Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-27907368-20160528162922

Hey there, UndertaleFam! As I've become more familiar with the canonical lore, I've realized that there are contradictions and evidence to the contrary for nearly every source of information in game. I believe there's a point to it, and first I'll list some of the more important contradictions. There's a transcript list of lore on my blog. I will add more transcripts to the blog - maybe it merits a bookmark?

Given idea is first bullet, sub-bullet is contradictory point.

True Lab:

 * Human's "determination" is stored in their physical bodies.
 * Alphys extracted it from human SOULs.
 * Monsters melt because they aren't physical enough to handle "determination" in high doses.
 * Yeah, but it was extracted from human SOULs.

Ancient Glyphs

 * "But this cursed place has no entrances or exits. There is no way a human could come here."
 * Seven humans have fallen prior to the protagonist. There are a few entrances, including the Ruins and the Garbage Dump.
 * In the glyphs themselves: "Anything can enter through the seal, but only beings with a powerful SOUL can leave."
 * "However... There is a prophecy. The Angel... The One Who Has Seen The Surface... They will return. And the underground will go empty."
 * Didn't Gerson says this was before written time? Guess not.

Snowdin Library

 * Humans cannot use magic because of their physicality.
 * How did you get sealed Underground again?
 * Flowey uses magic, and he's a physical vessel.
 * Monsters are made of magic.
 * Perhaps true, but the glyphs tell us that monsters didn't have magic when navigating the glowing crystal room.
 * Most also have some physicality - dust. Ghosts are completely incorporeal.

Misc. "Monster History"

 * Human SOULs persist outside of their bodies after death. Monster SOULs don't.
 * The protagonist's doesn't for the majority of the game. Monster SOULs do during the barrier break scene - while the protagonist's is not seen.
 * The nature of the SOUL is unknown.
 * Preach it.

I believe these contradictions in lore (there's also a ton of character contradictions) may contribute to one of the central themes of Undertale: Life's what you make it. Monster can be enemies, they can be friends. You can determine how you're going to see the world around you because we all have a bit of Chara and Frisk within us. Nothing is certain, because life is told through the eyes of whomever is seeing it.

Let me know what you think! :D Cheers, luvs! 