Neutral Route

The Neutral Route is one of the three primary routes in Undertale, and one that the majority of players should see on their first playthrough. In this route, the final boss is Photoshop Flowey, though after playing enough times, Flowey will only destroy Asgore's soul and his fight will be skipped.

Method
The Neutral Ending is what the player will see if they are on a True Pacifist Route, or have failed to complete the True Pacifist Route or the Genocide Route. To see this ending, the player has killed some of the enemies but not all of them or has not completed the True Lab in the True Pacifist Route.

There are many versions of this ending all starting with Sans calling the player's Cell Phone and leaving a message telling the player of the Underground's fate. However, the structure of the phone call is based upon the actions that the player has taken throughout the game.

Neutral Route Epilogue
In all of the neutral route endings, Asgore dies, Flowey is defeated, the six human souls are lost, and protagonist escapes the Underground while the monsters remain trapped behind the barrier. After the lackluster credits of the Neutral Route, Sans will call the player's Cell Phone to leave a message.

The phone call will then branch into their respective ending.

Toriel Ending

 * Requirements: The player did not kill Toriel.

Toriel has returned to her throne to rule over the underground and has instated a new policy to treating every human who falls into the underground as friends instead of enemies. This ending then branches into three different endings which are the "Family Ending", the "Betrayed Undyne Ending", and the "Exiled Queen Ending".

Family Ending

 * Requirements: The player has befriended Papyrus and Undyne, and has not killed anyone.

Even though the souls have disappeared and people are heartbroken over Asgore's death, Toriel tells the inhabitants of not lose hope even though the atmosphere is pretty grim. Sans also tells the player to not to give up either.

Papyrus then joins the call to mention that he became "Captain of the Royal Guard" except now he's the only member of the Royal Guards and they doesn't do any actual fighting, just water plants. He mentions that Undyne quits her job to become Alphys's lab assistant. Additionally, Undyne mentions that Toriel has appointed her as the gym teacher of her new school and talks about how she can bench-press seven children.


 * If the player has not dated Alphys: Undyne mentions that Alphys is even more reclusive than normal and that it seems like something was bothering her, potentially the death of Asgore, but Undyne has hope that she can get through it since that's what friends are for. Undyne then hopes that everything is better where they are since it took a lot of sacrifice for the player to get there. She then tells the player that they have to try to be happy for their sakes.
 * If the player has dated Alphys: Undyne forces Alphys into the call. Alphys mentions that she hates to talk on the phone again, mentions that Toriel is cute and that Mettaton is doing fine. She then says that she's trying to work on alternative ways to escape the underground, but she has no idea what she's doing. She also mentions that Toriel actually checks if she's actually doing anything.

Whoever's left on the phone tries to ask Toriel if they want to talk, but she's busy. Papyrus and Sans joke about if Toriel knew they were talking to the player that they wouldn't get the phone back for a few hours and that they have the " MERCY TO SPARE YOU FROM HER ". Undyne, and Alphys if she was dragged into the call, then suggests to call back anytime as she'd love to talk. The call ends with Sans mentioning that the phone is low on battery and everyone saying farewell.

Betrayed Undyne Ending

 * Requirements: The player did not befriend Undyne, killed less than ten monsters, or killed Mettaton.

Toriel tries her best to tell the inhabitants of the Underground to not give up even though their situation is pretty grim. Sans also tells the player that they shouldn't give up either. Papyrus then joins in and takes over.

Papyrus states that Undyne has it rough since she lost her job and her house, then says that Sans and Papyrus is taking care of her now. Sans has hired her at his illegal hot dog stand in Hotland except Undyne hates working there. The rest of the phone call branches into three different paths depending on what the player has done. Befriending Undyne will simply cause Undyne to hate you more than ever since you betrayed her trust and killed someone.


 * If the player has killed some monsters or did not befriend Undyne: Undyne simply blames the player for Asgore's death. Papyrus mentions that she has a plan to cross the barrier and beat the player up. Papyrus thinks her plan is impossible, but also hopes that it isn't since it would mean meeting with the player again even if it does mean fighting them. Papyrus then says to keep your fingers crossed and to keep in touch to make their plans easier.
 * If the player killed Mettaton regardless of befriending Undyne or not: Undyne is devastated since Asgore and Alphys is gone. She says things like "I couldn't protect her" and it's hard to get her to do anything. Papyrus suggests that she goes after the player to get revenge but Undyne says "Revenge won't bring anybody back." Of course, Papyrus is unaware of their deaths, so he tells the player to bring her friends back since Undyne isn't doing so well.
 * If the player has befriended Undyne and only killed Asgore: Undyne hates herself for becoming friends with the player. She feels hurt, betrayed, and angry at herself. She doesn't understand why she let herself become friends with you. She says that she knew what humans were like but failed to resist becoming friends, because of her mistake more people got hurt. Papyrus then suggests the player to " PROBABLY NEVER COME BACK HERE " since Undyne would destroy them and even the queen can't stop her.

The call ends with Papyrus saying goodbye (forever, if Undyne was befriended) to the player.

Exiled Queen Ending

 * Requirements: The player has also killed ten monsters, Papyrus, or Undyne.

Toriel's new policy was met with severe backlash since the player has killed Papyrus, Undyne, or countless monsters in the underground so a rebellion was formed to overthrow the queen.


