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 highly evident that the player is a separate entity from Kris, and several moments of separation between them occur throughout the first two chapters, as well as Chapter 4, 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 apparently interrupted by another voice entirely, who claims that the player's creation "will now be discarded". This other entity states that "no one can choose who they are in this world," then seemingly 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" (Likely Undyne as evident by her appearance at the end of Chapter 3) to come over, who complies. 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.

Chapter 3

The separation between Kris and the Player is clearly shown during the secret S-rank minigames. At the end of the second minigame, Kris is shown nervously looking over their shoulder, after which they head outside to ask Ramb if there was anyone backstage with them, which Ramb denies. During the third minigame, when the Player kills minigame Susie and Ralsei, Kris visibly flinches and looks away from the monitor. Later in the minigame, when the Player approaches a recreation of the shelter, Kris actively prevents the Player's movement by attempting to walk in the opposite direction with their own controller. Later, in a surreal moment when the minigame avatar leaves the screen, Kris will nervously back up and trip if it approaches them. When Susie arrives, the Player can try to stab Susie with the minigame avatar, causing Kris to abruptly pull Susie away before she is hurt.

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 firmly establishes that Kris is actively trying to stop the Player from interfering with their personal agenda. While exploring Dess' room, the Player can make Kris inspect her guitar, in which they can find the code to unlock the Shelter door. However, before the player sees the full code, Kris suddenly rips their soul out of their chest and locks it away in a downstairs closet to prevent it from learning more. The Player can escape through a vent and explore the house as the soul: they can find Kris in the kitchen, downing some chocolate milk while listening to a mysterious voice on their phone. Leaving the open vent into the kitchen will lead Kris to attack them and lock them back in the closet, though they can escape once more. Eventually, the player will be able to sneak into Dess' room, only to be ambushed by a waiting Kris, who actively fights them as they try to get to the guitar. When Susie manages to get her hands on the guitar anyway, Kris will notify the mysterious caller, implied to be Carol, who promises to be at the house soon, before Kris allows the SOUL to return to their body. At the end of the chapter, Kris is shown to have once again locked the SOUL in the birdcage.

Kris and the Player are shown to have an especially antagonistic relationship in this chapter's continuation of the Snowgrave Route. While getting rid of the SOUL, Noelle pulls Kris into her room to have a conversation about their encounter at the hospital. Kris still locks it in the closet, but the Player can head to Noelle's room and listen in as Noelle talks to Kris: it is revealed that the previous night, Kris sneaked into Noelle's yard and apologized for their weird behavior, claiming it was all a "prank" and that Berdly will get better. If Kris was wearing Noelle's watch, they are said to have also returned it at this time. Noelle notes that it sounded like the Kris she remembers rather than the odd voice she had heard. She then asks if she can say something else, whereupon the Player can control Kris' response of either "Please don't" or "Proceed", freeing the SOUL from the vent and allowing it to reenter Kris. "Proceed" leads to Noelle revealing that Kris had told her when she saw them again not to mention something else that happened, where they pulled a thorn out of her finger. Kris, trembling, tries to cover her mouth to prevent the Player from hearing her, but she claims they are alone and continues to talk, asking who they were worried would hear. The Player can select "Me", revealing themself as a separate entity to Noelle once more. Through the following options, the Player can show they are able to hear Noelle's thoughts and force Kris to put the thorn back into her hand, bringing her under the Player's control once more. Afterwards, Kris is shown heading to the bathroom, throwing the SOUL into a trash can and furiously stomping it, as their attempt at undoing the Player's actions in chapter 2 have gone in vain.

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."