Player

Player
The voice first connecting with the player in the introduction to Deltarune.
Type	Plot Mechanic

The player is the individual playing Deltarune and controlling Kris. With the SOUL, the player can move Kris, navigate through the game's menus, make prompt choices, and select actions for the party during encounters.

It is heavily implied that the player is a separate entity from Kris, and several moments of separation between them occur throughout the first two chapters, particularly when Kris removes the SOUL from their body.

Main Story

Chapter 1

During the introduction of the game, a disembodied voice asks the player if they are connected. A moment later, a red SOUL appears. After verifying, the entity guides them through designing a "VESSEL." The voice then requests the player to name it, then to enter their own name. The process is intercepted by seemingly another entity that discards the player's creation. This other entity states that "no one can choose who they are in this world," then assigns the connection to Kris. The game continues with the player inhabiting Kris's body.

One explicit moment of separation from Kris occurs in Card Castle, when the player follows Susie through the prison. When the player makes a selection for where Susie should go, she comments that she cannot hear Kris anymore, then goes left regardless of the player's input. Shortly after, Susie returns to Ralsei and Kris, and Kris retakes leadership of the party. It is implied that Ralsei had dialogue with Kris in the player's absence. However, the content of this dialogue is unknown.

After returning to Hometown, the player's final action is to put Kris to bed. At nighttime, Kris wakes up and forces their body to fall out of bed, then slowly moves on their own, tears the SOUL out of their body, and forcefully throws it into the rusty birdcage near their bed. When the cage's door locks, the player can move the SOUL slightly, though Kris does not react. Kris pulls out a black-handled knife and smiles a wide grin at the camera, their eye glowing red in the darkness. The screen cuts to black, and Chapter 1 concludes.

Chapter 2

In the morning, the birdcage is empty, and its door is open. Toriel wakes up Kris, and it is implied Kris ate the entire pie in the kitchen without the player's input. When inspecting the cage, the narration alludes to Chapter 1's ending. If Kris inspects the mirror in the hallway, the narration reads: "(It's what they call "you.")"

Chapter 2 includes more instances of Kris reacting and talking independently. Kris closes their eyes when they open Asriel's room in Queen's Mansion, and stops reading about Asgore's firing at the police station. Partway through Queen's Mansion, Ralsei tells Kris to imagine what Susie could be doing. The game then focuses on a sequence between Susie and Noelle, during which the player is given dialogue prompts that have no impact on Susie's actions. When the scene returns to Kris and Ralsei, they are at the end of another unseen conversation. The entire sequence can be skipped if the player repeatedly chooses not to wonder about Susie despite Ralsei's inquiries.

When Kris returns home after exploring the Dark World, after the player inputs to wash their hands in the bathroom, they instead remove the SOUL and throw it in the sink's vanity as the water flows. As they hobble to the window and leave, the camera is static. The player is only aware of Toriel and Susie's conversation as the duo make a pie before Kris returns and reinserts the SOUL. It is only later when the player learns of Kris's actions from Toriel's phone call. She asks for the "Officer" to come over, who complies. It is unknown if the responder is Undyne or Napstablook. Later in the night, with the television off and Toriel and Susie asleep, Kris wakes up. They remove the SOUL again and, through black screen cuts, open the door, turn the TV on, and seemingly focus on Susie. At the center of the room, they pull out a knife and plunge the tip into the rug, creating a Dark Fountain. Kris reinserts the SOUL and falls asleep on the couch as the new Dark World forms.

The separation between the player and Kris becomes especially apparent in the Snowgrave Route. It is heavily implied that Kris is against the idea of forcing Noelle into going through with the player's actions. If Kris is downed during the fight with Berdly, Noelle comments on how she can still hear "their" voice, implying that she is hearing a voice other than Kris's. In the hospital, Noelle speaks to herself how she heard "a voice unlike Kris's" that told her what to do; it is also implied, during this scene and the earlier scene where she contemplates releasing a switch to electrocute Kris, that the player is able to hear her own internal thoughts, rather than spoken dialogue. The battle with Spamton NEO also alludes to the distinction between Kris and player by referring to Kris in third person when calling out for Ralsei and Susie, but referring directly to "you" when calling out for Noelle.

Trivia

• In Chapter 2, the Rudinn in front of Party Dojo mentions the player's written name as part of Castle Town's name.
• While Kris is referred to as "Boss" by recruited enemies, two Darkners refer to Kris separately:
  • Jigsaw Joe does this during the "Jigsaw Joe" Challenge.
  • Swatch greets with the word "Boss." However, the "Recommendation" for Kris starts with the line, "For the young human."