Despite Everything, It's Still You
Brought to you by the undergrad nostalgia of sitting in the Westdale Second Cup
Dearest Amarah and Bohmee,
We’ve done it! We’re OFFICIALLY graduated. As I’m temporarily back in Hamilton for work, I’ve been missing our student house’s couch. Actually, I’ve been avoiding the house as a whole on my walks; I worry what it will look like empty of us. The Westdale Second Cup is a decent substitute, but isn’t nearly as cozy and sink-able.
As well as being the host of deep naps, late night chats, movies, feasts, de-briefs, and themed parties, this couch saw much essay planning, writing, procrastinating, editing, re-writing, and submitting. Heck, even some theses!
In the spirit of our couch, I propose the sharing of an essay that I never wrote.1 Despite not coming to fruition, it stays in my mind—both less and more developed than it should be. Perhaps finally penning this all out will begin to put it to rest.
Please, join me in a stroll through my graveyard of unfinished essays!
*From this point onward, be warned, there will be spoilers!*
Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy as inspiration for Toby Fox’s Undertale
For clarification, I have only read Inferno and have never even looked at Purgatorio or Paradiso. For this reason, I will not dive into how the other parts of Undertale relate to these texts. Instead, I am just looking at how the first section of Undertale (the Ruins) relates to Inferno.
I am no scholar on Inferno or any part of The Divine Comedy. I just took a course where it was part of the reading list. HOWEVER, just from dipping my toes into Inferno thoughts, I wondered if Toby Fox took at least some inspiration from Alighieri. I am no Undertale scholar either. I was just on the internet in the 2010s to enough of a degree that I both watched the full let’s play on DanAndPhilGames, among others,2 and played along on my own. Also, any commentary I am pulling comes from either the True Pacifist or Neutral routes. Those are the only ones I have done because I cannot deal with the little pixel people in my computer thinking I’m mean.
As to not even attempt at a full summary, Inferno follows Dante’s journey through Hell. A journey that involves his exploration of its circles, “sin,” and human nature—finally landing on passing through the bottom with a depiction of Lucifer themselves.
Undertale follows a child, the playable character, in their journey through a realm of monsters under the Earth’s surface (the Underground) and their attempt to return to the human world. At the start of the game, this human is named by the player. Near the end of the story, it is revealed that the character’s true name is “Frisk,” which is how I will be referring to them in the future just for consistency and ease.
With those briefest of summaries done,3 let’s get into my observed similarities.
The Entrance to both Inferno and The Underground
Inferno’s first and second cantos follow Dante lost in a wood, encountering some dangerous creatures, and, finally, meeting Virgil, the Roman poet. Upon this meeting, Virgil and Dante enter a tunnel and begin the descent into Inferno. Undertale’s story begins with Frisk climbing a mountain and falling down a tunnel. After falling, they find themselves in “the Underground,” or the world of monsters right beneath Earth’s surface.
Monster, here, holds an interesting definition. These are not “monsters” in the evil sense, just “non-human.” The opening of the game discusses how monsters and humans lived alongside one another until a war broke out that caused the monsters to go underground and be locked away by a magical barrier.
Inferno and Undertale both follow characters thrust into unexpected landscapes—characters experiencing a place known to them only through stories as fear-invoking and “otherworldly.” Both, through the portrayal of “monsters” and those in hell, embody fear driven by misunderstanding; both those in hell and those in the underground not inherently bad, just trapped, sometimes physically, in cycles of their own creation.
Guided to Look: Virgil and Toriel
Throughout Inferno, Dante is led through the circles of hell by the Roman poet Virgil. This “leading” role often involves protection; one notable example in canto nine, when Virgil implores Dante to look away from the Medusa. While Dante is travelling through hell, he observes, and is encouraged to look into, all of its layers. However, with the Medusa, Virgil asks Dante to not look. Medusa, representing paralyzing fear, would be too strong for anyone to overcome. After all, how can you move beyond after being literally turned into stone.
When Toriel leads Frisk through the Ruins to her house, she works to teach Frisk about the puzzles within the tunnels. She acts as a tutorial (haha tu-Toriel) for later in-game challenges. While insisting that we, the player, solve the puzzles on our own, she stops us at one. For this puzzle, rather than insisting we take the lead, she steps forward. Like Virgil with the Medusa in Inferno, Toriel knows this obstacle is too difficult for us, Frisk, at the moment. Rather than face paralyzing fear of a puzzle too difficult, she takes our hand and leads us through.
While technically “leading,” Virgil does not do all the work for Dante. Throughout our Inferno discussions, the class noted the amount of times Virgil encourages Dante to look: at something scary, in the thick fog, through the obstacles. Looking beyond! Work to see what isn’t there and chase that. I wonder if or how this would come to play in Undertale…
Well, this next little bit would only come to full fruition following the true pacifist or neutral routes. To progress in Undertale, you need to leave the Ruins and Toriel. Knowing what lies beyond, she insists you cannot leave, leading to the game’s first “boss battle.” Toriel challenges you to a battle—one there is no way around. The only ways out: to not fight and halt your progression in the game, or to beat her, kill her, and make it through. At least, that’s what you’re told. On your journey through the ruins, Toriel and some Froggits teach you about Mercy. Another option, another mechanic, in fighting. You’re taught that the “Mercy” button will change colour when a character is ready to be mercied—allowing you to progress through the fight without violence. However, the game alludes to the possibility of showing mercy to those who are not ready for it.
