60 Fun Facts About Undertale

Who created Undertale, writing the script, composing the music and programming nearly all of it?

Apart from artwork and character designs by a small group of guest artists, the whole game was a one-person project.

In what year was Undertale first released, for OS X and Windows?

It launched on September 15, and the Linux port followed the next summer.

What is the name of the large, secluded region under the surface of the Earth where the game takes place?

It is separated from the surface by a magical barrier, and the whole game is the journey back up.

Which motherly, goat-like monster rescues the fallen child at the start of the game?

She teaches the child how to get through conflicts without killing, and wants to adopt them to keep them safe from the king.

Undertale's motherly goat monster Toriel was created as a parody of what kind of game character?

Fox also felt RPGs lacked strong mothers, so he wanted 'a mom that hopefully acts like a mom' who genuinely cares what the player does.

Who is the king of the monsters, whose castle contains the barrier to the surface?

He was written as an intimidating figure at first, but Fox made him goofier, inspired by Fangamer founder Reid Young.

The two skeleton brothers who act as sentries in the game are named after what?

Their in-game dialogue is even displayed in their own fonts, Comic Sans and Papyrus.

The skeleton brothers act as sentries for which area?

They are two of the first named monsters the child meets after leaving the Ruins.

What position does Undyne hold?

Fox found her hard to write; the one detail that never changed was that she was the first boss who genuinely wanted to kill the protagonist.

Who is the kingdom's royal scientist, creator of the robot TV host?

She was originally depicted as a man; Fox grew to dislike that and redesigned her, adding eyelashes.

What kind of being is Mettaton?

He was built by the royal scientist, and his glitzy shows are a running gag through Hotland.

The flower who greets the child at the start lies about which stat to try to kill them?

He frames it as friendship points, which turns out to be a very dark joke later in the game.

According to the judgment scene late in the game, LOVE is actually an acronym for what?

The reveal recasts the whole levelling system as a measure of how much harm the player has done.

In the same judgment scene, EXP is revealed to stand for what?

The player is judged on the totals they have accumulated across the whole run.

Which battle menu option lets you check an enemy's stats and take non-violent actions?

Using the right actions, or attacking until an enemy is weak but alive, opens the way to sparing them.

During battles the player controls a small heart. What does it represent?

Boss battles change how the heart moves, and coloured obstacles are added as the game goes on.

Dodging enemy attacks in battle plays like a miniature version of which game genre?

Fox tested it on friends with no shooter experience and was satisfied when they could all finish the game.

Which Japanese shoot-'em-up series was a direct inspiration for the game's battle system?

Fox first downloaded its demos in middle school, and later credited it alongside the Mario & Luigi games.

Fans call the ending in which every single fightable monster is killed by what name?

It is also called the 'No Mercy' route, and much of the world empties out as characters flee.

The best ending, unlocked by reloading after a kill-free neutral run, is known as what?

Flowey ambushes the reunion of the child's friends and absorbs everyone's souls before the finale.

What is revealed to be the human child's true name at the end of the best ending?

The name is spoken by the goat prince after he reverts to child form and destroys the barrier.

What is the name of the first fallen human, who befriended the royal family's son long before the game begins?

In the worst ending this character appears at the very end and erases the world.

What is the name of the king and queen's son, who befriended the first fallen human?

He was killed by humans on the surface, which is what pushed his father to declare war.

Humans fall into the monsters' realm through a gap in the barrier at which mountain?

It is the only opening in the barrier that seals the monsters away from the surface.

How many human souls has the king collected when the game begins?

He needs just one more to break the barrier, which is why the child is in danger.

What was the funding goal of the game's 2013 Kickstarter campaign?

It ran for exactly one month in the summer of 2013 and blew far past the target.

Roughly how much did the Kickstarter campaign end up raising?

Just under 2,400 backers chipped in, roughly ten times what Fox had asked for.

How many months did the game's development take?

It was originally meant to be a two-hour game released in mid-2014.

Which game creation tool was Undertale built with?

That choice later mattered: Fox said Nintendo 3DS and Wii U ports were impossible because the tool didn't support them.

Before Undertale, Fox was best known for composing music for which webcomic?

He started writing music for it in 2010, while still in high school.

'Megalovania' was first written for a Halloween ROM hack of which game?

Fox submitted the hack to a fan-site competition in November 2008, years before Undertale existed.

