Hey, Kris! What's up? Didja lose your pencil again?
Noelle to Kris
Noelle Holiday is a Lightner from Hometown. Noelle is one of Kris's classmates, as well as their neighbor and childhood friend.
She plays a minor role in Chapter 1, but becomes a major character in Chapter 2, where she temporarily joins the party during Cyber City, wielding a ring.
Noelle lives on the northwest side of Hometown with her mother, the Mayor, and her father, Rudy, who is currently in the hospital with an unnamed illness.
Profile
Appearance
Noelle is a reindeer-like monster with short brown fur, a red nose, freckled cheeks, and prominent front teeth, as well as a pair of small antlers atop her head. She walks upright, and has long golden blonde hair. She wears a red and green checkered sweater with dark grey sleeves and a dark grey skirt.
In the Dark World, her hair becomes pale blonde and her fur obtains a pinkish tone. She also wears a long white dress/robe with a hood and ample sleeves but her smile turns into a straight face/frown.
Personality
Noelle is friendly and cheerful, but also very timid, and sometimes has trouble saying what she's thinking. She apologizes often, and stays quiet about her feelings, such as her possible crushes, or her distaste for Berdly, out of fear. Her father says that "everything scares her," and describes her as "defenseless." According to him, she has a fear of humans hiding under her bed. This was made worse (or started) by Kris's repeated attempts to scare her when they were younger, including at least one time they hid under her bed. She shows to be more honest to Kris when it comes to her feelings and often yells at them when they pull pranks on her. She becomes more brave and less fearful from Chapter 2, during the time she spends with Kris in the city. Noelle apparently has tendencies of masochism, particularly fantasizing about Susie bullying her for various things (e.g. Susie pushing her over and laughing at Noelle for asking Susie to ride with her on the Ferris Wheel),[1] and stating that the Ragger "feels nice" when attempting to equip it on her.[2]
However, Noelle does have brash moments that push aside her shy behavior. An example of this was when Berdly admits that he may have feelings for Susie, which causes Noelle to angrily shake him since she has a crush on Susie as well.
Main Story
History
Noelle grew up in Hometown with a loving father and a strict mother, and was very close with her older sister, Dess. As a child, Noelle and her sister became friends with her neighbors Kris and Asriel Dreemurr, and the four of them would often explore the forest around the graveyard together. One day, however, an unspecified tragedy occurred, and it is implied that Dess either died or went missing.
At some point, likely when she was quite young, Noelle nearly won a spelling bee, but froze up and couldn't speak when spelling the word "December", which handed the victory to Berdly. While unclear, it is implied that the word "December" is related to Noelle's sister Dess, likely being her full name.
Chapter 1
When Kris enters the classroom at school, Noelle offers to let them join her class project group with Berdly. She attempts to ask Alphys for permission but is interrupted by Berdly, who speaks for her by saying that she and Berdly are "FINE being alone," and also by Susie's abrupt entrance into class. Later, when Alphys realizes that she is out of chalk to teach that day, Noelle volunteers herself (and Susie) to get some. This too is unsuccessful, as Kris is sent by Alphys to accompany Susie instead. If Kris talks to her prior to leaving the classroom, Noelle tries to comfort them, saying she doesn't think Susie is so bad.
After Kris returns from the Dark World, Noelle can be found visiting her father Rudy in the Hospital. Rudy gives his daughter advice on how to confess her feelings to Susie, but she is skeptical of his methods. As she leaves, she is caught off guard when she notices Kris in the doorway.
If Kris talks to Noelle after visiting her father in the hospital, they learn that she is locked out of her house, but doesn't want to bother her mother, the mayor of Hometown. At this point, if Kris mentions Susie, Noelle becomes eager to ask questions about her.
- If Kris tells Noelle that Susie is nice, she becomes relieved and excited.
- If Kris tells her that Susie is terrible, she becomes shocked, and offers to trade class project partners with Kris.
- If Kris tells her that Susie eats chalk, Noelle asks if Kris knows what color chalk is her favorite, before realizing that giving her a lunchbox full of chalk probably isn't a great gift.
