Chara

 is the first human to ever fall past the Barrier on Mount Ebott into the Underground. This person is in fact who the player is naming at the start of the game, and not the controllable character who is played throughout the entirety of Undertale.

Description
Chara is said to have looked incredibly similar to Frisk, down to a "similar fashion sense". Like Frisk, they are of ambiguous gender and appear to have also been around the same age as Frisk when they fell into the Underground.

Personality
While initially cast in a sympathetic light by Asriel and others (primarily while they are talking to Frisk but using Chara's name), Asriel admits after being defeated in the Pacifist Route that the reason Chara climbed Mt. Ebott wasn't very happy. He goes on to say that they hated humanity, and though they never explained why, they felt very strongly about it. Comparing them to Frisk, Asriel realizes that Chara wasn't the greatest person. It is mentioned that Chara "laughed it off" when they accidentally made Asgore ill, by putting buttercups instead of cups of butter into a butterscotch pie they made for him. Asriel states that it was Chara who took control of Asriel's body, picked up their own corpse and carried it out to a human village. He recollects that when the humans attacked them, Chara wanted to use Asriel's full power to kill them.

The reincarnated Chara is cold and malevolent, juxtaposition to their appearance and apparent age. Their speech is slow and silent. They are shown to display curiosity if the player chooses not to destroy the world.

Appearance
At the end of the Genocide Route, Chara is seen to be wearing a green and yellow striped shirt, brown pants and shoes. Compared to Frisk, Chara is of a lighter skin color. They have rosy cheeks, open eyes and a vacant smile, displaying an unusally sunny disposition in contrast to Frisk's constant stoic expression.

Main Story
This first human fell into the Underground after the war between humans and monsters and was taken in by Toriel and Asgore as a second child, whom they treated with respect equal to their biological son, Asriel. Asriel quickly became friends with the fallen child, and grew to respect them greatly. Monsters of the Underground spoke of how Chara filled them all with hope.

One day, Chara became very ill, and requested to see the Golden Flowers of their home village once more. But because no one could cross the barrier, the request could not be fulfilled. Chara died the next day, and Asriel, wracked with grief, absorbed Chara's soul and became powerful enough to cross the barrier. He took Chara's body and carried it to a bed of flowers in the center of Chara's village. The villagers, believing Asriel had killed the human, began attacking him with everything they had. Although he had the power to destroy them all, he did not fight back; he smiled and carried the human back to the castle of New Home, where he himself died from his wounds. Chara was originally laid to rest in a coffin in the basement of the castle, in the same room in which the bodies of the other Six Humans would be laid after slain by Asgore. However, Flowey implies that Toriel carried the body to the Ruins to give them a proper burial.

Several points in the game, such as the VHS collection in the True Lab, imply that Chara's death was part of a plan that they had conceived: to poison themself with flowers, then for Asriel to combine their soul with Chara's to cross the barrier, then to collect the souls of six additional humans to gain enough power to break the barrier (though whether Chara's intention was benevolent is unclear; it could be inferred that the plan was to restart the war between humans and monsters). Asriel explains to Frisk at the end of the Pacifist Route that when his soul combined with Chara's, control over Asriel's body was split between them, and that it was Chara who carried their own body to the village. Chara also wanted to use their full power against the villagers, but Asriel resisted their influence and took control, returning back home instead, before his body perished to dust and scattered across the King's Throne Room with the seeds of Golden Flowers.

Neutral Route
If the player gets a Game Over then they will hear Asgore urging to "stay determined", with messages resembling that which he desperately told Chara while they were sick and bedridden. Asgore will sometimes tell Chara that "our fate rests upon you" and insist that "you cannot give up just yet."

The protagonist may also hear 's name in their dreams. At a certain point in the story, if the protagonist sleeps in Toriel's home, Asgore's voice can be heard, pleading "Chara, please... Wake up! You are the future of humans and monsters." When the protagonist first falls into the Garbage Dump, Asriel's voice can be heard talking to Chara as well. While walking through New Home, Frisk is told the history of and Asriel.

Before the Throne Room, there is a room with coffins for the seven humans that came before Frisk, and one of the coffins is for.

True Pacifist Route
In the True Lab, VHS tapes of Chara interacting with their family can be played back.

Before and after the final fight with Asriel, Asriel mistakenly refers to Frisk by Chara's name.

Towards the end of the battle, when Frisk calls Asriel's name to save him, flashbacks play, showing Chara, after they fell into the underground, being found and helped up by Asriel, with another flashback showing Chara with their family.

