Lancer

Lancer is a Darkner child from Card Kingdom. He is one of the main characters in Deltarune.
In Chapter 1, he initially serves as the secondary antagonist, attempting to destroy the party before they can reach the Eastern Fountain and seal it, but he ultimately befriends the party and joins them.
In Chapter 2, he enters the party's inventory, allowing him to visit the Cyber World with them.
== Profile ==
=== Appearance ===
Lancer is a short and chubby black, blue, and white Darkner with a teardrop-shaped head and blue spade symbol on his body. The upper half of his face is hidden by a large, spade-shaped shadow. He has a large mouth and a prominent blue tongue that he usually sticks out.
According to Kris, it is difficult to tell Lancer's body from his clothes. For example, it isn't clear if Lancer is wearing clothes, or if that's his natural appearance.
=== Personality ===
Lancer is very childish and generally immature in his behavior and speech. He delivers his lines with a near-constant smile on his face. He is easily preoccupied with childish games and pursuits and likes hiding things and irritating people. He generally assumes that the party naively follows instructions on signs he writes. He has a poor sense of direction and gets lost in mazes quite easily. He can be easily intimidated by strong enemies like King Round, although he remains calm and jovial while doing so.
Lancer values and idolizes his father, King. He tries to project a tough facade in imitation of him, hoping to be designated "son of the month," and caring for his father's well-being and approval despite being neglected. Aware that his father's subjects don't like him and only put up with him due to King's orders, he seeks real friendship and gradually becomes an ally to the party despite his initially hostile role.
== Main Story ==
=== Chapter 1 ===
Lancer's first appearance is as a dark silhouette, glimpsed a few times as he follows Kris's journey through the ?????? region. After Kris reunites with Susie, Lancer attacks them both, flinging a large number of spades at them until they escape.
Lancer properly reveals himself in Castle Town by ramming his bike into Ralsei, who had just introduced The Prophecy to Kris and Susie. A brief battle ensues, in which Kris and Susie can either attack him, knocking him off-screen when his HP reaches 0, or prolong the battle so that his bike "runs out of fuel" and he leaves to get home before dinner.
Lancer appears repeatedly throughout the Field leaving numerous written signs intended to mislead and warn the party. Towards the end of the Field, Susie becomes tired of his childish attitude and decides to scare him and teach him how to really be threatening – Lancer however takes it as friendly criticism and begins to think of her as a role model. Later while crossing the Great Board, Lancer reveals that he has put Susie's lesson to practice with an intimidating laugh, as he threatens to smash the party into blood, before asking Susie if it was scary, endearing her to him in the process.
At the end of the Great Board, Lancer is too afraid of a C. Round to cross past it into the Forest, and the party has to defeat it for him. Ralsei gently admonishes Susie for making the fight harder with her attacks and asks her to stop fighting enemies. Susie is annoyed by this and decides to be a bad guy, joining Lancer's side. The two proceed to try and thwart the party, which is only made up of Kris and Ralsei, throughout the Forest. This includes selling the party a cookie to fund their own downfall and getting them to design a weapon to "thrash your own ass."
Susie and Lancer eventually build the designed weapon out of junk but decide to blow it up as mockery and then fight the party themselves. Kris and Ralsei win this fight by either persuading Lancer to no longer fight, or by injuring Lancer to the point that Susie becomes concerned for him. Susie decides to rejoin the party at this point. Lancer also "joins the party," although in practice he merely tags along from a small distance.
Shortly thereafter, however, Lancer becomes concerned about the possibility of the party fighting King. Fearful of either the party killing his father, or his father killing the party, Lancer flees back into Card Castle. When the main party is subdued by Rudinn Rangers while chasing him, Lancer steps in and has them imprisoned rather than being executed. He elects to have them kept in the dungeon "for eternity," reasoning that it will prevent King and the party from killing each other. Susie breaks out of her cell and confronts Lancer on his seeming betrayal, and the two fight until it becomes apparent that neither wants to hurt the other. Susie swears to Lancer that she and the other Heroes don't have to hurt King, and Lancer runs off, relieved. He goes to the roof of Card Castle and attempts to soften his dad up in advance.
When the party ascends Card Castle and finally meets King, Lancer is in the process of explaining the situation. However, upon seeing the party, King becomes furious and tells Lancer that he has failed in his mission and that the Lightners are "scum." Lancer disagrees, and King holds him up in a rage, threatening to drop him off the parapet of the castle to make the Lightners bow down to him. Lancer then betrays his dad by attacking him with a spade projectile from his back and allows Lancer to flee, leaving the party to fight King.
At the end of the fight, if the party has never defeated a Darkner through fighting, Lancer saves them by overthrowing King: he storms in with a large number of Darkner troops and locks King in the prison cell in Card Castle. He then becomes the new King of the Dark World, leaving the other three Kings still locked away.
