This article contains spoilers for DELTARUNE Chapter 3, if you wish to avoid spoilers, please refrain from reading this article.
Tenna
Mr. "Ant" Tenna, often simply referred to as Tenna, is the main antagonist of Deltarune Chapter 3. He is Kris' old household CRT TV as a Darkner.
Profile
Appearance
Tenna appears as a 3D-rendered humanoid figure with an old TV for a head, lacking any facial features aside from a wide, often-grinning mouth and a long, pointed nose. His attire consists of a flashy red suit with twin coattails, a long yellow tie, black pants, large cartoony white gloves, and bright yellow dress shoes. He is taller than both King and Queen.
Personality
Tenna is an upbeat and energetic show host who thrives on entertaining his audience by both flattering and challenging his contestants. Beneath his lively persona, however, he is deeply insecure and egotistical, prone to panicking when things don’t go as planned. He recalls fondly how, as a television in the real world, he once brought Kris, their family, and friends together to play games and watch shows. Now feeling abandoned, Tenna struggles with feelings of worthlessness and loneliness, and fears that he’s no longer interesting and that he’ll be discarded.
When confronted about his age, Tenna adamantly denies being "old." After the Trio discovers Toriel trapped inside a toy capsule, he spirals into panic and reacts by imprisoning them in capsules as well. His outbursts often turn destructive; he lashes out and fires his employees in bursts of anger, driven by his overwhelming fear of being left behind and forgotten.
Despite this, he is shown to have a kind heart. Part of his motivation for forcing the Delta Warriors into his show was simply so that he could entertain them. He has a strong desire to entertain and bring people together. While he even expresses frantic concern over Toriel, doing everything he can to assure she doesn't wake up, this is because he worries his overall plan of appeasing the Knight may fail. His desire to entertain, while apparent enough to make one trust him, is also rooted in wanting to help the Knight succeed in taking Toriel. This conflict of wanting to help the Knight but needing the attention from the Lightners is what ultimately makes him change for the better.
Tenna is also seen to be rather enthusiastic and patient, as if you lose the physical challenges multiple times, he'll always end his dialogue with "One more try! Let's CHALLENGE again!" demonstrating his confidence and faith.
Main Story
Chapter 3
Tenna makes his appearance shortly after Susie lashes out at Ralsei early in Chapter 3. He immediately forces them into becoming contestants for his game show, "Mr. Ant Tenna's TV Time!" Susie initially refuses, causing him to grow sad. Ralsei, still wanting to have fun with her and Kris, convinces her to give in, bringing Tenna's mood back up. He leads them over to the right so they can prepare for the show.
After the trio pick their names, Tenna introduces the first round: A 'board' of his game "The Legend of Tenna." To win the board, the three must find three keys throughout the game. Tenna provides commentary as they play. After they manage to open the door to the pyramid, Tenna transports the trio to the board's physical challenge: The Cooking Channel, where the trio are tasked with feeding guests while avoiding rolling fireballs.
After the first board's completion, as the credits start rolling, Tenna roundhouse-kicks away the roll and desperately announces the existence of a second round in order to keep the show running. After a sponsor segment, Tenna introduces the trio to the Green Room before leaving. If the player manages to obtain a T-rank (the highest rank possible), a special room opens up in the rewards room, where Tenna is seen rotating in a t-pose while doing a double peace sign.
Before the second round, Tenna is seen talking to someone who is presumably sending messages through Tenna's antennas, before noticing Susie. Tenna ends his conversation and asks Susie what she needs. Susie responds, thanking him, as the whole experience seemed to cheer up Ralsei, as well as being fun for her. Tenna expresses joy at the fact that he was able to entertain them both. Susie mentions that Kris was having fun too, but Tenna has doubts. Upon being notified that the next round is about to start, Tenna hurriedly ushered her back to the Green Room. The trio is then brought back to the stage as Tenna introduces the second round, another board of "Legend of Tenna". This time, the player will have to take 3 special photos and reunite 2 lovers at Lover's Peak to create a path to Atlantis Stadium. During the game, Tenna receives a message through his antennas, and temporarily leaves, allowing Susie to swap her controller with that of Kris, and potentially even Ralsei's as well, while no one is looking.
