Napstablook

Napstablook (/ˈnæp.stə.ˌbluːk/) is a melancholic ghost monster and musician who lives in Waterfall. They are encountered in the Ruins as the game's first miniboss.

Appearance
Napstablook's design is that of a simple ghost, with a long white body, two eyes, and a mouth. Their sclera (the white part of the eye on a normal eye) is black with white pupils. They have a line going down their face between their eyes.

Personality
Napstablook is a very dour individual, with low self-esteem and an introverted attitude. Despite this, they are shown to be courteous to others, such as treating the protagonist as a guest in their home, and often blaming them self and apologizing for any inconveniences to be polite. Even if the protagonist previously attacked them in the Ruins on the Neutral Route, they will still treat the protagonist as a friend if the protagonist goes to their house. As seen in battle, Napstablook will cry during the fight. This shows that Napstablook may have some form of depression. This is backed up by his laziness, and not wanting to go anywhere.

Neutral Route
Napstablook is first found blocking the protagonist's path in the Ruins, pretending to be asleep. If the protagonist cheers them up, they will thank the protagonist for being so friendly and then leave. If the protagonist fights Napstablook, they will admit that they were lowering their HP to be polite, and awkwardly leave.

If the protagonist did not fight Napstablook, they'll appear in the center-bottom basement room of the Ruins' six-holed puzzle room. They will say, "i fell down a hole... now i can't get up... go on without me... wait, ghosts can fly, can't they... oh well..." They fade away afterward, presumably to return to their house in Waterfall (It is notable that a monster says elsewhere that it is said that only spiders and ghosts can travel in and out of the Ruins.)

Napstablook does not appear again until much later when the protagonist is fighting the Mad Dummy in the Waterfall's Garbage Dump; they interrupt the fight by crying on the Dummy until they run away. (It is notable that Mad Dummy compares it to acid rain, which may explain why Napstablook's tears hurt the protagonist.) Napstablook apologizes for breaking up the "fun" the protagonist was having and welcomes the protagonist into their house, which is just east of Undyne's house. From this point on, Napstablook wears headphones.

Napstablook's house is adjacent to what is implied to be Mettaton's house, which can be unlocked with the Mystery Key sold by Bratty and Catty. In their house, the protagonist can listen to their music, and they will say that they are working on a mix CD. Napstablook offers the protagonist a ghost sandwich to eat, but they are unable to eat it and phase through it. After this, Napstablook suggests that the two lie on the floor and feel like garbage together, as this is a family tradition. If the protagonist lies down for a while, the music and background will change into relaxing space scenery. However, if the protagonist refuses, Napstablook will exit the house through the rightward wall and will not return until the protagonist leaves.

Napstablook has three playable CDs: "Spooktune", "Spookwave", and "Ghouliday". If any of the CDs are playing when the protagonist leaves Napstablook's house, an event can be triggered, in which Aaron and Woshua are encountered but are turned off from fighting due to the frightening music. This event is the only way to achieve the yellow text for Aaron in the True Pacifist Ending Credits. The music abruptly stops after entering the area where Undyne's house is located, entering Napstablook's snail farm, returning to the Garbage Dump, or continuing East to the rest of Waterfall.

East of Napstablook's house is a snail farm owned by their family, where Napstablook can also be found. Napstablook used to work with their cousins at the farm before their cousins left to gain corporeal forms, making Napstablook the last remaining worker. Here, the protagonist can play Thundersnail.

Later during Mettaton's fight, Napstablook is the first viewer to call and express their gratitude for the program, saying they watch it all the time.

True Pacifist Route
In the True Pacifist Route epilogue, Napstablook is seen outside their house with Mettaton, having been recruited as the celebrity's sound mixer. They reveal that they were not absorbed by Asriel because when the light of Asriel knocked on their door, they just closed the blinds and continued mixing music. As a result, they initially didn't learn Frisk's name. In the credits, Napstablook is seen on tour with Mettaton and Shyren.

Genocide Route
If the protagonist has killed all of the possible monsters before their encounter, Napstablook will simply fade away when the protagonist approaches. Later on, Napstablook does not intervene in the Mad Dummy fight as they normally would; instead, the scene ends on its own. However, the protagonist can hang out with Napstablook as normal if all encounters in the area have not yet been exhausted.

In Battle

 * See /In Battle.

Name
Napstablook's name sounds like "Napster bloke". Napster is a defunct peer-to-peer file-sharing service that focused on sharing music files. This term references Napstablook's computer being on a "music-sharing forum" and their general affinity for music. "Dapper Blook" is a play on the phrase "dapper bloke," which is a British phrase referring to a sharply-dressed person (usually male). "Blook" may also derive from "spook."

Napstablook's name could also reference the protagonist's first encounter with them. In the Ruins, Napstablook is found sleeping directly in the protagonist's path, with no other way around them. That is - Napstablook naps to block you.

Because Napstablook's name can be broken into nap-stab-look, this could have been the inspiration for their tear attacks. This would fit the creator's informal use of words in his humor.

Naming the Fallen Child "Napsta" or "Blooky" will prompt the message "............ (They're powerless to stop you.)" and allows the name to be chosen.

Trivia

 * Mad Dummy's fight implies Napstablook's tears feel like or are composed of acid rain.
 * Napstablook, along with the Dummy, are the only enemies in Hard Mode that don't change in difficulty, due to missing a memo regarding Hard Mode.
 * As Napstablook is a ghost, they may allude "ghost producers"; composers who sell their works to people who can then claim them as their own.
 * A nod to this could be the fact that "Dummy!" and "Spider Dance" share a similar structure to "Ghost Fight", and are in fact remixes of it.
 * Killing Napstablook makes the protagonist "lose 1 experience point", leaving EXP unaffected. Because of this, it does not ruin a Pacifist playthrough.
 * This also serves as a hint to new players that experience points are not the same as EXP.
 * Sparing Napstablook will not abort a Genocide playthrough.

Napstablook Napstablook Napstablook Напстаблук Napstablook Напстаблук