 * If Undyne was left alive: Undyne gets enraged that Asgore was killed, and if Mettaton is killed, Alphys was implied to have commited suicide, that she spearheaded the revolutions and banished Toriel back into the ruins. Sans comments that Undyne seems to be more vehement about destroying humanity than Asgore was.
 * If Undyne was killed: Toriel just peacefully resigns and returns back into the ruins after hearing about the rebellion causing the underground to become an uneasy and hopeless anarchy.

Sans mentions that he decided to accompany Toriel when she returned to the ruins and brought her books from the library in Snowdin so that she doesn't have to read the same ones.


 * If Papyrus was left alive: Papyrus also accompanies Toriel in the ruins and even play games with her. Both Papyrus and Sans have also convinced Toriel to leave the ruins sometimes, as long as either of them stay behind and keep watch for humans. Papyrus says that he loves to stand in for the queen and is practicing to become a great mom when they come. Sans ends the call hoping "things are better " where they are.
 * If Papyrus was killed: Sans calls Toriel a good roommate and mentions how she sometimes talk about how they'd like to see the player again. Sans doesn't have the heart to tell Toriel that you killed Papyrus because she protected you, then ends the call with "never come back here. you are not welcome. "

Undyne Ending

 * Requirements: The player has killed Toriel but has not killed Undyne.

Undyne becomes the ruler of the underground and enforces a policy to destroy all humans who enter. She plans to wage war on humanity, has militarized the underground, and personally plans to destroy the player. Sans mentions not being able to reach Toriel and implies that he believes you killed her as well. If Papyrus is also dead, Sans warns you to watch yourself as "things are lookin real bad for you. "

However, if Papyrus is alive and befriended, Papyrus will interrupt the call and tell the player that Undyne has appointed Papyrus to "The Most Important Royal Position" which is basically a figurehead position where he stands around and looks cute, but he's proud of it. Papyrus says that you should come and visit, though also says that Undyne will probably kill them if they do, but says that they should risk it.

Whether or not you kill Mettaton has no effect on the dialogue of this ending.

Mettaton Ending

 * Requirements: The player has killed Toriel and Undyne, but has not killed Mettaton.

Mettaton becomes ruler of the underground since Undyne disappeared, and establishes a dystopian society in which he brainwashes the entire underground with his television show. Sans mentions that he became his agent and then hands over the phone to Mettaton.

Mettaton establishes a policy on humanity that any human that falls down can join his fan club for free. He says that he was going to apologize to Alphys and ask her to help him rule, but she disappeared, so he built a statue of her. Mettaton then asks you to think of him always and ends the phone call there.

If Papyrus is alive and befriended, he then joins the call to mention that he has become Mettaton's second agent and says that things have gotten a lot better since you came (minus the fact that everything sucks and anyone who doesn't worship Mettaton goes missing), but misses Undyne and asks you to say hi if you see her.

Papyrus Ending

 * Requirements: The player has killed Toriel, Undyne, and Mettaton but has not killed Papyrus.

By process of elimination, Papyrus became the ruler of the underground, though Sans does most of the work. Papyrus is told by Sans that Asgore, Alphys, Mettaton and Undyne are on vacation. The underground is generally improving: productivity is up, Papyrus cooks everyone spaghetti. The human policy instituted is that humans cannot be judged to be all good or all bad. Either way, they get puzzles.

Dog Ending

 * Requirements: The player has only killed Toriel, Undyne, Mettaton, and Papyrus.

A small, white dog becomes the president of the Underground. The dog sleeps on the throne and does absolutely nothing. Strangely, this is the best life for everyone. Oddly enough, Sans does not mention you killing Papyrus in this phone call.

Leaderless Ending (No Mercy)

 * Requirements: The player has killed Toriel, Undyne, Mettaton, Papyrus, and various monsters.

The underground is leaderless, and less crowded. Things have gotten pretty bad. The mood is somber, and people feel as if they're just going to die in the underground, trapped in the dark. Sans says he's not the ruler because he's not cut out for something like that, and he likes to take it easy (which is a joke; he says this is what happens when people like him take it easy). Sans then tells you to "go to hell. " If less than 20 non-boss monsters were killed, Sans says "see ya. " instead.

Alphys Ending (Near Genocide)

 * Requirements: The player has killed Undyne the Undying, then aborted the Genocide Route in Hotland.

The player does not encounter Alphys since she has evacuated everyone else in the underground to somewhere safe, this place is presumed to be the True Laboratory. She calls the player to tell them that she has finally gained self-confidence and realized that she had to do something after hearing Undyne the Undying's last words.

The remaining monsters treated her as a hero and elected her to become the new ruler of the underground. She says that she's trying her best but then goes on about how she misses Asgore, Undyne, and Mettaton. She ends the call wishing that she killed the player back when she had the chance.

Impossible Ending (Dirty Hacker)

 * Requirements: The player has somehow met none of the above requirements or has hacked the game.

Sans, while Dogsong plays in background, says that they have no idea what the player has done to get this ending so he tells the player that the call is an error-handling message then goes on to says to contact the developer so they can fix the game or add another ending to the game. Sans then calls the player "a dirty hacker " and tells them to "get outta here. "

Trivia

 * If you reset or abort the route at any point in the Genocide Route and then complete the Neutral Route, Flowey will talk to you after the phone call. He complains that you abandoned the progress the two of you made during the Genocide route, before realizing that you only reset to "mess around" and says that he'll be "waiting for you" after you're done.