of junk, but decide to blow it up as mockery and then fight the party themselves. Kris and Ralsei win this fight by either persuading Lancer to no longer fight, or by injuring Lancer to the point that Susie becomes concerned for him. Susie decides to rejoin the party at this point. Lancer also "joins the party", although in practice he merely tags along from a small distance.

Shortly thereafter however, Lancer becomes concerned about the possibility of the party fighting King. Fearful of either the party killing his father, or his father killing the party, Lancer flees back into Card Castle. When the main party is subdued by Rudinn Rangers while chasing him, Lancer steps in and has them imprisoned rather than being executed. He elects to have them kept in the dungeon "for eternity", reasoning that it will prevent King and the party from killing each other. Susie breaks out of her cell and confronts Lancer on his seeming betrayal, and the two fight until it becomes apparent that neither wants to hurt the other. Susie swears to Lancer that she and the other Heroes don't have to hurt King, and Lancer runs off, relieved. He goes to the roof of Card Castle and attempts to soften his dad up in advance.

When the party ascend Card Castle and finally meet King, Lancer is in the process of explaining the situation. However, upon seeing the party, King becomes furious and tells Lancer that he has failed in his mission and that the Lightners are "scum". Lancer disagrees, and King holds him up in a rage, and threatens to drop him off the parapet of the castle to make the Lightners bow down to him. Lancer then betrays his dad by attacking him with a spade projectile that hits him on his back and allows Lancer to flee, leaving the party to fight King.

At the end of the fight, if the party has never defeated a Darkner through fighting, Lancer saves them by overthrowing King: He storms in with a large number of Darkner troops, and locks King in the Prison Cell in Card Castle. He then becomes the new King of the Dark World, leaving the other three Kings still locked away.

In Battle

Attacks

First Battle

• Lancer moves up and down on the right side of the Bullet Board. After a bit, he honks and does a wheelie, charging forward.
• Lancer charges across the bottom of the Bullet Board, then returns from above the Bullet Board, shooting spade shaped projectiles at Kris's SOUL.

Second Battle

• Susie jumps on top of Lancer. Then, Lancer jumps over the top of the Bullet Board while Susie launches ax projectiles that travel towards the right of the Bullet Board.
• Summons spade projectiles at random locations at the top of the screen which travel downward through the Bullet Board.
• If Susie is put to sleep, Lancer uses the attacks from the first encounter.

Third Battle

• Summons spade projectiles at random locations at the top of the screen which travel downward through the Bullet Board.
• Summons spade projectiles from the sides of the Bullet Board.
• If Susie is low on health or after three turns have passed, he launches spade projectiles from the top of the screen that actively avoid the SOUL. This attack gradually decreases in intensity until the end of the fight.

Strategy

First Battle

Lancer cannot be Spared, but escapes from the battle at the end of turn 4, ending the fight. Choosing to FIGHT Lancer every turn can knock him away by turn 3 when combined with Susie's automatic attacks; this does not affect the ending.

Second Battle

• Lancer fights alongside Susie. Susie recovers shortly after being knocked down, and cannot be spared or Pacified as Lancer blocks Pacify attempts using his bike. To end the fight, the party must FIGHT or use the Anything (or X-Anything) ACT on Lancer.
  • If Susie is awake, the party cannot use the final ACT as Susie blocks the soundwaves from reaching Lancer. To put her to sleep, the party must FIGHT or use Lullaby on Susie. However, the soundwaves reach Lancer instantly if this action is repeated enough.
• If Ralsei and Kris are defeated, the regular "game over" screen does not appear. Instead, Susie and Lancer will be heard laughing over a black screen and the party will be automatically be sent back to the previous room.

Third Battle

Susie automatically attacks Lancer without player input, and Lancer stops trying to hurt Susie after she receives enough damage or from turn 4 onward. As such, the player has no control over the outcome of this fight, and it automatically ends at the start of turn 8.

Quotes

First Battle

• Halt, clowns! This bike is fueled by victory!!!
• I love to get thrashed...Just kidding! That's you!!
• So what are you guys doing after this???
• Hohoho!!! I'm the bad guy!
• Oh! You make my feelings do wheelies! Sweet wheelys [Compliment #1]
• Did you not realize I can mask my self-esteem levels? [Compliment #2]
• Stop!! My personality's getting too deep!!! [Compliment #3]

Post-Battle

• Wait! Wait a second!
• My bike's running out of fuel...!
• Alright, you punk-a-roos!
• You had the luck of the draw this time, but...
• Next time, the losers will be YOU!!!
• Hahaha!!! Bye, losers!!
• I gotta get home before dinner!!!

