Asgore Dreemurr

King Asgore Dreemurr (/ˈæzɡɔər ˈdriːmər/ AZ-gore DREE-murr ) is the ruler of the Underground and its denizens, monsters. He is the ex-husband of Toriel, father of Asriel Dreemurr, adoptive father of the first human, and the penultimate boss of the Neutral Route. While not necessarily evil or malicious, he serves as one of the main antagonists, scheming to kill seven humans and use their SOULs to break the barrier which traps the monsters in the Underground.

Appearance
Asgore is a Boss Monster with broad shoulders, a golden mane and beard, and two large curved horns. He wears a suit of armor, a purple cape with golden pauldrons, and a crown on top of his head; he also sports an intimidating stature. The weapon he uses in battle is a long, red trident adorned with a flower.

Personality
Asgore is a kind monster that enjoys gardening, Golden Flower Tea, and Toriel's Butterscotch Pie. Before his battle, he offers the protagonist many opportunities to explore the Underground and is reluctant to fight them at all; he even suggests that Toriel, the protagonist and himself live as a family if the protagonist spares him.

Monsters in the Underground look to Asgore for hope and see his plan to collect seven human SOULs as one of the few things that keep them going. However, Asgore does not want to kill anybody and feels so guilty that he offers the protagonist his SOUL to "leave this cursed place." Though he is miserable because he has killed humans, he feels that it is his duty to his people to battle the protagonist.

Asgore lives in the past and wants nothing more than to see his wife and child again, even though they have been gone for a long time. He reiterates the same phrase in his journal every day, perhaps in denial that life has changed since Asriel's demise.

Monsters also note that he is bad at naming places and names locations quite literally, and Gerson suggests this may be because Asgore is not the most intellectual monster.

Main Story
King Asgore and Queen Toriel ruled the Underground for millennia after humans sealed monsters Underground upon their defeat during the war. Toriel and Asgore later had a son, Asriel, and adopted the first human to fall into the Ruins.

The tragedy of his children's deaths led Asgore to declare war on humanity in a fit of anger. He swore to kill any human that fell into the Underground and planned to use their SOULs to break the barrier and destroy all humans. Toriel, disgusted with him, left New Home and returned to the Ruins.

Before the protagonist fell into the Underground, six more humans fell; one way or another, they all died and Asgore saved their SOULs for future use.

Neutral Route
Asgore greets the protagonist when they arrive in the Throne Room, as he was watering flowers. He comforts them as he brings them to the barrier, where he gives them a chance to turn back if they have anything left to do before the fight. Asgore does not mind the delay, admitting that he is not ready either.

Fighting Asgore is the only way to progress to the ending. Most characters in the game refer to him in capitals and in red or yellow text.

Before fighting, Asgore tells the protagonist that it was nice knowing them. He then draws a trident and destroys the MERCY button, possibly to weaken the protagonist worsening their chances of winning or to prevent the protagonist from sparing him and shattering the hope of monsters, another theory is that he thinks he doesn't deserve mercy. Much like with Toriel, attacking Asgore when he is at low HP will deal significantly greater damage. However, he survives the attack with a small amount of health remaining and kneels in defeat, talking to the protagonist about his declaration of war against humanity, admitting that he only wanted to give the monsters hope by continuing the war, and asks them to take his SOUL.

The protagonist is given the choice of killing Asgore by selecting the FIGHT button or sparing him by choosing the damaged MERCY button. If the protagonist had already completed a Neutral Route run beforehand, and in that run had killed Flowey, and chooses to spare Asgore again; Asgore begins to mention that he would care for the protagonist, but stops himself, realizing that his soul holds the key to getting the protagonist through the barrier. After telling the protagonist that it was what his son, Asriel Dreemurr, would have wanted, he sacrifices himself to give the protagonist his soul, hoping that they will find some way to free the monsters from the surface. Asgore then fades to dust, his soul remaining for a moment, only to be destroyed by Flowey, who mocks the protagonist for thinking that killing him would have made a difference.
 * If the protagonist kills Asgore, he dies smiling. Before the protagonist can take his SOUL and pass through the barrier, Flowey shatters Asgore's soul. He tells the protagonist they finally realized that this is a "kill-or-be-killed" world.
 * If Asgore is spared, Asgore is surprised that the protagonist would choose to remain in the Underground and offers to take care of them. Flowey appears and finishes Asgore off, both body and soul. He then mocks the protagonist that they still failed to learn that this is a "kill-or-be-killed" world.

Either way, Flowey steals the six human souls that were revealed before the fight, closes the game, and the protagonist proceeds to deal with Flowey. After Flowey's defeat, the protagonist proceeds to leave the Underground. Asgore's death has a grave impact on the monsters.

True Pacifist Route
When combat with Asgore begins, it is interrupted by Toriel, who states how awful it is that he could seek to hurt an innocent creature such as the protagonist. This is also the same text used when she interrupts Flowey at the beginning of the game. She also hits Asgore the same way. She then explains her reason for the interruption is to prevent both Asgore and the protagonist from killing each other to let either of them pass, as it is what she has been trying to do. While Asgore is ecstatic to see Toriel again, she chastises him for his plan to collect souls, arguing that he could've gone through the Barrier after collecting one soul, but instead chose to wait and hope another human never came. After that, Undyne, Alphys, Papyrus, and Sans arrive and begin conversing, until Flowey appears.