However, if the party had hurt Darkners, Susie puts the King to sleep and apologizes to Lancer for hurting him. Lancer forgives her and tells her that the Darkners are not happy with them and they have to get out.
=== Chapter 2 ===
It's revealed that the part of the Dark World with Lancer's kingdom turned back into a normal classroom when the fountain was sealed, turning everyone in it, including Lancer, into board/card game pieces. When Kris brought the pieces into Ralsei's kingdom, the pieces turned back into Darkners, including Lancer, who shares a reunion with Susie. If the player had beaten up any enemies in Chapter 1 (discounting Jevil, King, or Lancer himself), he says that he used his authority to pardon the party's crimes. He runs a shop where he sells Lancer Cookies for free, but claims to require "regenerating" for him to sell another one. He later joins Kris in the Light World, along with Rouxls Kaard and (if found in Chapter 1) Starwalker, by becoming a key item.
Whilst in the Library Dark World, he merely says a few quotes depending on the location of the party, and if he's used, he makes splatting noises. After receiving Queen's Mixtape, he eats it and plays it when viewed in Kris's pocket.
When trapped in a cell in Queen's Mansion, Kris lets Lancer out and he overloads the system by ordering 999 shovels, allowing the party to escape. Unfortunately, he becomes ill soon after, alarming Susie, who promptly carries him on her back until they meet up again with Ralsei. However, the healing is proven to be fruitless, as he turns into a stone statue soon after. Ralsei explains that Darkners are sustained by the Dark Fountains of their own worlds and that in other worlds, they eventually transform into statues. The exception is Castle Town, as its Dark Fountain is made of pure darkness and can sustain Darkners from any world.
During the Snowgrave Route, Lancer simply remains asleep until eventually turning into a statue while still in the inventory. After getting back into Castle Town, he remains in Kris's pocket.
==== Item Flavor Text ====
* Hohoho! ROUXLS jumped out of your pocket! How dadcrobatic! (Lesser) [After first entering the Cyber World]
* Hohoho! That game looked fun! Let me be the stool next! [After playing the arcade game with Queen]
* Sounded like milk out there. Splat! Were you three osmosing without me!? [After the Sweet Cap'n Cakes fight]
* We fell! But don't worry. I'm a strong boy. I won't be trounced by a mere bounce! [After falling into the Trash Zone]
* Split up? We'll solve this mystery fast! You? You can be the un-talking dog. [After splitting up from Susie and Ralsei to explore Cyber City]
* Ho-ho! A soft cream is following you! Can we make them a bad guy? [After Noelle joins the party]
* That golden statue... Could it be... The illusory nipple technique!? [After seeing Berdly's golden statue]
* Wow! Thanks for the free sample! I couldn't eat another bite!! [After buying free sample shoes in Cyber shoes II]
* The bluebird of crappiness. Fly high bluebird, fly high. [After Berdly's second fight]
* Did I miss something? I was doing my calisthetics. Stay handsome. [After Spamton's fight]
* Hey! Thanks for the tape! I was hungry! Push my tummy to hear a cool song! [After obtaining Queen's Mixtape. Using Lancer now plays a snippet of the mixtape instead of a splat noise]
* Hoho! It's me, Lancer! Release me and I will release you! [While trapped in a cell in Queen's Mansion]
* (Innocent boys are fast asleep.) [Snowgrave Route: After obtaining the Freeze Ring. Lancer's sprite now shows him sleeping.]
* A stone statue. Strangely, it looks like Lancer... [Snowgrave Route: After entering Queen's Mansion. Lancer's sprite now shows him frozen in stone, and using him plays the same noise as when he turns into a statue in the normal route.]
* Hoho! What a terrific boy's adventure. Time to kick off my feet and relax... [After re-entering Castle Town]
* Oo la la! Who is that handsome mustachioed boy! I think I'm in love! [While inside the Top Bakery with Chef Lancer]
* (huff, puff) There, I got back into your pocket! Now you can use my power! [While in the same room as Lancer in Castle Town]
=== Chapter 3 ===
It's been shown that Lancer will once again make an appearance in Chapter 3.https://toby.fangamer.com/updates/quests/
=== Chapter 4 ===
Similarly, Lancer is confirmed to appear in Chapter 4 as well, and will interact with Susie.https://toby.fangamer.com/newsletters/holiday24/
== In Battle ==
=== Attacks ===
==== Castle Town Battle ====
* Lancer moves up and down on the right side of the Bullet Board. After a bit, he honks and does a wheelie, charging forward.
* Lancer charges across the bottom of the Bullet Board, then returns from above the Bullet Board, shooting spade-shaped projectiles at Kris's SOUL.
