I’ll never get over the amalgamates getting to go back home to their families in True Pacifist. I’m so, so used to stories that go, “this person is too broken, physically or mentally or both, to ever be put back together. they’re not the way they once were, so they’re good as dead. killing them is the only act of mercy.“
I’m so glad Undertale didn’t do that.
The True Lab intentionally plays on horror tropes. Phantasmal pursuers whose ability to appear and disappear defy logical attempts at evasion. Mutated, undead shambling creatures whose original selves are utterly destroyed.
But…like the rest of Undertale’s relationship to RPG tropes…subversion occurs.
It becomes increasingly clear that the amalgamates aren’t evil ghosts or mindless zombies. They’re victims of medical malpractice who miss their families. And when we find them returned to their families…they’re happy. Their families are happy. Things are different now, yea. It’s pretty weird for everyone. The new situation will take some time getting used to. But… it’s mostly good.
Here’s something I’m thinking about that may or may not have any significance: traversing the Ruins, Frisk must, or is asked to, display the virtues of the other souls. I’ll try to explain what I mean in an uncomposed way. Patience when Tories tells them to wait for her to return. Courage when walking through a floor of illusory spikes. Integrity when a Froggit asks that they have mercy. Perseverance when a stubborn rock won’t move to the desired location. I’m not sure about an example of kindness separate from integrity, possibly in their interactions with Toriel or Chara or Flowey, but those aren’t explicitly shown and there aren’t enough context clues to nail down how they act (which is the point I think because they can be different on any given reset). Similar case with justice, there are instances where they use judgement/evaluation (cracked floor puzzle, coloured button puzzle) but those aren’t to do with the intended concept of justice I think.
Kindness could be when Frisk encounters Napstablook! You’re being kind by cheering them up and complementing/flirting with them. Or maybe the kindness could be buying something from the spider bakesale. Being kind enough to help out a cause.
Justice is a hard one. It comes from the word Just and that means “Behaving according to what is morally right and fair”. An antonym for Just is “unfair”.
So, Justice could be you interacting with every monster you meet and sparing them. Because that’s what morally right and fair. But you could also argue that it’s more out of kindness at some points.
It could also be you only taking one monster candy from that bowl near the beginning. Since it told you only to take one, the just thing to do would be to take only one.
Oh! I think you’ve got it! These are all really good explanations! My favourites are the Napstablook encounter and the bake sale for kindness and the candy bowl for justice since Chara gives Frisk such strong admonishment when taking more than one, and we know how important justice and Consequences are to them. I think the monster battles are difficult to pin down as just one virtue since sparing them can demonstrate integrity, kindness, justice, or even perseverance.
SliceOSunshine 