During the fight against Asriel, Asgore appears as one of the Lost Souls alongside Toriel. After the fight, he can be conversed with along with the other main characters. He is then seen in the epilogue, where he asks the protagonist if they would become the ambassador for monsters to humanity on the surface. Asgore also appears during the True Pacifist Ending Credits, trimming a hedge to the shape of Papyrus's face in front of Toriel's new school.

Genocide Route
When the protagonist reaches the throne room, Asgore, who was told by Flowey about their arrival, doesn't recognize the protagonist as a human, asking them what kind of monster they are. The protagonist forcefully initiates combat and depletes his entire health bar with a single blow. Flowey then returns to land the final hit and destroys his SOUL.

Toriel
Toriel is Asgore's ex-wife. Before they separated, they used to be "insufferable together, nuzzling noses, bein' all cute n' cuddly," as described by Gerson. The two ultimately fell apart after the deaths of their children and Asgore's declaration of war on humanity.

After Toriel's departure, it seems that Asgore greatly missed her presence. A "Room under renovations" sign is put on her room door in Asgore's Home, and multiple crumpled up pie recipes imply that Asgore attempted to recreate the way her pies tasted, though he could never truly replicate it. This is the inverse of Toriel continuously making her pie and only having low-maintenance plants in her home. This is further supported by his reaction to the protagonist eating Toriel's butterscotch-cinnamon pie during Asgore's battle. After being defeated, he tells the protagonist he just wants to see his wife and child again.

When Toriel interrupts the battle between Asgore and the protagonist, she chastises him for his plan to collect human souls, and even turns him down when he asks her if they can be friends again, which makes him very sad. However, after the fight against Asriel, where their souls are saved as one, her aggression towards him seems to cool down.

In the True Pacifist Ending, Asgore can be seen trimming the bushes in front of Toriel's school. It is unknown if they have worked things out and gotten back together, or just remain as friends.

Undyne
When Undyne was younger, she met Asgore in person and challenged him to fight. After Asgore had defeated Undyne several times, he offered to train her. When she finally knocked him down, Asgore was overjoyed, much to the surprise of Undyne. Asgore kept training Undyne until she became the head of the Royal Guard.

Undyne has knowledge of Asgore's favorite type of tea, and the fact that he often gets marshmallows stuck in his beard when he drinks hot cocoa, implying that he often visits her home.

Asriel
Asriel was Asgore's biological son. Asgore loved him dearly, equally as much as he did the first human. Asriel's habit of using words such as "howdy" and "golly" likely came from his father, as did, potentially, his lack of naming skills, having dubbed his flower form "Flowey".

Chara
Chara was Asgore's adoptive child, whom he loved just as much as Asriel. It is implied Chara made the "Mr. Dad Guy" sweater for Asgore. Asgore considered Chara "The future of humans and monsters", as is repeated in the Game Over text and VHS tape of Chara's death, and may even have believed them to be the Angel of the prophecy, as he also states he thinks the protagonist is the Angel immediately after noting they and Chara have "The same feeling of hope in [their] eyes".

Trivia

 * His first name is an anagram of the Latin word "Aegros", which can mean troublesome, anxious, sad, difficult, or reluctant. His last name is an anagram of "murderer". His full name is also an anagram of "Sage or Murderer" or "Guarder Remorse" (which could be a reference to him guarding the monsters, and feeling remorse for murdering human children). Also, Asgore is similar to the old Norse name Asgeirr, meaning "God Spear". This may be a reference to the large trident he wields in battle.
 * When attempting to name the fallen child "Asgore," the response becomes "You cannot." and prevents the name from being used.
 * During Asgore's boss battle, he conceals his face by looking downward, showing his reluctance to fight. He is genuinely unable to force himself to look at the protagonist, his attacks are all over the place, and vaguely pointed at the protagonist's direction. Even when he backs out for the swipe attack, he is not actually looking at the protagonist.
 * Another interpretation of this sprite is a menacing grin.
 * It is possible that Asgore is the Santa Claus of the Underground that leaves presents under the tree in Snowdin.
 * Asgore cannot age until his child has grown up to a few years younger in appearance and actual age than the parent. However, since Asgore's son, Asriel, is dead, Asgore cannot age.
 * When saving the Lost Souls, the ACTs for Asgore's SOUL are references to the boss battle in the Neutral Route (Mercy, Stare, Talk) which never took place in that timeline.
 * Asgore's voice can be heard in the Game Over screen, and when the protagonist goes back to sleep in Toriel's Home after sparing her, killing her, or going to sleep enough times. The lines seen here were spoken to the first human on their deathbed.
 * Strangely enough, Asgore's overworld sprite is seen with part of the Delta Rune on it, while his battle sprite doesn't.
 * Asgore has attempted to make the Underground safer.