==== Forest Battle ====
* Susie jumps on top of Lancer. Then, Lancer jumps over the top of the Bullet Board while Susie launches ax projectiles that travel towards the right of the Bullet Board.
* Summons spade projectiles at random locations at the top of the screen which travel downward through the Bullet Board.
* If Susie is put to sleep, Lancer uses the attacks from the first encounter.
==== Card Castle Battle ====
* Summons spade projectiles at random locations at the top of the screen which travel downward through the Bullet Board.
* Summons spade projectiles from the sides of the Bullet Board.
* After three turns have passed, he launches spade projectiles from the top of the screen that actively avoid the SOUL. This attack gradually decreases in intensity until the end of the fight.
=== Strategy ===
==== Castle Town Battle ====
Lancer cannot be spared, but escapes from the battle at the end of turn 4, ending the fight. Choosing to FIGHT Lancer every turn can knock him away by turn 3 when combined with Susie's automatic attacks; this does not affect the ending. Lancer, like other enemies, can be warned of Susie's attacks, which allows him to dodge them. Lancer can be complimented using the Compliment ACT, which lowers his attack to 4 the first time it is used, raises it back to 5 the second time (as Lancer sees it as insincere), and does not affect it afterwards, while internally raising his MERCY by 20% the first three times. However, there is no other way to increase MERCY further and spare Lancer until he automatically escapes.
==== Forest Battle ====
* Lancer fights alongside Susie. Susie recovers shortly after being knocked down, and cannot be spared or Pacified as Lancer blocks Pacify attempts using his bike. To end the fight, the party must FIGHT or use the Anything (or X-Anything) ACT on Lancer.
** If Susie is awake, the party cannot use the final ACT as Susie blocks the soundwaves from reaching Lancer. To put her to sleep, the party must FIGHT or use Lullaby on Susie. However, the soundwaves reach Lancer instantly if this action is repeated enough.
* If Ralsei and Kris are defeated, the regular "game over" screen does not appear. Instead, Susie and Lancer are heard laughing over a black screen and the party is automatically sent back to the previous room.
==== Card Castle Battle ====
Susie automatically attacks Lancer without player input, and Lancer stops trying to hurt Susie after she receives enough damage or from turn 4 onward. As such, the player has no control over the outcome of this fight, and it automatically ends at the start of turn 8.
=== Quotes ===
==== Pre-Battle ====
; Castle Town 
* [If the player listened to the legend]
** Ho ho ho! The heroes are already running away...
** And they didn't even know I was here.
** My dad's gonna make me Son of the Month!
** [Susie] Who the hell are you!?
** I'm...!
** The bad guy.
** You CLOWNS want to seal our DARK FOUNTAIN, huh!?
** And - STILL picturing you guys as CLOWNS -
** Save the world from ETERNAL DARKNESS, huh!?
** [Susie] Eh.
** Don't try to deny it...!
** We both know you'll go EAST!
** It's your only way home!
** But, I, LANCER, won't let you go there!
** And I've got a flawless two step plan to ensure it.
** Step one. I thrash you.
** Step two. You lose!
** [Susie] Hmm. Nice plan, kid.
** R-really...?
** [Susie] Yeah, actually...
** [Susie] Mind if we use it on you instead?
* [If the player didn't listen to the legend]
** Ho ho ho! One nerd down, two to go!
** My dad's gonna make me Son of the Month!
** [Susie] Who the hell are you!?
** I'm...!
** The bad guy.
** [Susie] "Bad guy?"
** You know. Teardrop-headed kid. From the legend?
** [Susie] ... No?
** Aw boy. This is gonna be hard to explain.
** [Ralsei] Umm... I could help explain it...!
** Stay out of this, kindboy!
** [Ralsei] No! I'll protect the heroes with my life!
** [Susie] Actually, can you hold off? I wanna hear this kid.
** OK, so, long story short. You guys are heroes.
** You wanna go EAST, and seal our DARK FOUNTAIN.
** That'll stop darkness from covering the world.
** We, on the other hand, don't want that, because:
** It would rule, and be great.
** [Susie] Wait, why DO we want to stop that?
** Uhh, I dunno... I guess I could go ask my dad?
** [Ralsei] I could tell you!
** [Susie] We GOT this.
** [Susie] So the POINT is, you wanna fight us?
** Correct-a-mundo!
** [Susie] Arright, kid...
** [Susie] NOW you're telling me something I understand.
; Forest
* [Normal]