Eventually, Tenna returns, but then leaves again right as Lanino and Elnina are about to "reunite" (this was not the case, as it was unexpectedly foiled by a forced union with and by Rouxls Kaard), then returning right as the trio enters Atlantis, he introduces the second physical challenge- Lightners Live, a rhythm game where the player controls Kris playing the guitar.
After the completion of the second board, Tenna will express sadness that it was the final round. However, as the credits roll, Tenna reveals that the three have unlocked the requirements for the secret bonus round. Ralsei initially refuses, but after seeing how depressed Tenna got, Susie agrees to play it, just for a little bit, which causes Tenna to perk up.
Tenna can still be found on stage, talking to someone through his antennas. Susie, along with Kris and Ralsei, come in initially to let Tenna know that they can't stay for another round after the bonus, but overhearing his conversation causes Susie to become skeptical and return to the Green Room. Returning to the stage with Kris will initiate an awkward conversation between Kris and Tenna. Tenna will attempt to end it and leave, but not before asking Kris if they could bring over Asgore and Asriel so that they can watch him together.
After the party finds Toriel, Tenna begins approaching, so they hide behind her gachapon ball. Tenna, upon reaching Toriel, expresses relief she is still asleep, not knowing what he would do should she wake. He tells her he's sorry he has to keep her captive, but he has to in order not to end up thrown away. He picks her up, presumably to present her as the grand prize of the gameshow, when he finds the party hiding behind her. The screen then changes to "Technical Difficulties". When the screen returns to normal, Tenna and the party are back on stage. Tenna introduces the next round as if the run-in had never happened, but Susie, fed up with Tenna's antics along with the fact that he's holding Toriel captive, tells him that they're done playing and to return Toriel to them. Ralsei agrees with Susie (albeit more gently) that they need to seal the fountain and that the show has gotten old. This angers Tenna, causing him to trap the Delta Warriors in custom-made gachapon balls, forcing them to watch as he plays the third board for them, subjecting them to quizzes that adulate TV, battles where the only option is to ACT, and modified versions of Physical Challenges.
Eventually, Tenna slips up and brings a Zapper to one of the fights, where the party is able to use it to pull a disappearing act on him, leaving behind only the empty gachapon capsules on the battlefield. Tenna, distraught at this turn of events, worriedly asks where the party members went and ends the battle, now desperately searching the area for the party.
Tenna can be seen berating his employees for failing to find the party, almost firing them in rage, so he docks their pay until they're found. Though they wish not to fight the party, Tenna reminds them that it's part of their contract to listen to his orders and follow him off-screen.
If the player manages to find Tenna's bonus zone, he can be seen angry at the multiple Pippins raiding his points. Tenna tries to stop them by mentioning their contracts, but is unable to find them. He gives up and lets them, claiming he has something they'll never have, before going to the room on the right. If you follow him into it, there will be a blue safe. Opening it will reveal a Pipis inside. If the Dealmaker or the Puppet Scarf was obtained, Tenna will then come back into the room, causing the party to hide in the room on the left. Upon finding the Pipis was discovered, Tenna is distraught, wishing he had someone to help him, even accepting the help of "that spammy mailman". At this, the Dealmaker/Puppet Scarf will come out of the inventory and turn into Spamton. Tenna, not recognizing him, freaks out. Spamton tries to explain, but Tenna sprays him in foam and takes the Pipis away.
Tenna can later be found in the area after the Rouxls Kaard fight, where his employees begin leaving him one by one. He blames it on a "spammy little mailman" again and begins to panic. In the next room, Elnina and Lanino leave him, too. He lets them, claiming the Lightners won't get far without the weather channel, but then panics again upon hearing about apps. Even Mike announces that he's leaving, too.