Afterwards, Asriel finally recognizes the protagonist as Frisk.

After saving Asriel, Frisk may return to the room containing the coffins of the seven humans before Frisk. They see that 's coffin is empty, and notice mummy wrappings at the coffin's bottom.

If the game is reopened for the first time after completing the game's True Pacifist ending, Flowey will appear and talk to the player. He meekly asks them to leave the world as it is, and refers to the player by Chara's name before leaving and allowing the game's intro sequence to begin.

Genocide Route
The only instance in the game where Chara makes an in-person physical appearance, outside of flashbacks, is during and after a Genocide run, where the character plays an important yet somewhat ambiguous role.

It seems that throughout the Genocide Route, Chara momentarily disables the player's input, and takes direct control of Frisk at various points during the game. The first instance of this is during the first encounter and puzzle with Papyrus, where Frisk seems to ignore and move forward without any input, while still disregarding Papyrus all the same. The last instance of this, is during the scene at the Throne Room which without any input from the player, Chara slays both Asgore and Flowey cruelly as they are now in full control of Frisk at that point.

It is implied that, as opposed to playing as Frisk, you the player play as Chara inhabiting Frisk's body, who steadily grows in power by killing all of the monsters they can. Although almost everyone in the game recognizes the cold and malevolent behavior of the player in this route, only Flowey identifies the player as Chara, speaking to them like they have been friends for a long time, until Flowey realizes that he too may be killed.

Furthermore, Chara's voice and thoughts start to narrate the text that the player sees. These narrations are sometimes but not always red in color:


 * Examining Toriel's Home:
 * Kitchen: " Where are the knives. "
 * Mirror: "It's me, Chara."
 * Examining various objects in Snowdin Forest:
 * Hole: " There's a hole here. "
 * Snowdecahedron: " (It's a snow ball.) "
 * Examining various objects throughout Asgore's Home.
 * Padlocks: " (He leaves them in the kitchen and the hallway.) "
 * With one key: " (There are two keys.) "
 * Upon unlocking it: " (I unlocked the chain.) "
 * Calendar: " (The date I came here.) "
 * Beds: " My Bed. " and " His Bed. "
 * Bookshelves/Asgore's Closet: " Nothing useful. "
 * Refrigerator: " No chocolate. "
 * Kitchen Note: " I've read this already. "
 * Stove: " Stovetop. "
 * Photograph: " ... "
 * Journal: " The entries are always the same. "
 * Drawing of Flower: " My drawing. "
 * Closet: " Our clothes. "
 * Asgore's Dresser: " Still has that sweater. " (Refers to Asgore's pink hand-knit "Mr. Dad Guy" sweater)
 * Mirror: "It's me, Chara."
 * Real Knife:
 * Upon equipping it: " About time. "
 * Flavor description: " Here we are! "
 * The Locket:
 * Upon equipping it: " Right where it belongs. "
 * Flavor description: " You can feel it beating. "
 * When examining the coffin with the red soul on top: " It's as comfortable as it looks. "
 * Several boss fights, as well as some miniboss encounters, show a significant change in tone when the player "checks" the enemy in battle as well.

After completing the first Genocide run, Chara will suddenly appear to address the player directly, saying they were brought back to life by the player's power and determination, and that the purpose of their reincarnation was power itself. They go on to identify themself as the very feeling the player receives whenever their stats increase, and implore the player erase the world so they can move on to the next.

The player is given a choice to "ERASE" the world, or "DO NOT". The player is unable to quit the game by holding down the Escape key, but they can quit or close the game using other methods. Regardless of the player's choice, will attack the screen, destroying the world.
 * If the player chooses "ERASE", will call the player "a great partner".
 * Choosing "DO NOT" will cause a jumpscare (seen here), where tells the player that they were never in control, coming closer towards the screen with a horrifying facial expression (Chara's eyes are missing replaced with bloody sockets, and begins to cackle malevolently) while apparently laughing as the screen shakes and flashes to red and black.Chara-2.gif

speaks to the player if they open the game after completing the Genocide Route and leave the game open for 10 minutes. They sense that the player wants to go back to the game's world, and remind the player that their actions caused its destruction. After asking the player if they are above consequences, Chara offers to restore the world in exchange for the player's soul. Agreeing to this trade will restore the world, deleting the save file, but the pacifist ending will be permanently affected. Refusing will force the player to wait another 10 minutes, after which will offer the same choice again.