Second Battle

• Hey!! Hey Susie!! Watch me, watch me!! [Neutral]
• Prepare for smashing, you luxurious melons!!! [Neutral]
• Horror! Pain! The power of REAL bad guys! (Nice, huh?) [Neutral]
• This bike is fueled by EVIL! ...and friendship! [Neutral]
• I'll never let you SPARE my friends!!! [Casting Pacify on Susie #1]
• Oh, what a beautiful song!!! [Sing on Susie]
• Don't worry Bikey, I'll put you to bed soon... [Casting Pacify on Susie #2]
• Oh!!! It's working on me!!! [Anything or X-Anything #1]
• Thanks, it's all natural! [Anything #2]
• Really!? That's bad! [X-Anything #2]
• Really!? It's just what I wanted!!! [Anything #3]
• Wow, I'll look amazing!! [X-Anything #3]
• Hee hee! I'm bliss--fully ignorant! [Anything or X-Anything #4, failed]
• Huh? What was that? [After Susie blocks Lancer's ears from "The Final Blow of Kindness"]
• Ow, my guts hurt! [Hurt]

Flavor Text

First Battle

• Lancer busts in! [Encounter]
• Not to call a spade a spade, but he's a spade. Not old enough to ride a motorcycle, so he set his bike on fire. [Check]
• Lancer's riding it out. [Neutral]
• Lancer is thinking about chips. [Neutral]
• Lancer switches gears randomly to appear competent. [Neutral]
• Lancer revs viciously. [Neutral]
• Lancer's motorcycle is actually just a bike that's on fire. [Neutral]
• You tell Lancer to watch out for Susie's attack. He readies himself. [Warning #1]
• Lancer laughs at the idea he would need your help! [Warning #2]
• You tell Lancer you can't tell the difference between his clothes and his body. He seems flattered... His ATTACK POWER went down! [Compliment #1]
• You try to compliment LANCER again... But he sees it as insincere. His ATTACK POWER goes back up! [Compliment #2]
• You compliment LANCER. He gets confused as to your sincerity. Instead of going up or down, his ATTACK power goes sideways...? [Compliment #3]
• You say some kind words. Lancer absorbs them into his skin. [Compliment #4+]

Second Battle

If Susie is asleep or knocked down temporarily, Lancer's neutral flavor text during the first battle is reused.

• Two bad guys blocked the way! [Encounter]
• Watch out!!! He's boosted by friendship! [Check]
• Susie and Lancer are coming up with victory celebration plans. [Neutral]
• Susie and Lancer are making fun of you. [Neutral]
• Susie and Lancer are gloating about how great their team is. [Neutral]
• Susie and Lancer are having an evil laugh contest. [Neutral]
• Smells like teamwork. [Neutral]
• You tried convincing Lancer not to fight. Lancer started to become convinced! [Anything #1]
• You tried telling Lancer you like his hair... [Anything #2]
• You told Lancer you'd give him a picnic basket of worms. Lancer became almost fully convinced! [Anything #3]
• You told Lancer you just want to get along! It's the decisive kindness! [Anything #4+]
• You told Lancer you want to get along really fast! The soundwaves reached Lancer instantly! [Anything #4+ if Susie is KO'd and has blocked Lancer's ears two times or more beforehand]
• You told Ralsei to compliment the enemies! (Lancer started to become a little convinced!) [X-Anything #1]
• You told Ralsei to logically best Lancer and Susie. (Lancer became more convinced! It's working!) [X-Anything #2]
• You told Ralsei to offer his services to the enemies! (Lancer became almost fully convinced!) [X-Anything #3]
• You told Ralsei to deal the final blow of kindness! [X-Anything #4+]
• You told Ralsei to compliment Lancer really fast! The soundwaves reached Lancer instantly! [X-Anything #4+ if Susie is KO'd and has blocked Lancer's ears two times or more beforehand]
• (But Susie blocked the soundwaves before they reached Lancer!) [Anything or X-Anything #4+ followup if Susie is awake]
• (The PACIFY spell was absorbed by Lancer's bike!) (Lancer's BIKE began to get tired??????????????) [Casting Pacify on Susie #1]
• (The PACIFY spell was absorbed by Lancer's bike!) (The WHEEL of the BIKE became SPARED!) (It turned into a SPARED TIRE!) (... that didn't do anything though.) (Seems that PACIFYing won't work!) [Casting Pacify on Susie #2]
• (The PACIFY spell was absorbed by Lancer's bike!) (Seems that nothing else interesting will happen!) [Casting Pacify on Susie #3+]

Relationships

King

King is Lancer's father. Despite this, they do not have a close relationship, as King spends little time with his son and barely seems to care about him, threatening to drop him off of the top of Card Castle if the party does not obey King. However, King does seem to care about the public treatment of Lancer, asking Darkners such as Rudinns to take care of him. Lancer both fears and respects his father and follows his orders very obediently.