After returning to the Green Room and making your way through the code-locked doors, the Lightners will come back out in the Cold Place and attempt to make their way to the Dark Fountain, only for Tenna to drop from the sky, attempting to convince them to just "Return to their seats". Susie refuses, questioning why he's so desperate for them to play in the first place. Tenna reveals that Kris' family, before recently, had gradually stopped watching him, causing him to become lonely from neglect. He then reveals he's been working with the Roaring Knight, who promised that if he kept the three of them busy, he'd have all the people in the world to watch him. He wishes not to be thrown away, or to become irrelevant. He attempts to start another round of his game show, but Susie attacks him in anger, initiating a battle.
After defeating Tenna, he shrinks in despair, afraid to be thrown away. Ralsei tries to soothe him, telling him he still brought joy and smiles to Kris' family and friends, and that even if he does get thrown out, all Darkners become obsolete eventually, and that they shouldn't make the Lightners worried about them. This only makes Tenna sadder. Susie then moves Ralsei out of the way, and tells Tenna he doesn't have to take being thrown away. She begins to tell her story, of how she always felt like a broken toy no one wanted to play with. Every time she did make a friend, she ended moving away. She then explains that since she got to Hometown however, her life has gotten better, and how she just needed to find the right people. She and Kris even agree to find someone to adopt him. This causes Tenna to become overjoyed with hope, telling Susie he'll make a hall of fame just for her, even agreeing to give back Toriel, despite it not being what the Knight wants.
The party follows Tenna to the christmas tree, where he presents Toriel as their grand prize. Not too long after however, The Knight slashes off both of his arms, punishing him for disobeying, and he falls offscreen.
Chapter 4
Tenna's fate is entirely dependent on the choices the party made in Chapter 3.
- If all Shadowguys or Pippins were not recruited: The TV in the Light World will be cracked, Susie stating that no one wanted to help find or fix him, and Toriel will be throwing him out soon.
- Otherwise: The TV in the Light World will have a bandaged antenna. Susie will say that the Shadowguys and Pippins told her how to fix him, and that they should find him a home quickly before Toriel throws him out.
If Susie and the recruits manage to fix Tenna, it is possible to temporarily recruit him to Castle Town. He will be in the TV Room located on the third floor of Ralsei's Castle. If spoken to, he asks Kris and Susie to find a new owner for him.
If you interact with the house resembling that of Undertale's Napstablook, Tenna will be given away to "Nobody," someone who is implied to be Napstablook's cousin.
In Battle
Doom Board Encounters
For all four of these battles, Tenna forces you to ACT.
For the first encounter, you can only ACT on Tenna thanks to the fight being just him and your team, and there are only two ACTs you can use: ILOVETV, or Resist, both of which are full-party actions. Saying ILOVETV will end the battle immediately. Otherwise, you can also end it by Resisting three times. Tenna will only use the attack All-Star Cast during this first battle.
For the second and third encounters, Tenna brings along a Shadowguy. You can do the same as you did for the first encounter, with the option to spare the Shadowguy as well by choosing his ACTs, like Sharpshoot. Doing so will cause Tenna to be enraged that Shadowguy let them use a different act, resulting in the battle ending and the Shadowguy being fired.
For the fourth encounter onwards, Tenna brings along a Zapper, which will only use it's bouncing laser attack. Like the Shadowguy, the party can spare them normally to Tenna's dismay, however, what is supposed to happen is the party needs to use the TurnOFF action (which costs 100% TP). Doing so will teleport the party out of their toy ball prisons and progress the story.
Cold Place Encounter
The main goal of the fight is to reach a score of 1000, doing so through various ACTS. Otherwise, the party can FIGHT Tenna normally to end the battle.
Attacks
- All-Star Cast: The screen darkens and puts a spotlight on the battle box. Tenna then summons a stream of laughing stars of various sizes that come down in an upward circular pattern.
- Smash Cut: Tenna jumps and claps his hands, splitting the screen in two across the Horizontal Axis, then begins to attack with lightning bolts coming either down or up, sliding across half the battle box. The camera then moves in two different directions, making it difficult to see exactly where the lightning will be coming from as they approach the split in the screen.