** [Ralsei] K... Kris! Isn't that the machine we designed...!?
** [Ralsei] Alright! This will be tough, but let's try our best!
** [Ralsei] Oh. That's... not good, actually.
** Ho ho ho! You think THAT'S bad, just WAIT!
** ... and see what happens when it STARTS!!!
** [Susie] Your design sucked so we blew it up.
** [Ralsei] Ah. I see.
** [Ralsei] ... So... now what's your plan going to be?
** [Susie] Turns out we didn't need a plan. Just a rule.
** Anyone that gets in our way...
** [Susie] Gets crushed into dust.
** [Ralsei] But Susie, you need us to return home.
** [Ralsei] Doesn't crushing us seem a little counterproductive?
** [Susie] Nah, see, that's where you're wrong.
** [Susie] Ya see, I KNOW I can't get back without you guys.
** [Susie] But being a - heh - "good guy" REALLY isn't my style.
** [Susie] So, I thought of a little way we can just... settle this.
** [Susie] If you can beat me, I'll go back to being a good guy.
** [Susie] But if you LOSE...
** [Susie] YOU guys will have to become bad guys with US...
** [Susie] ... and do WHATEVER we say.
** Ho ho ho!!! Our wish is your command!!!
** [Susie] So, whaddya say...?
** [Susie] Eh, don't bother answering.
** [Susie] We were just gonna thrash you anyway, so...
** [Susie] See ya!
* [If Kris and Ralsei fainted #1]
** [Ralsei] ... is that what I think it is?
** [Ralsei] ... yes. It was.
** [Ralsei] Why did you build another one just to blow it up?
** It's funny!
** [Ralsei] Well, in any case, you defeated us...
** [Ralsei] I suppose we can become bad guys now!
** [Susie] Hey, not so fast!
** It's really boring if you just give up!!!
** The LEAST you can do is show some resistance!
** [Susie] Yeah, looks like we gotta teach you a lesson!
** [Ralsei] You're going to thrash us AGAIN!?
** [Susie] Seems like it.
* [If Kris and Ralsei fainted #2]
** [Ralsei] ...
** [Ralsei] ... how many of these do they have?
** [Ralsei] Please just let us be bad guys.
** [Susie] No!!! Not until you stop wanting to!!!
** [Ralsei] Fine!!! We don't want to be bad guys!!!
** Hear that, Susie???
** [Susie] Sounds like we'll have to MAKE you be one then.
** [Ralsei] That's completely unnecessary.
** I like the sound of that!!!
; Card Castle
* Understand? They have to stay in their cells.
* The Lightners can't be allowed to escape.
* ... Especially the purple one.
* [Susie] ... Lancer?
* S... Susie?
* ... w-what are you doing here...?
* [Susie] ...
* [Susie] Lancer, Kris and Ralsei are still locked up...
* I... I know.
* I...
* I was the one who told my troops to put you down here.
* To...
* To keep you down here.
* Forever.
* [Susie] L... Lancer... you... you...
* [Susie] You wanted to get rid of us...?
* [Susie] ...
* [Susie] I thought we were a team.
* I... I can explain, Susie...
* [Susie] ...
* [Susie] Nah.
* [Susie] It's fine.
* [Susie] It's fine, actually.
* [Susie] You don't have to say anything.
* [Susie] I... get it.
* [Susie] I get it, y'know.
* [Susie] Why would anyone...
* [Susie] ... really wanna be my friend anyway?
* Susie, that's not-
* [Susie] Shut up.
* But -
* [Susie] SHUT UP!
* [Susie] Get out of my way.
* ...
* [Susie] Did you HEAR ME? GET OUT OF MY WAY.
* ...
* N... no.
* [Susie] Did you not HEAR ME...?
* [Susie] Man, I tried to warn you...
* [Susie] So, don't expect me to feel guilty...
* [Susie] ... when they have to clean you off the floor.
==== Battle ====
; Castle Town 
* [Susie] Dunno how I got an ax but, like, that's cool. [Neutral, once]
* Halt, clowns! This bike is fueled by victory!!! [Neutral]
* I love to get thrashed...Just kidding! That's you!! [Neutral]
* So what are you guys doing after this??? [Neutral]
* Hohoho!!! I'm the bad guy! [Neutral]
* Oh! You make my feelings do wheelies! Sweet wheelys [Compliment #1]
* Did you not realize I can mask my self-esteem levels? [Compliment #2]
* Stop!! My personality's getting too deep!!! [Compliment #3]
* [End]
