Chara

Chara, also known as the first human or the fallen human, is the first human to fall into the Underground. Chara is also the fallen human that the player names at the start of the game, and not the controllable character who is played throughout the entirety of Undertale.
They only appear at the end of a Genocide Route and take the Fallen Role.
==Profile==
===Appearance===
Chara looks strikingly similar to the protagonist, down to a "similar fashion sense," as said by Asriel Dreemurr, and just like the protagonist, has an ambiguous gender. Both appear to have been around the same age after falling into the Underground. Chara's SOUL is also the same color as the protagonist's, which is indicated by the red SOUL on Chara's coffin.
At the end of the Genocide Route, Chara is seen to be wearing a lime and cream-colored striped shirt (which is an inverted color of the protagonist's shirt) and red-brown pants and shoes. Chara has peach skin and brown hair, rosy cheeks, open brown eyes, and a creepy smile that contrasts the protagonist's stoic expression.
===Personality===
While initially cast in a sympathetic light, Asriel admits at the end of the True Pacifist Route that Chara "...wasn't really the greatest person." Asriel states that Chara climbed Mount Ebott for an unhappy reason, and adds that Chara "hated humanity".
At the end of the Genocide Route, Chara behaves in a polite, deliberate manner, thanking the protagonist for guiding them, and teaching them that power was the reason they awoke. They tell them that their Determination woke them from death when entering the Underground. However, if the protagonist refuses to destroy the world, Chara becomes frustrated and confused, wonders what the player wants instead, and then finally gives in to the frustration, erasing the world anyway.
There are two main interpretations. Whether or not any one of the interpretations are incorrect are debatable, depending on each individual's beliefs, shaped by the little evidence they have found in the game.
===Other Interpretations===
Some interpretations of Chara include having them being a more neutral entity; a narrator who is trying to do the right thing but is forced to just going along with whatever Frisk does. When they are shown like this they are corrupted by the genocide run, but it is shown that they truly love the monsters at the end of the Pacifist run. Taking Frisk's soul is the player's consequence for killing everyone they love.
Alternate interpretations of Chara include having them being more villainous. In these interpretations they want to destroy all monsters and humans. According to the authors that make Chara like this, they are using Frisk to fulfill their quest of erasing the world and killing all humans and monsters, in which reasons why they want that remain unknown.
Chara's personality varies wildly depending on the writer which is why they are interpreted as an evil spirit, a neutral narrator, or even a nice person who is misunderstood, as we get almost no information on them in the game. What we do gather is:
*They hated humanity.
*They climbed Mount Ebott for an unhappy reason. (in which many authors interpret as a suicidal attempt).
*They died due to butterscotch poisoning so that Asriel and Chara could cross the barrier and gather 6 souls to break the barrier.
*Chara's presence gave the underground monsters hope.
*Chara loves chocolate.
*Chara made a "Mr Dad guy" sweater for Asgore.
*Chara and Asriel almost poisoned Asgore by accidentally putting buttercups in Asgore's tea when they were alive (mistaking buttercups for butter).
*Chara and Asriel were best friends before they died.
*Chara speaks like Toriel. (for example: saying "Greetings.")
==Main Story==
Chara can be first seen during the introduction scene of Undertale, climbing Mt. Ebott, tripping over a root and falling into the Underground. During a True Pacifist Route's ending a continuation of this scene can be seen, where Asriel helps Chara lift themselves up after the fall after hearing their call for help and takes them to their father's castle.
Later, Chara was taken in by Toriel and Asgore as a second child and was treated with respect equal to their biological son. Chara and Asriel became best friends, and Monsters spoke of how Chara filled the Underground with hope.
One day, after becoming terminally ill from consuming buttercups, Chara expressed the desire to see the Golden Flowers found in their home village. After their death, Chara's SOUL was absorbed by Asriel, and they shared control over a body. Chara carried their own corpse across the barrier and wanted to use their full power. Asriel resisted Chara, which ultimately led to the humans killing the fusion of the two SOULs.
Chara's motives in this situation are uncertain. In the fourth True Lab tape, Asriel says "Y...yeah! We'll be strong! We'll free everyone.", and in the fifth "Six, right? We just have to get six..." In the Genocide Route, Flowey tells Chara that they should finish what they started and free everyone. Flowey also adds, "Then... let's let them see what humanity is REALLY like. That despite it all... This world is still 'kill or be killed!!". Asriel tells the protagonist that he came up with this philosophy because his resistance to Chara had led to both of them being killed. At the end of the Genocide Route, Chara says little about Asriel's resistance other than, "At first, I was so confused. Our plan had failed, hadn't it?"
Chara's body was originally laid to rest in a coffin in the basement of the castle, where the bodies of the other fallen humans would later be put. When Toriel left Asgore, she carried Chara's body to the Ruins and gave them a proper burial.
In the Genocide Route, Chara says that the protagonist's "determination" and "human soul" awakened them from death. There is evidence that some narration, as well as descriptions of certain actions and events, is by Chara themself. However, the narrator throughout the entirety of Undertale is up to speculation.