The title 'Megalovania' combines 'megalomania' with the name of which region?

Fox only named it at the last minute, and wanted a bit of 'Halloweeniness' in the title.

Which character's boss battle is scored by 'Megalovania'?

In an early draft this character ran poker at a casino, an idea revived in the Xbox port, where he runs a casino at home.

What new feature did the Xbox One version add to the Dog Shrine?

The Dog Shrine itself was first added for the PlayStation 4 and Vita releases.

YouTuber MatPat gave a copy of Undertale to which world leader in 2016?

He tied the gift to the Vatican's Jubilee of Mercy, and in 2022 a circus even performed 'Megalovania' at a papal audience.

Papyrus began as a mean sketch in Fox's notebook wearing a fedora, named after which other font?

Fox says the most memorable moment of development was writing the scene where Papyrus turns down the child on their date.

Who was the game's main artist, providing most of the sprites and concept art?

Fox says the simple art style would probably have stayed the same even with a bigger team.

Which Nintendo RPG series inspired the timed defensive segments of battle?

Fox wanted a battle system as engaging as Super Mario RPG and Superstar Saga.

The dialogue system, where you can talk to monsters to avoid a fight, was inspired by which 1992 game?

Fox wanted a system that 'satisfied my urge for talking to monsters', and the no-kill run grew out of that naturally.

Fox composed the entire soundtrack using which software?

He first tried the tracker FamiTracker but found it unintuitive, and most tracks were written with little iteration.

Which consoles were the first to receive Undertale, in August 2017?

The console version added exclusive achievements and a new location, the Dog Shrine.

The Nintendo Switch version added an exclusive boss fight against whom?

The Switch release also showcased a deal letting GameMaker Studio 2 users export straight to the console.

Which Japanese localisation company translated the game and handled all its console ports?

They used a single primary translator, Keiko Fuchicho, to keep the game's voice consistent.

How does the name 'Deltarune' relate to 'Undertale'?

Fox says Deltarune is 'not the world of Undertale' but is meant for people who have finished it.

On what date was the first chapter of Deltarune released, for free?

Fox had teased something Undertale-related just one day earlier.

Who is the human protagonist of Deltarune?

They are joined by a monster classmate and a prince from the Dark World to fulfil a prophecy.

Unlike Undertale, Deltarune is marketed as having how many endings?

Whatever the player chooses, the story is meant to arrive at the same place.

How many sales had the game surpassed by early February 2016, about five months after launch?

It had already been one of the year's best sellers on Steam by the end of 2015.

A Mii Fighter costume of an Undertale character was released for which Nintendo game in September 2019?

Director Masahiro Sakurai noted the character had been a popular request to join the roster.

The tenth-anniversary charity marathon livestream raised US$330,000 for which organisation?

Players saw new dialogue, areas and boss fights, which were later released as a browser game.

Undertale was originally planned to be how long?

It was also meant to ship in mid-2014, but the project kept growing.

In which US state was the game's creator born?

He was born in Manchester in October 1991 and later graduated from Northeastern University in 2014.

What subject did the game's creator study at Northeastern University?

He graduated in 2014, the year before his game became a phenomenon.

Fox got the idea for the game's text system in 2012 after reading a Wikipedia article about what?

After building the text system he thought up the battle system, and the story grew from there.

Which Legend of Zelda companion character did Fox strongly dislike for revealing puzzle answers too early?

That frustration shaped his tutorial character into someone who genuinely cares rather than nags.

In 2019, wrestler Kenny Omega dressed as an Undertale character on which promotion's weekly TV show?

He wore the skeleton costume on the October 30, 2019 episode of Dynamite.

Which fan-made spinoff, released in 2023 after seven years of development, became hugely popular?

The fandom is known for elaborate fan games with their own stories and mechanics.

Which YouTuber quit his first playthrough, saying fan demands left him 'not having fun'?

Streamers who killed enemies were harassed by some fans, which gave the fandom a difficult reputation.

Fox partly derived the title by swapping words in the name of which earlier indie game?

He replaced 'Story' with 'Tale' and the setting word with 'Under', and also liked how two-word titles like EarthBound stuck together.

How many chapters is Deltarune planned to have in total?

Chapters 1 through 4 shipped as a paid package in June 2025, with all later chapters promised as free updates.