** Wait! Wait a second!
** My bike's running out of fuel...!
** Alright, you punka-roos!
** You had the luck of the draw this time, but...
** Next time, the losers will be YOU!!!
** Hahaha!!! Bye, losers!!
** I gotta get home before dinner!!!
; Forest
* Hey!! Hey Susie!! Watch me, watch me!! [Neutral]
* Horror! Pain! The power of REAL bad guys! (Nice, huh?) [Neutral]
* Prepare for smashing, you luxurious melons!!! [Neutral]
* This bike is fueled by EVIL! ...and friendship! [Neutral]
* Oh, what a beautiful song!!! [Sing]
* Don't worry Bikey, I'll put you to bed soon... [Pacify at Susie]
* [Ralsei] You two look like a really great team! I'm proud! [X-Anything #1]
* Oh!!! It's working on me!!! [Anything/X-Anything #1]
* Thanks, it's all natural! [Anything #2]
* [X-Anything #2]
** [Ralsei] You two, if we don't stop fighting, then...
** [Ralsei] ... Someone might get hurt!
** Really!? That's bad!
* Really!? It's just what I wanted!!! [Anything #3]
* [X-Anything #3]
** [Ralsei] You two, if we stop fighting, then I could, um...
** [Ralsei] I could braid your hair!
** Wow, I'll look amazing!!
* Hee hee! I'm bliss-fully ignorant! [Anything/X-Anything #4, failed]
* [X-Anything #4-5, if Susie is KO'd/Asleep]
** [Ralsei] In summary, I like you two, and...
** I think we should all just get along!
*** [Susie] Try convincing someone that can't HEAR YOU! [If Susie is awake/not KO'd]
* [Ralsei] You'rereallyaswellpersonyouknowthat?! [X-Anything #6, if Susie has blocked Lancer's ears two times beforehand]
* Ow, my guts hurt! [Below half health]
* [Winning with an Anything/X-Anything]
** Uh oh.
** [Susie] What's wrong, dude?
** I accidentally started liking the enemies...!
** Now seeing them just makes me feel round and soft.
** Bad atmosphere for battle, though.
** [Susie] ...
** [Susie] Well, if you don't wanna fight,
** [Susie] There's no point, I guess.
** [Susie] Battle's over!
* [Winning with an Attack]
** Ow...
** [Susie] Hey, HEY! Enough's enough already!
** [Susie] If you hit him any more, you might really hurt him!
** [Susie] ... Lancer, you OK...?
** I... I'm fine, Susie!
** My insides are just... a little mixed up.
** [Susie] Alright, fine! You guys win!
** [Ralsei] (Kris, maybe we should have taken it easier...)
; Card Castle
* [Susie] Hey, wanna see what happens to traitors?
* [Susie] They. Get. Crushed.
* [Susie] If you don't get out of the way... ...I'll kill you.
* [Susie] Get it? I'll KILL you.
* [Susie] Heh... You missed, idiot!
* [Susie] ... wait, why aren't you fighting back...?
* [Susie] ... Heh, you think I CARE? If you just wanna lie down and die? You're just making it easier for me!
* [Susie] ........ Alright, that's enough. If you wanna die so much... THEN DIE!
==== Post-Battle ====
; Forest
* [Winning with an Anything/X-Anything]
** [Susie] Well, you didn't BEAT US, because you, uh...
** [Susie] Kinda cheated by, uh, ganging up on Lancer, with, uh...
** Kindness.
** [Susie] But if I HAVE TO, I guess I'll go back to your side.
** [Susie] But DON'T expect me to do anything but FIGHT.
* [Winning with an Attack]
** [Susie] Alright, alright, ENOUGH already!
** [Susie] Fine... I GUESS I'll go back to being a good guy.
** [Susie] But DON'T expect me to do anything but FIGHT.
* [Ralsei] Well, we're happy to have you back, Susie.
* [Susie] Yeah, yeah, let's just hurry up and go home.
* ...
* Ummm... Susie?
* Does this mean we... aren't a team anymore?
* [Susie] H... huh...? Umm, I mean, uhh...
* [Susie] Of course we're still a team! You can, um...
* [Susie] ... be part of the Guys/The $!$? Squad/The Lancer Fan Club/The Fun Gang!
* Wow! Me...!? In the Guys/The $!$? Squad/The Lancer Fan Club/The Fun Gang!?
* Wait...
* If I hang out with the good guys, then...
* Can we still have monogrammed track jackets?
* [Susie] Yeah! Ralsei will make them!
* [Ralsei] H... Huh!?
* [Ralsei] ... Okay, sure!
* Ahahah!!! Lancer joins the team!!!
* [Narrator] Lancer joined the party!