- If Kris tells her nothing, she says that she helps Kris all the time, but Kris isn't giving her information. She keeps asking questions about Susie, before deciding that it isn't her personal business.
- If Kris tries to talk about Susie again, Noelle starts to ask something but quickly decides Kris definitely does not know the answer.
Noelle voices concern for Kris's well-being, but also acts off-put, or even scared by them. She expresses bewilderment at Kris being so talkative, noting they are usually more of the quiet type.
Chapter 2
The next day, Noelle attempts to volunteer to read in class, only for Berdly to interrupt her and volunteer instead. After class, Noelle startles Kris and Susie by walking up to them just as they are preparing to enter the Dark World to invite them to study at the Library with her and Berdly. Susie awkwardly accepts. If Kris talked to Noelle about Susie in Chapter 1, Noelle nervously gifts Susie a lunchbox of chalk before running off. However, when Kris and Susie arrive at the library, it becomes apparent that Noelle and Berdly have fallen into a new Dark World in the computer lab.
In the Cyber World, Noelle is captured by Queen, who intends to recruit Noelle to her cause of world domination. At the end of the Cyber Field, Noelle is pitted against the party on a roller coaster, but promptly replaced by the more eager-to-please Berdly. Noelle escapes and attempts to hide from Queen.
Later, Kris finds Noelle in the City, and she joins Kris's party during the area while they help her hide from Queen and Berdly's antics. This culminates in Noelle's recapture by Queen (alongside Kris, Susie, and Berdly), and she is sent to her own room in Queen's Mansion. Susie comes to rescue her, convinces Noelle that she's dreaming, and the two share a Ferris wheel ride that takes them to the roof of the mansion. Once the ride is over, Susie leaves Noelle with Berdly and rejoins Kris and Ralsei. Berdly then proclaims to a bewildered Noelle that he was leading her on and does not actually have a crush on her, instead having a crush on Susie. Noelle, enraged, promptly starts shaking Berdly.
Berdly and Noelle are recaptured by Queen off-screen, who attempts to persuade Noelle to become a new Knight. After the party fights GIGA Queen, Queen threatens Susie in attempt to force Noelle to open a dark fountain, but Noelle stands up to Queen and refuses. Queen responds to this by asking Noelle to choose for herself whether she wants to stay in the Dark World or the Light World. Noelle and Berdly each consider maintaining the Library Dark World before Ralsei reminds them of the Prophecy – in particular, a new portion regarding the Roaring. Hearing this, they decide against making a new fountain, and Queen allows Kris to seal the Cyber World's fountain, after which everybody wakes up in the computer lab. However, Noelle still appears to believe that the Dark World was all a dream.
Noelle again visits her father in the hospital afterward, and can be visited by Kris and Susie.
Snowgrave Route
On the Snowgrave Route, Kris, controlled by the player, uses their time with Noelle to help her become "stronger" through killing enemies with her Iceshock spell. Noelle is then coaxed into stealing the Freeze Ring from a shopkeeper, causing her to become more ambivalent towards killing enemies, subsequently becoming brainwashed into thinking Kris is making her stronger.
Eventually, Kris and Noelle encounter Berdly, whom Noelle initially does not recognize. Berdly, who becomes worried for Noelle's well-being, engages in a battle, and the player forces Noelle to use SnowGrave, a spell she does not know. This causes Berdly to become encased in a massive ice crystal. After this, Noelle leaves the party in a depressed daze, and is not seen again (except for a short interaction she has with Susie off-screen) until she seemingly finishes off Spamton NEO with an ice attack. Kris seals the Dark Fountain alone, and the party wakes up in the computer lab. Berdly does not wake up.
Noelle has different dialogue in the hospital. She is more controlling of the game she plays with Rudy, and suggests using IceShock on the Ice Palace boss (in comparison to suggesting Fireshock in the normal route). When she and Kris leave the room, she begins to question whether or not the events that happened earlier were real or not, eventually finding out they were real (especially if Kris is wearing her watch afterwards).
