Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-27907368-20160604051050

Hi there UndertaleFam! I hope you're doing fine and dandy. c: Alright, let's get to it.

There are many parallels in Undertale, whether there are recycled lines between characters, bits about the protagonist, or two characters fulfilling a similar role despite their differing personalities (looking at Sans and Flowey's judgement, on this one). I believe that, therefore, it is worthwhile to take a critical look at Asriel and "Frisk" in the epilogue.

First, let's look at the situation in which the protagonist names themselves "Frisk." I will use "Name" for the character name chosen at the beginning of the game.
 * Asriel: "I always was a crybaby, wasn't I, "Name"?"
 * "...I know."
 * "You're not actually "Name," are you?"
 * "Name's been gone for a long time."
 * "Um... what..."
 * "What IS your name?"

Alright, so if the protagonist was going to say "Name" before, they would be discouraged to do so after being told that they've been gone for a long time. This is a reasonable speculation; in this route, the protagonist has befriended all enemies and has an abundance of empathy. Let's follow Asriel to the flowerbed in the Ruins.

Asriel says that he can’t come back to see his parents because he doesn’t want to break their hearts again and would rather stay gone. What if the protagonist, fully aware that they are “Name,” uses this same logic? They don’t want to fight with Asriel when he returns because they know that they’re going to live on the Surface and that he may not be Asriel for a long time. After Asriel says that they’ve been gone a long time, “Name” may not want to reopen old wounds. Epilogue Asriel finally accepted his sibling’s death, something he never does as Flowey. Wouldn’t it be against the protagonist’s character to take this small solace away from him?

One last thought – why does the protagonist always choose “Frisk” as their name in TP? There are a few reasons I can think of. This may be the actual name of the first human, Asriel’s sibling. The naming screen may call “Chara” “the true name,” because the start of the game is before the protagonist self-actualizes. “Chara” is what they perceive as “character,” a neutral name that means they can either spare or fight their way through the Underground. It’s also a part of all protagonist overworld sprites in the game files. In “Name”’s Genocide dialogue, the name chosen is always between quotation marks alluding that, though this is what they’re being called, it’s not their actual name. They even put themselves akin to a feeling, not an individual with will of their own.
 * Every time a number increases, that feeling...
 * That's me.
 * “Name.”
 * Now.

The player can change the first human’s number an infinite number of times after a True Reset. True Resets affect all NPCs (including Flowey) as well as Geno “Name.” They don’t offer the second Geno iteration if a Geno, then TP, then Geno is completed. They change their name to whatever the player selected. This is because human memories of individuality are stored in the SOUL (think rebelling SOULs in Photoshop fight), and Geno “Name” never has their own. If you check out them slicing Asgore and Flowey, there’s no SOUL present at all.

The protagonist may identify as “Name” as this was the name that the being that reincarnated gave them and recognize that they have their own name, the name that no one knows anymore. The name of the human who gave hope to the monsters. In the words of someone who’s good with gray area:
 * Have you ever thought about a world where everything is exactly the same...
 * Except you don't exist?

Yep, scary stuff, Goner Kid. Scary stuff.

Did the first human really have whatever name the player chooses? Or do they remember who they truly are at the end of TP and know that the player erased their real name from history? Let me know what you think! I love theorizing and speculation! ^^ 