** [Susie] No. [Unused]
* [Old battle; unused]
** Y... You got past Thrash World!?
** Hng... Even with your help, I couldn't stop you...
** [Ralsei] Hey, it's alright, Lancer. It was a nice effort.
** [Susie] Yeah, I mean, you gotta be realistic.
** [Susie] Nothing can stop us. Not even ourselves.
** That's right!! The Guys/The (Censored) Squad/The Lancer Fan Club/The Friendly Fun Gang!!
** You crush everything that gets in your way!
** Hmmm... What am I supposed to do, then...
** If I can't stop you, then...
** Then, my dad will...
** [Susie] ...
** [Susie] Well... Why don't you come with us...
** [Susie] And maybe you'll think of how to stop us on the way.
** R... Really!? You'd let me tag along...!?
** [Susie] Sure, why not. You can be an unofficial team member.
** Wow! M... Me!? In the Guys(Unused)/The (Censored) Squad/The Lancer Fan Club/The Friendly Fun Gang!?
** W... Wait...
** Can we have monogrammed track jackets?
** [Susie] Yeah. Ralsei will make them.
** [Ralsei] H... Huh!?
** [Ralsei] ... Okay, sure!
** Ahahah!!! Lancer joins the team!!!
** [Narrator] Lancer joined the party!
** [Susie] No.
; Card Castle
* S... Susie...?
* Y... you missed...
* [Susie] I...
* [Susie] I don't wanna kill you, man.
* [Susie] Just move. Please.
* B... But Susie, if I let you guys go... then...
* Then you and my dad will fight, and... and...
* You'll kill each other.
* [Susie] ...
* ... at least if you stay here...
* Neither of you will get hurt.
* [Susie] ...
* [Susie] Then I... I...
* [Susie] I won't kill him. Promise.
* [Susie] Me and him, we'll just, um...
* [Susie] Talk it out. Peaceful-style. Y'know.
* I...
* I don't think my dad would like that...
* [Susie] Hey, Lancer! C'mon!
* [Susie] We're a team, right!?
* [Susie] Nothing can stop us! Fighting or not! Alright?
* ...
* ... Yeah! Yeah, you're right...!
* We might as well try!
* I can help, too!
* I'll go talk to my dad! Ripen him up!
* [Susie] Hey, now we're getting somewhere!
* I'll head over right now!!!
* S... Susie?
* [Susie] ... Yeah?
* Are...
* Are we still friends?
* [Susie] H... Huh?
* [Susie] Of... Of course! I mean, if you wanna be!
* Phew! See you!!
* [Susie] (... how am I gonna get past his dad like that...?)
* [Susie] (C... C'mon, I'll figure something out!)
=== Flavor Text ===
; Any encounter
* Lancer's riding it out. [Neutral]
* Lancer is thinking about chips. [Neutral]
* Lancer switches gears randomly to appear competent. [Neutral]
* Lancer revs viciously. [Neutral]
* Lancer's motorcycle is actually just a bike that's on fire. [Neutral]
; Castle Town
* [Check]
** Not to call a spade a spade, but he's a spade.
** Not old enough to ride a motorcycle, so he set his bike on fire.
* Lancer busts in! [Encounter]
* You tell Lancer to watch out for Susie's attack. He readies himself. [Warning #1]
* Lancer laughs at the idea he would need your help! [Warning #2]
* [Compliment #1]
** You tell Lancer you can't tell the difference between his clothes and his body.
** He seems flattered... His ATTACK POWER went down!
* [Compliment #2]
** You try to compliment LANCER again...
** But he sees it as insincere. His ATTACK POWER goes back up!
* [Compliment #3]
** You compliment LANCER. He gets confused as to your sincerity.
** Instead of going up or down, his ATTACK power goes sideways...?
* You say some kind words. Lancer absorbs them into his skin. [Compliment #4+]
; Forest
* Watch out!!! He's boosted by friendship! [Check]
* Two bad guys blocked the way! [Encounter with Susie]
* Susie and Lancer are coming up with victory celebration plans. [Neutral]
* Susie and Lancer are making fun of you. [Neutral]
* Susie and Lancer are gloating about how great their team is. [Neutral]
* Susie and Lancer are having an evil laugh contest. [Neutral]
* Smells like teamwork. [Neutral]
* [Anything on Lancer #1]
** You tried convincing Lancer not to fight.
** Lancer started to become convinced!
* You tried telling Lancer you like his hair... [Anything on Lancer #2]
* [Anything on Lancer #3]
** You told Lancer you'd give him a picnic basket of worms.
** Lancer became almost fully convinced!
* [Anything on Lancer #4-5, if Susie is KO'd/Asleep]
** You told Lancer you just want to get along!
** It's the decisive kindness!
* [Anything #4-5, if Susie is awake/not KO'd]
** You told Lancer you just want to get along!
** It's the decisive kindness!
** (But Susie blocked the soundwaves before they reached Lancer!)
* [Anything on Lancer #6, if Susie has blocked Lancer's ears two times beforehand]
** You told Lancer you want to get along really fast!
** The soundwaves reached Lancer instantly!
* [X-Anything #1]