When fighting Toriel, she does not hold back from inflicting pain on you at the start. If you are so convinced you should and have to leave the ruins, she will do all in her power to stop you—to protect you in any necessary way—from learning what lies beyond. Kill her and get through, or stay trapped forever. But is there another way? Yes. Looking through and seeking mercy when it is not an option presented. If you fight Toriel and continuously press “Mercy,” even when unprompted by the game, all you need to do is survive. Eventually, her attacks start avoiding you. Showing unprompted mercy, looking beyond the presented options, and still continuing onwards is what gets you through without violence.
But, why is she stopping us from progressing?
Perpetual Motion & Confining through Confinement: Lucifer & Toriel / Asgore
Later in the game, we learn that Toriel’s husband—Asgore, the king of the Underground—is harvesting the souls of fallen human children to break the magical barrier and free the trapped monsters. Something he does not want to do, but feels is a necessary step in his declared war against humans. This war, we learn, is the result of a misunderstanding brought about by death two friends: the child of Toriel and Asgore, Asriel, and their friend and adopted human sibling, Chara.
Quick lore summary:
Chara was a fallen human who was befriended by the monster prince, Asriel. Basically adopted into the royal family, Asgore and Toriel became Chara’s surrogate parents. It is alluded that Chara ran away from humans because of a dislike of humankind, but I am not enough of an Undertale scholar to affirm or deny that. After becoming terminally ill from eating buttercups, Chara wants to see the flowers in their human village one last time. Together, Asriel and Chara sneak over the barrier. Chara dies in the human village and their soul is absorbed by Asriel.4 Seeing this, the humans believe that Asriel killed Chara and begin attacking them. Chara’s soul, enraged by this and still angry at humans, wants to use their and Asriel’s combined power to kill all the humans—something Asriel does not want. This part of the story ends with the humans killing Asriel, and both their and Chara’s souls. Ending both lives.
Death begets death; rage begets rage; misunderstanding begets misunderstanding.
Why does Toriel feel it necessary to stop us, Frisk, from progressing beyond the Ruins? Because, if we do, Asgore will kill us. How does she stop us? By killing us. What is the easiest way for us to get through? By killing her and the monsters in our path. Death begets death.
Why is Asgore angry at the humans? Because they killed his child. Why did they kill his child? Because they believed Asriel had killed the human Chara and was attacking the humans. Why did they believe Asriel was attacking them? Because Chara’s soul was angry at mankind and used Asriel’s body to enact violence. Rage begets rage.
The death of a human child is the misunderstanding that began this newfound rage. Asgore’s desire to move beyond the barrier means repeating the initial action that caused all this pain—the death of a human child. These deaths that continuously lead to the humans’ misunderstandings of monsters as violent. Misunderstandings that lead to the death of Asriel and Asgore’s deepened anger against humans. An anger that does not allow him to see possibilities beyond killing any fallen humans and taking their souls. Misunderstanding begets misunderstanding.
Circles of movement, rat races with no winners, action upon action upon action—all yielding the same result. This idea of perpetual movement, only able to be broken by seeing beyond, is what we see in Inferno. Those we meet in Hell are often not inherently evil by any means. They represent those who are locked away due to an action done—a sin committed—and are doomed to repeat said action as punishment, said repetition keeping them stuck in Inferno. Perpetual motion. Even felt by the so-called ruler themselves.
The final circle of Hell is home to Lucifer and those deemed “treacherous.” While the ruler of Inferno, Lucifer is no more able to leave than those kept trapped. In the lake at the depths of Hell, Lucifer’s wings flap—a motion that keeps the lake frozen and those within confined. Hell is frozen over and keeping everyone in it. Maintaining this freeze, Lucifer entraps themselves just as equally. What is movement when you’re going nowhere? Is that freedom? Is that power? Is that doing anyone any good?
What would happen if it all just
stopped.
It’s taken me over a month to finish this post. To be fair, I’ve had a whirlwind of a time—working at Shad, preparing to leave Hamilton, and catching up with friends. As this chapter comes to an end, I’ve been feeling trapped by the possibility of change.
Isn’t that funny? Trapped by change. It all just feels like there’s so much uncertainty with such a big shift like this. New school, new city, new house, new degree, new life phase, new, new, new. Things will never be the way they were. How much easier would it be to stay in undergrad forever. But, that’s just not how it goes.
What will pass me by if I don’t move?
For one of the essays in my Literature Inquiry final (the course that I read Inferno for),5 I explored this idea of change. Specifically, at what point is it too late to make a change, a decision, to put an end to something. What did I come to?
It’s both always and never too late.
Things must change, and that’s ok. Every second going forward, it will be different. Then will never be how now is. And that is just how things are meant to be. Keeping still, staying frozen, is helping no one. Life necessitates change, but change doesn’t mean things are over.
They’re just different.
I’m both scared and excited for this difference. Understanding that I am still me, our connections are still ours, and we are all still here is something that I’m working on. That’s to say that some things will nevertheless have to change, to grow, to thaw, and maybe even to end.
And that’s ok.
See you all in the lake; let’s swim together.
I’m using the term “essay” VERY loosely. Maybe just comparisons between two texts, talking points I never made in class, and thoughts that occupy my mind space. Also, citations? They will not be here as, in the spirit of the couch, nothing here is evidence based.
My digital footprint……
I have barely touched the surface on analysis for either and don’t particularly feel like it at this point. Also, I haven’t played Undertale in years and only read Inferno once this past semester. So, things may be misremembered. So be it the spirit of the couch chats.
Some Undertale lore mechanics surrounding souls would flush this out more, but I don’t have the desire or space to get into it at the moment.
You can thank Dr. Wilson for this blog post!
Hmmm almost like academia can be done for fun… 👀 love your brain!