- Rimshot: Two smiling stars with tails bounce around the battle box while a "drum riff" sound effect plays. Every time the riff hits the final note, the stars shoot off pink projectiles from all of their points. The drum riff is signified by the end of the tail swelling up, followed by the middle, then the star itself, which is when the projectiles are fired.
- Cooking Channel: Dodge Fire Edition: A version of the Cooking Channel Minigame where Tenna launches large amount of fire towards Kris, both from above and sliding across the counter. Kris has to avoid this fire by either moving out of the way or jumping. Each time Kris touches the flame, an X is put down.
- Lightners Live: TV-Time: A version of the Lightners Live Minigame where the song is replaced with the TV Time boss theme. Just like the regular mini game, Kris will have to match the notes dropping down in a timely manner. Each missed note results in an X.
- Susiezilla vs Tenna: Tenna (colored gold just like in the Susiezilla minigame) attempts to attack Susie. The trick is to move her out of the way and strike back after Tenna has to recover from missing. The goal is to get 3 hits on Tenna. An X is put down for every time Susie is hit.
- Susiezilla Saves Ralsei: Ralsei is tied to the center of the Susiezilla map with a large amount of explosives. Small Tennas tied to ropes attempt to attack him. Susie must attack them get them to retreat. An X is put down for every successful hit Tenna lands on Ralsei.
- Shoot the Targets: The Lightners are put into their "Sharpshooters" outfits and fire bullets at flying Tenna projectiles. Each projectile that hits the party results in an X.
- Cowboys vs Tenna: The Western mini game, except Tenna replaces the Shadowguys as the ones shooting at the party. An X is put down for each time Tenna successfully shoots the party.
- Tenna vs Cowboys: The roles are reversed, with the party now the ones in the train while Tenna attempts to shoot them. The goal is to avoid wherever a target appears. When multiple targets appear, Tenna will always shoot them in order from first to last. An X is put down for each time Tenna successfully shoots the party.
- Weather Bounce: A cloud and moon fall from the top of the screen towards the SOUL, which has an umbrella. At the bottom of the screen is a countdown, lowering each time the SOUL successfully bounces either the cloud or the moon with the umbrella. Should the Moon or Cloud go past the SOUL, they may hit the SOUL on their way back up, resulting in both damage and an X. Later in the fight, the Cloud becomes yellow, and should it touch the ground, it fires off a stream of lightning as it bounces back up.
- Channel Changing: Tenna's final attack, after the party reaches a score of 1000+, Tenna will send the party into a rapid-fire compilation of mini games, lasting only about 8-3 seconds each. During this period, failure in the mini games results in direct damage instead of X's. After 21 times switching, the party will be put into their Sharpshooter outfits and the prompt "Defeat Tenna" appears on the screen. Tenna will launch Star Projectiles at the party while they shoot his head and projectiles with their bullets as a health bar goes down. Afterwards, Tenna will be defeated.
Strategy
The main goal of the fight is to reach a score of 1000, doing so through various ACTS. Otherwise, the party can FIGHT Tenna normally to end the battle.
Minigames are the quickest way to reach a high score, with a game usually rewarding about 80 points for completion, less for each time the player messes up. Each game has a 10 second time limit, and a "miss" counter. Each miss will dock points and deal about 30 damage to the entire party. 3 misses will end the game early. Kris is given access to four separate Minigame ACTS, one taking all of the party's turns at the cost of 8% TP, two taking Kris and either Susie or Ralsei's turns at a cost of 22% TP, and one taking only Kris's turn at the cost of 44% TP. Using the minigame act takes Tenna's turn.
Each time a bullet is grazed, 1 point is added to the score as a bonus.
Kris's ILoveTV act, and the S and R-Actions will act net about 10-15 points for each time they are used.
Susie's extra action, Bet20, will put 20 points on the line on the condition the party doesn't get hit, doubling the points if the player successfully completes the bet, but losing the points if the party is hit. If the party has the JevilsTail (not the DevilsKnife), this act instead becomes "Bet30", with the flavor text provided that it's a "Joker's Bet", with Jevil's laugh accompanying it.