** You told Ralsei to compliment the enemies!
** (Lancer started to become a little convinced!)
* [X-Anything #2]
** You told Ralsei to logically best Lancer and Susie.
** (Lancer became more convinced! It's working!)
* [X-Anything #3]
** You told Ralsei to offer his services to the enemies!
** (Lancer became almost fully convinced!)
* You told Ralsei to deal the final blow of kindness! [X-Anything #4-5, if Susie is KO'd/Asleep]
* [X-Anything #6, if Susie has blocked Lancer's ears two times beforehand]
** You told Ralsei to compliment Lancer really fast!
** The soundwaves reached Lancer instantly!
== Relationships ==
=== Queen ===
Queen is Lancer's mother, though it is unclear as to whether they are biologically related as Queen stated their relationship had been "arbitrarily decided" the moment the subject came up. They can be seen hanging out on lawn chairs right outside the rooms that Ralsei made for his friends. Lancer references to Queen as "girldad" to which Ralsei asks if he means "a mom" and Queen and him both share a laugh calling Ralsei "Peachboy." She takes care of him now that his father, King, is imprisoned.
=== King ===
King is Lancer's father. Despite this, they do not have a close relationship, as King spends little time with his son and barely seems to care about him, threatening to drop him off of the top of Card Castle if the party does not obey King. However, King does seem to care about the public treatment of Lancer, asking Darkners such as Rudinns to take care of him. Lancer both fears and respects his father and follows his orders very obediently. In Chapter 2, the King is shown to actually care about Lancer, although Lancer does not talk very much (if not at all) about his father.
=== Ralsei ===
During their first meeting, Lancer attempts to be "the bad guy" and collides with him with his bike, causing a cartoonish explosion. However, he doesn't seem to know that Ralsei is a Hero of Light at the time, and simply ignores him afterward, fighting and discussing with Kris and Susie instead.
Due to Ralsei's kind and friendly nature, Lancer ends up liking Ralsei and seems to enjoy and care about him. Even when he's attempting to be "the bad guy," he calls Ralsei things such as "sweet basket of eggs," "delicious little apple," and "kindboy." He even goes so far as to talk about their "thrash-based relationship," and asks Kris and Susie to say goodbye to him as they leave the Dark World, although Ralsei is not leaving.
During Chapter 2, they two have more interactions with each other, and Ralsei even makes Lancer his own room on the castle, as he did to Kris and Susie as well.
=== Rouxls Kaard ===
Lancer considers Rouxls Kaard as his "lesser dad". He is often looked after and fed by Rouxls, who acts as his caretaker due to his father's indifference. Lancer asks Rouxls to listen to his MP3 Player often, which Rouxls dislikes due to all of Lancer's songs being cartoon splat noises. Nevertheless, Rouxls cares about Lancer's well-being, even though he pretends not to.
=== Susie ===
Lancer begins to look up to Susie after she scares him, aspiring to be as intimidating as she is. After Ralsei lectures Susie about being a hero, she instead joins Lancer's team, sharing evil plans in order to stop the main party. As the two work together, they develop a friendship. However, when Lancer realizes that either Susie or King will be hurt in their eventual battle, he sends the party to prison for eternity. After fighting Susie and getting reassured by her, Lancer is confident that she can find a peaceful solution. When Susie and Kris must leave the Dark World, they still share a friendship with Lancer, who mentions that they are always welcome.
During Chapter 2, the two of them are happy to see each other again and are still very good friends.
== Gallery ==
 Lancer face joining.png | Lancer's face upon joining the party.
 Lancer battle bike.gif | Lancer on his "motorbike" (In battle)
 Lancer battle bike hurt.gif | Lancer on his "motorbike" (Hurt)
 Lancer overworld relax.png | Relaxing
 Lancer battle idle.png | Lancer's idle sprite during his fight with Susie
 Lancer battle hurt.png | Lancer's hurt sprite during his fight with Susie
 Lancer overworld disguise.png | Lancer's disguise consisting of himself wearing a mustache.
 Lancer overworld stone.png | Stone
 Lancer item.gif | Lancer in the Key Items menu
 Lancer artwork kanotynes.png | Lancer's original design as the jack of spades in kanotynes's custom deck.
 Lancer artwork concept.png | Concept art of Lancer as seen during the 6th Undertale anniversary stream.
 Lancer artwork Famitsu.png | Temmie Chang's artwork of Lancer from March 2019's Weekly Famitsu Magazine issue.
 Lancer artwork LINE sticker.png | Lancer LINE sticker
 Lancer plush artwork.png | Official Lancer Plush (Fangamer).
== Trivia ==
* True to the symbols in his design, Lancer corresponds to the suit of spades.
** When CHECKed during the first fight against the party, the flavor text says, "Not to call a spade a spade, but he's a spade."