Ralsei

During their first meeting, Lancer attempts to be "the bad guy" and collides with him with his bike, causing a cartoonish explosion. However, he doesn't seem to know that Ralsei is a Hero of Light at the time, and simply ignores him afterward, fighting and discussing with Kris and Susie instead.

Due to Ralsei's kind and friendly nature, Lancer ends up liking Ralsei and seems to enjoy and care about him. Even when he's attempting to be "the bad guy," he calls Ralsei things such as "sweet basket of eggs," "delicious little apple," and "kindboy." He even goes so far as to talk about their "thrash-based relationship," and asks Kris and Susie to say goodbye to him as they leave the Dark World, although Ralsei is not leaving.

Rouxls Kaard

Lancer considers Rouxls Kaard his "lesser dad." He is often looked after and fed by Rouxls, who acts as his caretaker due to his father's indifference. Lancer asks Rouxls to listen to his MP3 player often, which the latter dislikes due to all Lancer's songs being cartoon splat noises. Nevertheless, Rouxls cares about Lancer's well-being, despite pretending not to.

Susie

Lancer begins to look up to Susie after she scares him, aspiring to be as intimidating as she is. After Ralsei lectures Susie about being a hero, Susie joins Lancer's team, sharing evil plans in order to stop the main party. As the two work together, they develop a friendship. However, when Lancer realizes that either Susie or King will be hurt in their eventual battle, he sends the party to prison for eternity. After fighting and reassuring from Susie, Lancer is confident that she can find a peaceful solution. When Susie and Kris must leave the Dark World, they still share a friendship and he mentions that she and Kris are always welcome.

Gallery

Lancer's face upon joining the party

Lancer on his motorbike.

Trivia

• True to the symbols in his design, Lancer corresponds to the suit of spades.
  • When CHECKed during the first fight against the party, the flavor text says, "Not to call a spade a spade, but he's a spade."
  • At one point, he calls himself "Dark Jack Lancer," reflecting his role as the King's diminutive Jack of Spades.
  • Lancer has a small hand trowel, a type of digging spade, in his room.
• During Kris's first fight with Lancer, Kris can warn Lancer of Susie's upcoming attack, or choose to compliment him. However, Lancer cannot be spared through compliments alone.
  • Kris's first compliment lowers Lancer's attack power.
  • Their second compliment is seen as insincere and raises Lancer's attack power.
  • The third compliment confuses Lancer, who, uncertain of its sincerity, makes his attack go "sideways".
    • After this, whenever Kris gets hit, the damage counter appears sideways.
  • The fourth time, Lancer absorbs Kris's words into his skin, having no apparent effect.
• Lancer's sprite appears to be less detailed than the other characters, and does not have a walking animation.
• Lancer labelled his team name raffle paper "Lancer", which he quickly changes to "The Lancer Fan Club" to avoid confusion.
• Lancer has to take a shower each time he says a "bad word," as commanded by his father.
• Lancer seems to have unusual eating habits. Rouxls Kaard claims that whenever King forgets to feed his son, Lancer cries like a baby bird until Rouxls feeds him worms.
  • Lancer has not eaten a Dark Candy before being given one by Susie, because his father did not let him.
  • When Ralsei points out Lancer's enemy team composition is similar to drinking only three glasses of milk for dinner, Lancer does not find it at all unusual to do so.
  • He has a honeypot full of salsa that he only pretends to eat hidden in a tree stump; when asked, he does not know what it's made of. More salsa is stored in a hole he dug in his room.
• He is not yet old enough to ride a motorcycle. Instead, Lancer rides a bike on fire, which appears to have training wheels.
  • Lancer's bike can also absorb the Pacify spell. When Ralsei casts the Pacify spell during the fight with Susie and Lancer while Susie is asleep, Lancer's bike absorbs the spell. Then his bike begins to "get tired?????"
• Lancer, along with Rudinn, Hathy, Clover, King, Jevil and the uncredited King of Diamonds, was designed by kanotynes.
  • With the exception of Jevil, all of kanotynes's characters were fully designed by March 2012 – 6 years prior to the release of Deltarune.
    • According to kanotynes, the characters were originally created for her design class, having volunteered to draw 52 unique playing card designs.
    • Lancer's earliest design was first posted on Tumblr on March 15, 2012 as a character on a jack of spades playing card.
  • When asked what Lancer was, they weren't sure but suggested that he was a Kewpie doll.