Ralsei's extra action, PopularBoy, marks him as the sole target of Tenna's attacks. The score will increase each time Ralsei's HP changes, either through healing or damage. Ralsei transforms into a genuine $32 Fluffy Boy doll for the duration of the attack.
Apart from Susie's Bet action, there is no way to lose points.
Quotes
Doom Board Challenge
Pre-Battle
- [Before battle #1]
- Wasn't that quiz just oodles of fun, folks!?
- Just look at that Fun-o-meter!!! Haha!!!
- I wonder what's next?! Looks like a battle! [Before battle #1]
- [After battle #1]
- PHEW! That battle was a WORKOUT!!
- Let's never fight again! We're a HAPPY family, aren't we, Kris!?
- ...Kris?
- [After quiz #2, before battle #2]
- I'm sorry. I'm sorry about the pipes.
- I knew. I KNEW I shouldn't have done it.
- But you know, every pipe goes SOMEWHERE! They had to go SOMEWHERE!!!
- Wait, no. Not another battle. Please...
- The family's fighting again.
- [After battle #3]
- I know. I know what you need.
- To get your minds off of this. And your eyes back on me.
- A LITTLE MUSIC!!!
- That's right!! SHOW tunes!! KRIS on the PIANO!! You LOVE it, don't ya folks!?
- [Before battle #3]
- AhhHHHH, that was SO... Normal!
- MIKE!!! How about we ONLY have quizzes from now on?
- Or... uh, we could have a battle! Great. GREAT.
- Love it when you listen to me, Mike. Love it.
- [Before battle #4]
- That battle earlier was SO great...'
- Why don't we do a RERUN!?
- JUST like you used to love, Kris!
- Saturday Morning Flavor! Cartoon commercials!
- Fresh from the Juice, Fresh from the Juice!
- Make sure you don't get it on your shoese!
- Anyone remember THAT jingle!? Haha!
- [After battle #4, before battle #5]
- Hey. Anyone remember that old jingle?
- "Fresh from the juice!" Haha! Anyone?
- ... Anyone?
- ...
- "I love TV." SAY IT.
- [Before 6th battle and so on]
- Haha!! MORE RERUNS!! MORE!!!!!!!
- Wow! A healing spot! That way, everyone can keep playing! [1st healing spot]
- Oh...A healing spot... [Healing spot after exactly 2 battles and 1 minigame]
- Here comes a healing spring! [Healing spot, generic]
In-Battle
- [Start]
- We've got a very special battle for you today, folks!
- Very SPECIAL indeed, hahaha.
- All you have to do to win.
- Is say "I LOVE TV."
- And, hahaha, don't think you'll be able to try anything funny.
- Ever read this CONTRACT? Hmm, says you guys are my ACTORs...
- And that means... You've gotta ACT!
- [Resist]
- Uh oh, our contestants...
- Seem to have chosen the WRONG ANSWER!
- You know what THAT MEANS!
- IT'S! TV! TIME!
- WRONG ANSWER! [Resist used multiple times]
- [Resist, 4th use]
- ENOUGH ALREADY!
- Seems our contestants aren't ready to admit it yet.
- Mike! Back to the board!
- [ILoveTV, 1st use]
- That's right.
- You love TV... don't you?
- [ILoveTV, 2nd use]
- That's CORRECT!
- Sorry, just needed to hear it again! Haha!
- [ILoveTV, 3rd use]
- Haha, that's right!!!
- ... but did you really mean it?
- [ILoveTV, 4th use]
- ...
- No...
- It's NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!!
- This game's never going to end until you mean it!
- [Repetitive use of ILoveTV]
- ...
- Mike, get another take ready.
- [If a party member is downed]
- HEY! Fainting isn't part of the SCRIPT!
- Eat some TV Dinner and GET UP!!!
- [OffButton used on Zapper]
- H-huh!?
- Susie...? Kris...? Hey...? HEY!!!
