Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-32182236-20171027221948

Which Undertale themes and letmotifs belong to what has been a topic that's been discussed over for a long time, and now, I'm here to make an analysis on how exactly the rules for themes in Undertale work, and then hopefully settle once and for all what each letmotif is.

We're start with the ones we can all agree on, so we can properly figure out the rules, which we will use to settle the ones we haven't been agreeing on. Unimportant ones like "Unneccesary Tension" and "Uwa!", we won't go over here. Same thing for appearances which are pretty much exact clones, such as "Nyeh heh heh" appearing in Bonetrousle (duh). ("Bring it in, Guys!", is a theme I'll add in at the end.)


 * Your Best Friend->Flowey
 * This letmotif also appears in "But Nobdody Came", but slowed down. This makes sense, since Flowey is the one telling you it's kill or be killed. It also appears in "Your Best Nightmare" and "Finale", since you're fighting Flowey. "Your Best Nightmare" also contains its own letmotif, which I'll get to. So will this letmotif's other appearances.
 * Fallen Down->Toriel
 * Determination->Asgore
 * It appears in the theme literally called ASGORE. When you die, the theme appears, because you get a message from Asgore. It also strangely appears when you go to sleep at the inn... But, that's simply a pattern of snoring, it's likely a coincidence.
 * Heartbreak->Toriel
 * Seems Toriel has two themes! This serves as evidence that a character CAN have more than one letmotif-So we already debunked a misconception about letmotifs. It also appears in ASGORE.
 * sans.->Sans
 * If one listens closely, you can also hear this theme in "It's Raining Somewhere Else", which plays when you dine with Sans.
 * Nyeh heh heh!->Papyrus
 * Shows up in "Song that Might Play When You Fight Sans". Were you originally going to fight Sans directly after the death of Papyrus? Or could this have been for a Hard Mode where you fight the two brothers together? We can't figure out why Papyrus is in the song just yet, but there is a connection.
 * Dogsong->...Dogs. (Including the Annoying Dog)
 * From this, we can conclude that Enemy Approaching is a battle theme of monsters, and not Frisk's theme, as they share a letmotif.
 * Enemy Approaching->Monsters
 * Undyne->Undyne
 * Yes, a variation of it DOES appear in Spear of Justice and ASGORE. It also appears in "Dating Tense", for some reason...
 * Memory->Asriel
 * Appears in "Undertale" (Story of Asriel and Chara), and "Finale" (Flowey is Asriel).
 * Spooktune->Napstablook
 * Alphys->Alphys
 * Appears in "True Lab", "She's Playing Piano", and "Bird That Carries You Over A Disproportionately Small Gap". We don't know why the song plays in the latter two, though perhaps it plays in "She's Playing Piano" because you're dating Undyne, considering Alphys' relationship with her? I'm lost at the last one though-What are the odds that this bird was injected with determination?
 * Oh! One True Love!->Mettaton
 * Death by Glamour->Mettaton
 * Death by Glamour contains both "It's Showtime" and "Metal Crusher", so this is likely ONE theme of Mettaton. "It's Showtime" also exists in "Live Report". It also contains "Another Medium"-Which appears in "CORE" because the CORE is a part of Hotland. That's THREE leitmotifs for Mettaton.
 * Small Shock->Asgore's Castle
 * Bergentrückung->Asgore
 * You Idiot->Flowey
 * That makes three characters with multiple letmotifs. This also appears in "Premonition", likely because Sans indirectly alludes to Flowey (a talking flower) in the scene. It's also in "Burn in Despair", an Asriel theme.

So, now it's time to go over the not-so obvious ones-Ones not everyone seems to agree on. Let's start with the simplest one: Undertale.


 * Undertale->Asriel+Chara
 * Undertale tells the backstory of Asriel and Chara, and "Memory", Asriel's Theme, is combined with another theme to make this one. That other theme is...
 * Once Upon a Time->Chara
 * This theme appears a LOT. It appears in Home (Toriel's house, you're Toriel's child, sort of like Chara), Hotel (The fountain, and likely the hotel itself was built in 201X), Fallen Down Reprise, Hopes and Dreams (Also contains "Your Best Friend"-This is Asriel/Flowey's battle, about Chara-He thinks you're Chara and wants to play with you forever. Last Goodbye is similar-Asriel thinks of you as the friend he wanted, his TRUE best friend, like Chara once was...

Now, let's move on to the Ruins. You might think it just represents the Ruins, but there's more to this letmotif than that. It appears in several of Undyne's themes ("Run" and "Spear of Justice"), "An Ending", "Don't Give Up", "Respite", "But The Earth Refused To Die", and "Battle Against a True Hero". What do these themes have in common? They have to do with determination. Undyne's a very determined monster, determined to strike you down, "An Ending" happens at the end of a Neutral Route, and is where Frisk would reset with determination for a better ending. "Don't Give Up" is about Frisk not giving up, and staying determined! "But the Earth Refused to Die" and "Battle Against a True Hero" are Undyne's determination bringing her back to life! "Respite" shows monsters finally on the Surface, due to Frisk's determination. Therefore...
 * Ruins->Determination

"Ghost Fight" has a variation play for every miniboss, so it's more than likely simply a minboss theme.

Next up is Snowdin Town. It appears in "Dating Start!" "Confession", "Hopes and Dreams", and "Reunited". What do THESE have in common? They all have to do with friendship! Even Snowdin Town itself is a town of friends, playing "Monsters and Humans", trading presents..
 * Snowdin Town->Friendship


 * Song That Might Play When You Fight Sans->Sans+Papyrus
 * Like I said before, I don't quite know how Papyrus would have fit into the battle, but his letmotif is in this song.


 * ASGORE->Asgore+Toriel
 * "Heartache" appears here. During Asgore's battle, he does not wish to fight-He only feels like he must-He actually wants to see Asriel again, and reunite with Toriel.

Now it's time for the most talked-about and epic song of them all-Megalovania.

It's probably Sans' theme. We've debunked the misconceptions that characters can only have one leitmotif, and Spear of Justice still plays even though Undyne's the first to attack, so who attacks first doesn't seem to matter according to the rules. The entire theme is revolved around Sans finding ways to get you dunked on.

Now, let's bring it in, guys!

Said song is the culmination of your journey through the Underground. All of the themes have to do with this, from the enemies Frisk faced, to the skelebros, to traversing through Snowdin, encountering Undyne, and so on. After Asgore, it returns to "Once Upon a Time", bringing it all back to where the story once began. 