** At one point, he calls himself "Dark Jack Lancer," reflecting his role as the King's diminutive Jack of Spades.
** Lancer has a small hand trowel, a type of digging spade, in his room.
* During Kris's first fight with Lancer, Kris can warn Lancer of Susie's upcoming attack, or choose to compliment him. However, Lancer cannot be spared through compliments alone.
** Kris's first compliment lowers Lancer's attack power.
** Their second compliment is seen as insincere and raises Lancer's attack power.
** The third compliment confuses Lancer, who, uncertain of its sincerity, makes his attack go "sideways."
*** After this, whenever Kris gets hit, the damage counter appears sideways.
** The fourth time, Lancer absorbs Kris's words into his skin, having no apparent effect.
* He is not yet old enough to ride a motorcycle. Instead, Lancer rides a bike on fire, which appears to have training wheels.
** Lancer's bike can also absorb the Pacify spell. When Ralsei casts the Pacify spell during the fight with Susie and Lancer while Susie is asleep, Lancer's bike absorbs the spell. Then his bike begins to "get tired?????"
* Lancer's sprite appears to be less detailed than the other characters, and does not have a walking animation.
* Lancer has to take a "shower" each time he says a "bad word," as commanded by his father.
* Lancer seems to have unusual eating habits. Rouxls Kaard claims that whenever King forgets to feed his son, Lancer cries like a baby bird until Rouxls feeds him worms. Furthermore, using the "Anything" ACT on him on his second fight may involve Kris attempting to stop the fight by offering him a picnic basket of worms, to which Lancer reacts with enthusiasm.
** Lancer has not eaten a Dark Candy before being given one by Susie, because his father did not let him.
** When Ralsei points out Lancer's enemy team composition is similar to drinking only three glasses of milk for dinner, Lancer does not find it at all unusual to do so.
** He has a honeypot full of salsa that he only pretends to eat hidden in a tree stump; when asked, he does not know what it's made of. More salsa is stored in a hole he dug in his room.
* In his duel with Susie, Lancer starts with -40 Defense (DF), and his DF decreases by 5 at the start of each turn (including the first turn). He loses a total of 2044 of his 2400 HP to Susie's attacks.
* In the UNDERTALE 6th Anniversary stream, Toby Fox has various comments regarding Lancer in Chapter 1:
** Toby comments that Lancer originally was not going to be a friend, and how he was originally characterized to be "annoying," similar to EarthBound's Pokey Minch.
** Due to the Fangamer staff mistaking Lancer for being an adult, Toby added dialogue to emphasize that Lancer is a child.
** Toby had asked kanotynes to create a "cool bike" for Lancer. She had created a page worth of motorcycles, though Toby described the art as being "too cool" for him. He ended up giving Lancer a regular bicycle.
** While Lancer constantly insults Ralsei, Toby states that he does not know what an insult is, thus Lancer only says "nice things" since he actually is fond of Ralsei.
** Toby mentions how Lancer actually has a walk sprite, though he did not use it since he thought Lancer looks funnier without it.
** The original battle after the Thrash Machine was supposed to be versus Susie and Lancer's machine, the doom tank. It is supposed to be a cardboard cut-out that Susie hides and attacks in.
** Toby originally planned to have Lancer join the party by being in the status menu, but scrapped it due to it being "too hard" to implement at the time.
* While Lancer is in the inventory, opening the KEY Items and waiting for 30 seconds makes him fall asleep. He continues to sleep until the inventory is closed and reopened.
* Lancer's first quote when he joins Kris's inventory: "Hohoho! I'm a tough boy! Treat me like one of your ITEMs!" is nearly identical what is said when first given an Exit Mouse in EarthBound ("He's a tough boy. You can treat him as one of your items.").
* When the group split up, Lancer states "We'll solve this mystery fast! You? You can be the un-talking dog," referencing the Scooby-Doo series.
* Lancer's "Can we make them a bad guy?" line after Noelle joins the party may be alluding to the Snowgrave Route.
* Lancer, along with Rudinn, Hathy, Clover, King, Jevil and the uncredited King of Diamonds, was designed by kanotynes.
** With the exception of Jevil, all of kanotynes's characters were fully designed by March 2012 – 6 years prior to the release of Deltarune Chapter 1.
*** According to kanotynes, the characters were originally created for her design class, having volunteered to draw 52 unique playing card designs.
*** Lancer's earliest design was first posted on Tumblr on March 15, 2012 as a character on a jack of spades playing card.
** When asked what Lancer was, they weren't sure but suggested that he was a Kewpie doll.
== References ==
es:Lancer
fr:Lancer
pl:Lancer
ru:Лансер
vi:Lancer
zh:Lancer
Category:Boss Enemies
Category:Main Characters