- DON'T TELL ME YOU DIDN'T LIKE YOUR CUSTOM MADE TOY BALLS!?
- Hey, Mike?
- Could you, uh, cancel my 4am shock therapy session?
- 'Cause it looks like it's happening right now.
- ALL HANDS ON DECK!!! EVERYONE FIND THE LIGHTNERS!!!
Flavor text
- [Tenna] Wanna be an ACT-er...? Here's my CARD! [Encounter]
- [Tenna] Now where the heck is my debit card? [Encounter]
- [Tenna] If you're gonna be so dramatic... then ACT! [Encounter]
- [Tenna] I Love TV. That's all you gotta say. [Encounter]
- [Tenna] All you have to do is speak your mind! [Neutral]
- [Tenna] Look me in the nose and SAY IT! [Neutral]
- [Tenna] Sorry, what was that?! Couldn't hear you! [Neutral]
- [Tenna] Our contestants have been very naughty! [Neutral]
- Everyone resisted! [Resist]
- Everyone said I Love TV to Tenna! [ILOVETV]
Final Physical Challenge (Cold Place)
Pre-Battle
Gallery
![Tenna figure sold by fangamer [1]](/wiki/File:Tenna_figure_fangamer.png "Tenna figure fangamer.png (692 KB)")
Trivia
- Tenna is the first character to be a pre-rendered 3-dimensional model. Toby commented on his Twitter/X that the idea of Tenna and him being 3D came to him in 2016, he initially was going to resemble the style of 3D assets in Nintendo DS games, Toby mentioned that he once wanted it being like the 3D in the 2010 puzzle mystery game Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (This game was created by Shu Takumi who is also the creator creator of Ace Attorney, a series containing the character of Maya Fey that Toby previously mentioned as an early inspiration for Susie).
- While Toby drew the concept art, Tenna was animated, model, rendered, and posed by Chelsea Saunders/PIXELATEDCROWN[2]
- Tenna is also the first boss who can die (which happens if you fail to gain enough recruits, or when Tenna is defeated violently), as Berdly seemingly had survived the Noelle's Snowgrave, albeit in a comatose state.
- Along with Jevil, Spamton, and Tasque Manager, Tenna is the only character with fully voice acted lines.
- Additionally, he also has the most fully voice-acted lines out of the four.
- Many of Tenna's animations come from a free to use software called Mixamo.
- Tenna keeps a Pipis hidden away, and finds it embarrassing to have one.
- After the initial release of Chapter 3 & 4, a file was located in the game's files under the name "Boob_Tube.png". This file was quickly removed with a patch less than 2 hours after the game was released. The contents of said file have not been revealed to the public, and it appears to have become lost media. Toby Fox, shortly after releasing the patch, said on his Bluesky, "I am so sorry. I am so sorry. It wasn't meant to be there."
- If you don’t use the turn off act in the 4th encounter, Tenna will tell everyone to wake up and prepare for a “monster movie marathon” and the pixel Tenna will walk into a door. During this cutscene, you play as Kris and are in a room similar to the Susiezilla mini game. The Golden Tenna will then run towards the screen while a train noise plays in the background in a jumpscare fashion.
- If the player obtains the Shadow Mantle, Kris deals extremely heavy damage (450-500) to Tenna if the FIGHT action is taken.
- Tenna has different dialogue depending on different factors when the CHECK action is used. Without any special dialogue, the CHECK is "Isn't it about time you got a new TV?" With Dealmaker equipped, it becomes “THE [Tragic businesmen] THAT [Died] AT THE [Now] OF THE [Story]” If the Shadow Mantle was obtained, it becomes “Despite his size, he’s surprisingly fragile.”
- At half health, Tenna will start mini games on his turn.
- As of now, Tenna is the only major character lacking a dialogue portrait, seeing as it instead shows enlarged animations identical the ones found outside of battle.
- During the beginning of the game show segment when Tenna asks for "NAMES" of Kris and the gang, the sound bite that plays is a direct voice line of Mother/Earthbound creator Shigesato Itoi that was originally used for his own series after deciding a name for the party characters.