===Neutral Route===
When the protagonist gets a Game Over, Asgore's voice can be heard as he urges Chara to "stay determined." The messages seen on the game over screen are identical to what Asgore said to Chara while they were on their deathbed.
The protagonist also hears Chara's name in their dreams. If the protagonist sleeps in the bed in Toriel's home, Asgore's voice can be heard as he pleads, "<Name>, please... Wake up! You are the future of humans and monsters." When the protagonist first falls into the Garbage Dump, Asriel's first words to Chara appear on the screen, narrated with Asriel's voice byte.
===True Pacifist Route===
In the True Lab, VHS tapes of Chara interacting with their family can be played back. None of these VHS tapes include visuals and provide narration alone. Most of these tapes are of Asriel and Chara, and prove that Chara had a "plan." In one of the tapes, Asriel tells Chara to wake up and that "he doesn't like this plan anymore." Asriel's quote is speculated to be something that he said to his dying sibling because this same VHS contains the quote seen on the game over screen.
Towards the end of the fight against Asriel, when the protagonist calls out "someone else"'s name, flashbacks of Chara and Asriel play. They show Chara's fall into the Underground, Asriel's discovery of Chara, and the royal family spending time with Chara. After the fight, Asriel recognizes the protagonist as Frisk.
During the epilogue, Frisk may return to the room containing the coffins of the other humans. This leads to the discovery that all of the coffins are empty and that there are mummy wrappings at the bottom of Chara's coffin.
===Genocide Route===
While traversing the Genocide Route, many characters comment on the protagonist's creepy smile. Sans comments that it would be great if the protagonist continued pretending to be a human, and Asgore inquires what kind of monster the protagonist is. At the end of the Ruins and when going through New Home, Flowey determines that the protagonist is empty inside, just like himself. He concludes that the protagonist is Chara, and informs them of a plan he has to become omnipotent.
The only instance in the game where Chara makes an in-person physical appearance is at the end of the Genocide Route. They appear as an overworld sprite and speak into the fourth wall. Chara could be speaking directly to the player in this sequence.
After this appearance, Chara reveals that the protagonist's "human soul" and "determination" were the cause of their reincarnation and that the merciless events that occurred during the route lead Chara to realize that the "purpose" of their awakening was power. Chara states they are the embodiment of the feeling received whenever stats increase and proposes erasing the world and moving on to the next.
The protagonist is given the choices to "ERASE" the world, or "DO NOT." Both choices lead to the same result.
*If the protagonist chooses to "ERASE," Chara calls the protagonist "a great partner." Additionally, their eyes widen, and Chara says to the protagonist that they will be "together forever."
*If the protagonist chooses "DO NOT," Chara seems confused, they then seem to shake it off and Chara's eyes widen, saying the protagonist was never in control. Afterward, a [[[Media:CharaJumpscare.gif|jumpscare]], in which Chara approaches the screen with twisted laughter. The screen (or game window) shakes while a loud droning sound loops in the background.
After the protagonist makes their choice, an attack animation occurs, followed by red "9"s covering the screen. The game is forced into windowed mode and shakes similarly to a monster's death animation as the game closes. The player cannot exit the game before the crash unless they use their OS's Task Manager or Force Quit (on Mac.)
Upon reopening the game, the screen is black and accompanied by a sound similar to howling wind. After 10 minutes, Chara speaks to the protagonist and is doubtful yet intrigued at the fact that the player wants to go back to the game's world. They remind the player that their actions caused the world's destruction, and after they ask the protagonist if they think they are above consequences, Chara offers to restore the world in exchange for something, later revealed to be the protagonist's SOUL.
*If the protagonist agrees to this trade, the world is restored, but the True Pacifist ending is permanently altered.
*Refusing this offer causes Chara to abandon the protagonist, only to offer the same choice again after the game is restarted and another 10 minutes elapse.
==Post-Genocide Game==
===True Pacifist Route===
"Chara" appears briefly after the True Pacifist Ending Credits if a Genocide run has been completed beforehand. If the protagonist chose to stay with Toriel, the after-credits scene continues briefly after Toriel closes the door, showing Frisk turning to face the screen with red eyes. The game cuts to black, with Photoshop Flowey's laugh playing at a lower pitch, presumably being Chara's laugh.
Similarly, if the protagonist decides to have "places to go," the photograph after the credits has the face of everyone crossed out in red, except for Chara's sprite, which replaces Frisk's. The "THE END" text is red, and a slowed down version of Anticipation plays. The Annoying Dog does not appear to sleep under the ending screen.
===Genocide Route===
After completing a Genocide Route a second time, Chara takes on the description of "the demon that comes when people call its name." Chara blames the player for destroying and recreating the world because of their perverted sentimentality, explains that the SOUL they currently hold resonates with strange feelings that they can no longer understand, and suggests that a better path should be taken should the world be recreated once more. Chara gives the protagonist the "choice" to erase the world again.
*If the protagonist chooses "ERASE," Chara once again calls the protagonist "a great partner," saying they will be together forever.