After completing the second Genocide run, Chara calls themself "the demon that comes when people call its name". They say that the reason the player continues to recreate and destroy the world is due to a "perverted sentimentality" they can no longer understand, before suggesting that the player take a "different path" if they choose to create the world again. gives the player the "choice" to erase the world again.
 * If the player chooses "ERASE", will once again call the player "a great partner", saying they will be together forever.
 * However choosing "DO NOT" again will have tell the player that these very twisted feelings were exactly what they were just talking about. Chara then reminds the player they sold their soul a long time ago, causing another jumpscare, as they destroy the world again.

appears briefly if Pacifist run is completed after Genocide run, as they will have the player's soul at that point:
 * If the player stayed with Toriel, then the after-credits scene continues briefly after Toriel closes the door, showing in place of Frisk turning to face the screen with red eyes. The game cuts to black with laughter similar to Flowey's, but it is slowed down and lower-pitched.
 * If the player had "places to go", then the photo will have everyone's faces crossed out with red x's., who is in place of Frisk, does not have their face crossed out.

Trivia

 * Toby Fox, creator of Undertale, made a post on twitter suggesting the name of the Fallen Child to be the Player's own name.
 * The name "Chara" is used in-game and in promotional material regarding the game:
 * Naming the fallen child "Chara" results in the game saying that this is "the true name". You will be able to play with this name.
 * Removing the name from a save file results in the name "Chara" being given by default.
 * Two promotional gameplay screenshots have "Chara" as the name. Other materials leave the name blank.
 * "Chara" is likely just short for "Character," but there are speculations of its greater signifigance.
 * The word Chara (χαρά, ᾶς, ἡ) in Greek means "joy, delight, or gladness".
 * The child being "fallen" can refer both to the child having literally fallen into the Underground, or as part of a common phrase referring to having "fallen from grace" (i.e. having become morally corrupt).


 * Chara's soul is the same color as Frisk's, which can be seen on the empty coffin in the room down the hall from the throne room.
 * Chara is implied to like chocolate, since only during the genocide route, when the player looks at the refrigerator in Asgore's home, "no chocolate" is said in red text. This is not seen in the Neutral and Pacifist routes.
 * While Asgore's home contains no chocolate, there is, however, a bar of chocolate in the fridge at Toriel's home in the Ruins. It is possible Toriel kept her fridge stocked with it in memory of Chara's tastes.
 * The Heart Locket found in Asgore's home is implied to have belonged to Chara as opposed to Asriel. When the player finds the Locket in a Genocide Route and equips it, text that says "right where it belongs" is shown.
 * Flowey had intended to use Frisk as a proxy to bring back Chara from the dead in order to fulfill their original plan.
 * Hints of this appear in the True Pacifist route. Prior to the final battle, during the phonecall Frisk gets before exiting the True Lab, Asriel commentates on his and Chara's plan finally coming together. Also, during the end of the final battle, Asriel states that he did not want to part with Chara again after so long.
 * A few more hints appear in the Genocide Route, as Flowey makes an alliance with Frisk, believing them to be possessed by Chara. Flowey wants to carry out a variation of their plan: rid all of the Underground of life, steal the six souls that Asgore collected, and - together with Frisk - destroy the Barrier; afterwards, Flowey intends to enjoy life on the surface with Chara. This plan comes back to haunt Flowey as he realizes that Chara intends to kill him.
 * Chara ironically resembles the more upbeat characters from EarthBound Beginnings (Mother), EarthBound (Mother 2) and Mother 3, while hiding underneath their appearance a wicked entity.
 * Within the game files, there are sprites of Frisk wearing Chara's shirt and pants, lacking a face but having shading under the eyes.
 * Chara and Frisk are both in Frisk's body, but Chara only awakens if the player kills enough. This is why the status screen says "Chara"; when Frisk kills, it is Chara who gets stronger. This can be seen as the player loses control over Frisk at the end of the genocide route. Presumably Chara entered Frisk's body when they fell onto Chara's grave (the flower bed).
 * It seems that the creepy expression that Chara makes in front of Asriel in one of the tapes is the same face that Frisk seemingly does to the Monster Kid. Flowey also mentions Chara making a "creepy face" in the Genocide Route and in one of the tapes in the True Lab, which could be similar to the face that they make in the jumpscare that happens if the player refuses to destroy the world.
 * At the True Lab, a machine with a red heart can be found inside it, and if Alphys is contacted at that location with the machine, Alphys will begin to describe what powers the machine, but she quickly ends the conversation before she reveals what source the machine uses for its function. Since Chara's soul was red, this makes the implication that the machine was powered by Chara's soul, which seems to have persisted long enough to be used as an energy source after Asriel died.