Chapter 4
Noelle has been teased to make another Light World appearance in Chapter 4.[3]
In Battle
Stats
LV | HP | Attack | Defense | Magic | Guts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1, 2 | 90 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 0 |
Title
- Main article: Title#Noelle
Noelle's title changes depending on the player's actions.
- When Noelle joins the party, her title is "Snowcaster".
- After using IceShock, her title changes to "Frostmancer".
- If she is equipped with the Thorn Ring on the Snowgrave Route, her title changes to "Ice Trancer".
- If Kris finds the moss in Cyber City while Noelle is in the party, her title changes to "Moss Neutral".
Spells
When doing a spell, Noelle crouches and proceeds to stand up with her hands up together with white sparkles coming out.
Heal Prayer
Costs 32% TP. The same spell used by Ralsei, heals 5 HP for every 1 Magic stat she has on the selected party member. "Heavenly light restores a little HP to one party member. Depends on Magic."
Doing this conjures green sparkles on whoever is being healed.
Sleep Mist
Costs 32% TP. Similar to Ralsei's Pacify, but costs more TP and is cast on all enemies. If enemies are tired or sleepy, Noelle can cast this spell to instantly SPARE them. "A cold mist sweeps through, sparing all TIRED enemies."
Doing this conjures swirling clouds on enemies.
IceShock
Costs 16% TP, 8% TP if Thorn Ring is worn. An attack that does a significant amount of damage. Notably, this attack freezes enemies solid instead of allowing them to flee. After finding Noelle, every enemy encountered in Cyber City must be frozen with this attack to access the Snowgrave Route. "Deal magical ICE damage to one enemy."
At the end of the Snowgrave Route when Kris (or the player) calls Noelle for help, she presumably shows up after the screen goes dark and casts three IceShock spells on Spamton NEO.
Doing this spell creates blue stylized snowflakes on enemies.
N-Action
Does not cost TP. It is a variant of Susie's S-Action where Noelle does Kris's selected act, much like paired ACTs except that Noelle can choose to do it with another enemy.
Doing this makes Noelle point forward with hearts and stars coming out like Kris.
SnowGrave
...
Fine! You want to see what happens so bad?
Watch what happens when I cast a spell I don't know!Noelle, after pressured to use SnowGrave
Costs 200% TP, 100% TP if Thorn Ring is worn. A spell that does an overwhelming damage to all enemies when used, labelled "Fatal". Can only be unlocked by fighting Berdly on the Snowgrave Route, and kept by defeating Berdly with IceShock or melee attacks. "Deals the fatal damage to all of the enemies."
When used on Berdly, a unique animation is used.
When used on normal enemies, a unique death animation is used for enemies killed.
Relationships
Rudy Holiday
Rudy is Noelle's father. Noelle and her father have an incredibly close and loving relationship. The two often play video games together, with one named Dragon Blazers III that Noelle is waiting to complete with him. She regularly visits Rudy in hospital, though he wishes that in return, he could be around to protect her. She seems upset when Rudy asks her not to wait for him to beat Dragon Blazers III in Chapter 1, implying she worries greatly about his health, but is quickly cheered up when he instead requests that she bring it to the hospital. She does so in Chapter 2.
Kris
Noelle and Dess grew up with Kris and Asriel, and the four of them often used to play together. Kris had a reputation for pulling pranks on Noelle, such as hiding under her bed to scare her or putting ketchup on their arms and faking their death to shock her, but was often swiftly reprimanded by Dess. However, after Dess had gone, the two began to grow apart and Noelle started spending more time studying with Berdly. Despite this, she is still on cordial terms with Kris and is one of the only classmates who makes efforts to be considerate.
During Chapter 2, Noelle opens up more to Kris when circumstances lead them to travel Cyber City together and, depending on the player's choice, she will once again consider them friends. However, during the Snowgrave Route, Noelle develops an apparent fear of Kris and their pressuring behavior, as upon spotting them in Hometown, she runs away. In dialogue afterward, it is mentioned she knows something is off with Kris, suggesting she's becoming aware of the player's influence over them.