*Choosing "DO NOT" causes Chara to tell the protagonist that these feelings were exactly what they were just talking about. Chara then reminds the protagonist they made their choice a long time ago, causing another jump scare, as the world is destroyed again. However, when the game is rebooted, it loads normally.
==Relationships==
===Asriel===
After falling into the Underground, Chara was found by Asriel and adopted by his parents; Toriel and Asgore. The two of them grew together as siblings and best friends. But despite this, Asriel is willing to see past Chara's flaws since such defects are what made Chara unique and special to him, as witnessed by Asriel's confession to the protagonist during the epilogue and the walk through New Home on the Genocide Route.
===Flowey===
Flowey perceives Chara as his partner and best friend, despite his inability to love. Seeing Chara as a creature akin to him, he helps by clearing all obstacles in the way. He says that Chara would never give him any "worthless pity" and is the only one who understands him.
===The Protagonist===
The protagonist only learns about Chara if a Genocide Route is completed. As the protagonist kills monsters and gains more EXP, Chara, or something, seems to grow stronger. "Chara" refers to the protagonist as a "partner" if the player accepts their offer to erase the world.
If the protagonist completes another Genocide Route, Chara questions why they continuously recreate and destroy the world. Chara then goes on to say that the protagonist has a perverted sentimentality that drives this odd behavior.
===Toriel===
When Chara fell into the Underground, Toriel took on the role of Chara's mother. She cared for Chara very much, equally as much as Asriel.
===Asgore===
Similarly to Toriel, Asgore acted as much of a father to Chara as he did to Asriel.
==Chara In-Game==
The text that the protagonist sees changes depending on what some believe may be Chara's voice and thoughts. These narrations are sometimes, but not always, (A list of them can be found on the Genocide Route page). The narration of various objects also changes depending on the route, most notably the Heart Locket and Worn Dagger, which is narrated as being simply The Locket and Real Knife in the Genocide Route.
==Dialogue==
==Trivia==
*Chara's jumper's color scheme (yellow and green) is a color negative of Frisk's (blue and purple).
*"Chara" is likely short for "Character," as all internal references of either Frisk (mainchara) or Chara (truechara) use "chara."
**The official Japanese translation of the game translates Chara's name as "キャラ Kyara" (pronounced "Kera"). This matches the katakana for the English word "character", which is written as "キャラクター Kyarakutā".
*When attempting to name the fallen child "Chara," the response becomes "The true name." Removing the name from a SAVE file results in the name "CHARA" being given by default. These are the only two instances where the name "Chara" appears in-game.
*Chara is the only character whose dialogue is never accompanied by voice bytes.
*The child being "fallen" can refer both to the child having fallen into the Underground, or to the phrase "to fall from grace" (to become morally corrupt). It is also a word used to describe someone who has died.
*Toby Fox suggests naming the Fallen Child the player's own name, though he then replied to that Tweet with "I mean, if you can't think of anything else lol.".
*The Locket may belong to Chara as "right where it belongs" displays when the protagonist equips it.
*Chara is implied to like chocolate; in the Genocide Route, should the protagonist check the refrigerator in Asgore's Home, the text reads "No chocolate.”
**While there is no chocolate in Asgore's home, there is a bar of chocolate in the fridge at Toriel's Home; it is possible Toriel kept it in her fridge in memory of Chara's tastes.
**It is also implied that Chara has interest in knives, as the text upon inspecting Toriel's kitchen reads "" This is further evidenced by the Real Knife.
*Within the game files, there are look-alikes of Chara with their yellow-and-green shirt and pants, with a different skin tone and lacking a face but having shading under the eyes. In debug mode, it is possible to have these sprites appear as the protagonist's reflection in puddles and mirrors; it has been speculated that this was going to be a feature in post-Genocide Route timelines.
**This sprite bears resemblance to the character Kris, the protagonist of Toby Fox's later game Deltarune. It's possible this was an early prototype design of the character, as Deltarune was planned since before the release of Undertale.
*The music as Chara introduces themselves to the protagonist has the filename mus_zzz_c, with the jump scare music named mus_zzz_c2.
*The comment that Chara makes about being "the demon that comes when people call its name" may be a reference to naming a character in an RPG. The player assigns a name to their avatar and, in a typical RPG, kills enemies to gain power.
*If the game is not in windowed mode during the jump scare, the game will automatically go into windowed mode.
*Toriel and Chara both greet new figures using "greetings" (Toriel to the protagonist at the beginning of the game, Chara to the protagonist at the end of a Genocide Route). It is likely Chara assimilated this behavior from Toriel.
*In the Japanese translation Chara uses "watashi" and "jibun" for themself and refers to a person using "omae".
==List of AUs involving Chara:==
(Fanon/Fan-made/Parodied/Fusion/Fanon ship children/OC Chara go to this scroll below)(MATURE AU Chara/Pages with gore and violence/Scary AU Chara/Pages with heavy/strong topics go here)
Category:Chara's
Category:Genderless
Category:Undertale
Category:Human-like
Category:Chaotic Neutral