Susie
Noelle has a crush on Susie that she is nervous about, and thus tries to hide it. She does not talk about it to anyone, except for her father, though her dialogue with Kris still makes hints towards her crush. Susie is oblivious to Noelle's crush. However, in Chapter 2, she in turn starts opening up to Noelle over the course of their adventure in the Dark World – though she insists to Noelle that it was just a dream after they manage to return to the Light World.
While Susie has never bullied Noelle outright, Noelle seems to hint at liking to be bullied by her, as she insisted on asking Alphys to switch partners so Kris isn't the one being pushed against lockers. She also blushes when she thinks about what Susie would do if she asked her to ride the Ferris wheel with her. She talks about how Susie would probably push her to the ground and laugh at her, and she soon forgets what they were talking about.
Berdly
Berdly is Noelle's academic partner. During Chapter 1, Berdly seems to respect her, calling her the "second smartest student". Though Noelle doesn't seem to like him much in return, she speaks nicely to him.
When they were younger, they both participated in a spelling bee. After Noelle froze up on the last word ("DECEMBER") and was unable to speak, Berdly won, and received a reputation of "being smart". In reality, Noelle helps him study, and without her, he wouldn't be the "number one student".
In Chapter 2, they both team up with Queen (though Noelle doesn't want to, and Queen is actually running away from Berdly). After revealing his affections towards Susie, Noelle begins shaking Berdly out of shock. Despite this, Noelle doesn't want harm to come to him (although she freezes him on the Snowgrave Route, but it's implied she didn't see what happened after she used SnowGrave), and Berdly is shown to care about Noelle, viewing her as his friend.
Mayor Holiday
Mayor Holiday is Noelle's mother. Although Noelle seems to love her mother, she is not as close with Mayor Holiday as she is with Rudy, and she dislikes bothering the Mayor while she is working. Rudy says that Noelle's mother is "hard on her", which is likely a factor in this.
Dess
Dess is Noelle's older sister. They are implied to have been very close, as Noelle says she used to watch (scary) movies with her and that Dess consoled her when she was scared. They used to hang out together with Asriel and Kris.
Asriel
Asriel and Noelle seem to be friends and have a good relationship with each other. During a walking sequence with Kris, Noelle states that when they were kids she along with Asriel, Kris, and her older sister Dess explored the forest behind the graveyard and found nothing interesting and that she remembered crying when she got scared and wiping away her tears with Asriel's jacket.
Queen
Queen and Noelle meet during Chapter 2. Through the entirety of it, Queen treats Noelle like a daughter, calling her things like "sweetie", "honey" and "gravy". Throughout the chapter, Queen had attempted to force Noelle to become her peon, but it is later shown that deep inside, the Queen actually cared very much about her and just wanted to see her happy. At the end of the chapter, she is shown to understand Noelle better and says goodbye to her and the rest of the main characters.
Gallery
Trivia
- The name Noelle is presumably a reference to the French word "Noël" (meaning Christmas), as well as her last name Holiday. Reindeer are often associated with Christmas (through Santa's reindeer).
- Noelle's nose being red is likely a reference to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
- Noelle also wears red and green in the overworld, colors often associated with Christmas.
- Noelle offers Kris a candy-cane pencil and "one with lights on it," both of which are associated with Christmas.
- Noelle can use ice-based abilities against enemies in the Dark World; ice and winter are associated with Christmas.
- Noelle's mother, the Mayor, is described as being cold and hard on Noelle, as well as having the office air conditioned up to full blast. This could be a subtle nod to Charles Dickens's Ebenezer Scrooge, a Christmas character who also was described as "A cold mean person" as well as the fact he had a freezing cold office in winter, though this was due to him being too stingy to put coal in the furnace.
- Noelle has her own font in the games files, a variation of DotumChe, which was also used for the speech bubbles in Undertale. This font is used when she's nervous or quiet and is called "tinynoelle."
- Noelle is a member of the Cross Country Team, along with Jockington and (formerly) Asriel.
- In the original version of Chapter 1, Noelle's face graphic had a different design, with long hair that was cut off by the bottom of the frame. This was later changed starting from the Chapter 2 update, where her hair was slightly shorter to match her overworld sprite more closely.
- Noelle puts a box with a robotic-looking face painted on it on her head to hide her face from Queen in Cyber City. This is a subtle reference to the Queen's threats to roboticize Noelle's face.
- Noelle appears to dislike meat and enjoy eating vegetables, as shown by her reaction to eating Darkburger and Giga Salad, respectively. This could be due to the fact that real-life reindeers are herbivores.
- After Noelle obtains the FreezeRing in the Snowgrave Route, several of Noelle's battle animations change (specifically the animations for defending, attacking, being hurt, and entering/winning a battle).
- Various links on the official Deltarune website during the Spamton Sweepstakes 2022 charity event has anecdotes regarding Noelle prior to the game:
- deltarune.com/icee/ found from the "HAVE YOU SEEN HIM??" banner, is an ICE-E recent sightings article report from a young Noelle. It describes how she was terrified of an ICE-E pizza box, and how Dess burned out the eyes. Asriel suggested that the box should be buried, and Kris had attempted to bury it in the cemetery. When Noelle expressed her fears, they turned around with the box on their face. In response, Dess hit Kris and threw away the box instead.
- Noelle has an online blog with "holidaygirl1225" as her username. It is dedicated to "game secrets, glitches, and theories."
- deltarune.com/code/comments/: Reveals that she was particularly in good terms with someone with "sports" as their username.
- deltarune.com/catpetterz/: Noelle describes how "Cat Petterz 2" is one of her favorite games, and how she enjoyed modifying the game. However, an error message scared Noelle and caused her to punish her pets and discard eggs to avoid the text.
- deltarune.com/egg/: The post describes an incident where she received a "SPECIAL" white egg after waiting, hatching, and discarding multiple eggs. After she chose to treat it as a normal pet, it "left home due to happiness." She notes that she cannot remember the name of the egg.
- deltarune.com/kris_dreemurr_kris/: A private post of Noelle reminiscing about when Kris used to visit her house to play with her, then would suddenly choose to play the piano. When she noticed they would stop playing when she watched, she chose to wait instead. While she sometimes questioned her friendship with Kris, she still appreciates them playing the piano. Noelle mentioned how it "felt like a concert" when she closed her eyes.
- deltarune.com/bluecircle/: Reveals she frequently checks her spam mail in case she receives fan mail. When she received one that consists of only letters and numbers, she applied it to "Cat Petterz 2" as a modifier. It caused a single blue circle to appear, which would occasionally glitch, had atrocious stats, and multiplied too fast as the word "Congratulations!" kept repeating. She was forced to delete all of her pets.
- deltarune.com/the_n3w3st_g1rl_g1rl/: A private post from Noelle on how Susie had bullied Kris, and notes that they do not tell Toriel. In the post, she mentions how she tried waiting for Kris after school since they were still asleep, and had hid in her locker to keep an eye on the two.
- deltarune.com/icepalace_glaceir/: A post describing an implied softlock she experienced when she played "Dragon Blazers" as a child. However, she discovers a unique door in the area. Upon finding it, Noelle nearly screamed, but immediately reconsidered in case her mother heard and would turn off the game. She notes that the door is locked, and has not been able to find the key for it.
- When walking behind a building during the "December" segment, only blue or yellow silhouettes can be seen of Kris and Noelle. When Noelle walks behind one of the buildings, her silhouette appears to be a younger version of Noelle, possibly because she is reminiscing about her childhood.
References
- ↑ Y-you're right! Even if I asked her, she'd...
Probably just laugh at me.
And, gosh, push me to the ground, and...
L-laugh at me some more, and then...
(... What were we talking about again?) - Noelle after telling her Susie wouldn't ride the Ferris wheel with her - ↑ Ouch! ... kind of nice - When attempting to equip the Ragger to Noelle
- ↑ https://toby.fangamer.com/newsletters/autumn24/
- ↑ Original DELTARUNE concept art of the main characters from 2014 or 2015??? The file was just called "THE FUN GANG" - Toby Fox (@tobyfox) on Twitter, November 16, 2018.