Spamton

Spamton (full name Spamton G. Spamton) is an optional boss and recurring character from Deltarune Chapter 2. His character at first seems to just be a parody of spam emails and puppet accounts, however, if the player chooses to progress his story, he is revealed to have a more complex character that has endeared him to fans and promoted him to arguably the first established Tumblr sillyman.
==Basic Information==
Spamton's character is fairly typical of a Toby Fox game - extremely goofy and chaotic. His speech is loud and nonsensical and littered with advertising terms, as is typical of a poorly-constructed spam email. He seems maniacal at times as well, such as asking Kris (the protagonist) to give him their soul. 
However, an investigative player may gradually find hints that Spamton has something more going on, between his rare moments of lucidity and recollections from various NPCs. Eventually, his backstory can be pieced together: before the events of Deltarune, Spamton was an unsuccessful spam advertiser with a dream of becoming a "big shot". At some point, he was found by someone who miraculously boosted his sales and helped him achieve his dream. Later, however, the stranger who had been helping him disappeared entirely, leaving Spamton's sales to plummet. Spamton was rejected by his former associates and became a nobody living in a dumpster.
His role in the actual game varies depending on which route the player takes. In the normal route of Chapter 2, Spamton is first met in a short and seemingly-one-off battle, but can be optionally fought again later in a stronger form (Spamton NEO). In the alternate route (the Snowgrave Route/Weird Route), Spamton NEO instead serves as the final boss of the chapter. Either way, Spamton NEO is generally considered the most challenging boss in Chapter 2.
More info can be found on his Deltarune Wiki page.
==Tropes==
===4th Wall Blurring===
Due to dialogue from Spamton and other NPCs, many fans have theorized that the person helping Spamton in the past may have actually been W.D Gaster, and that alongside miraculously boosting Spamton's sales, Gaster told Spamton the truth of his world: that it is a video game. (This coincides with the theory of Gaster telling Jevil the same information.)
It's not hard to read into Spamton's dialogue in a fourth-wall way. For example, his main struggle throughout the chapter of not wanting to be a puppet anymore can easily be seen as him trying to escape from the game's script and predetermined events. There are also some moments that could be seen as calling out the player, such as him performing for an invisible audience during his battle. Theorizing further than this is almost entirely speculation, though, due to most of his character being so cryptic and nonsensical.
=== Angst/Lonely ===
Spamton's time with the stranger helping him seems to have corrupted him in some way, leaving him desperate and unstable, as well as visually glitched. Additionally, he mentions friends that he lost due to his success/downfall, and particularly reminisces about someone named Mike. He doesn't get a happy ending, either - the best he gets is a solemn acceptance of the fact that he can't escape being a puppet after all. All in all, he's the perfect subject for angsty fan comics and animatics.
=== Animal Theming ===
Sometimes associated with bird motifs, having a past connection with the more obviously avian Swatch, his long nose possibly resembling a beak and having what are essentially blue eggs called "pipis". This metaphorically ties into his desire to "fly", i.e. to become free, in order to "reach Heaven", and in his NEO form, he gains wings. In fanart, some take this up a notch and give him feathers, despite being a puppet.
===Chaoslord===
A downplayed example, as unlike Jevil, he is not intentionally trying to be chaotic or a troll. However, between his madness, his glitchy speech, his many weird attacks, and the whole aura of strangeness around him, he comes off as pretty chaotic nonetheless. This is especially shown on a Weird playthrough, where he takes over Queen's mansion and litters it with spam ads, changes all her portraits to portraits of himself, and fills the place with his mysterious "pipis", strange unexplained objects in the shape of blue eggs.
===Distinctive Voice/Quotable Catchphrase(s)===
Spamton is one of the very few characters in Deltarune to have voice lines, which are featured in the background of his battle themes: NOW'S YOUR CHANCE TO BE A [Big Shot]! 
Literal voice aside, his written dialogue is also typed in an incredibly distinct way, mixing ALL CAPS with [Bracketed Words] with TYP>OS ADN L33TSP3AK. When voice-acted by fans, he tends to be given the voice of a stereotypical infomercial host and/or a New Yorker salesman, with various glitchy distortions.
Some of his other lines are also quotable in a memetic sort of way, such as "[[Hyperlink Blocked]]", "I CAN MAKE MY HANDS INTO PHONES", and pretty much anything to do with "kromer". 
=== LGBTQ+ ===
According to an in-character Q&A during the Spamton Sweepstakes, he is pansexual. In one of his answers, he says that he would date anyone, regardless of gender, as long as they have money. 
===Perpetual Smiler===
He is almost always seen with a massive grin on his face.
===Retro===
Fitting with the old internet aesthetic of the Cyber World, he is based on spam email "puppet accounts" and clickbait ads, and has a specific association with the year 1997. In addition, most voice headcanons make him sound like an energetic salesman from the 80's-90's, and his bracketed text is frequently interpreted as being ripped straight from old commercials.
===Well-Dressed/Suitguy===
His normal form wears a suit (and possibly a bowtie, as there is an item in the game named "Big Shot Bowtie" and Spamton himself sells bowties).
===Theme Song===
His battle themes, NOW'S YOUR CHANCE TO BE A and BIG SHOT. BIG SHOT in particular is a fan favourite song of Chapter 2. Enough so that the latter song has had lyrical covers by Man on the Internet and Juno Songs, with a mashup of both lyrical covers also existing and a cover from Khamydrian. Several fan-songs dedicated to the character also exist such as Ad Infinitum, ARE YOU A [BIG SHOT], SON, Jackpot and Want Some Fun just to name a few. As well as this, the song DEBT COLLECTER by Jhariah has become associated with him.
===Unkempt===
Spamton literally lives in a dumpster, and sells actual trash out of a shop built into a pile of trash in a garbage dump.
=== Creacher ===
He's a puppet who was formerly an Addison.
=== Smol/Stubby ===
Incredibly short, even compared to Kris. His body just stops at the bottom of his suit jacket, ending in tiny little nubs for feet and no knees.
=== Spectacles ===
Spamton wears very distinctive glasses with differently-colored lenses - one yellow, one pink - that constantly swap colors. The arrival of Spamton NEO is punctuated by said glasses glowing in a temporarily blacked screen, and when defeated nonviolently, he transforms into a copy of his own glasses. Additionally, in several scenes (usually when reminiscing or sad), his glasses turn to TV static.
==Fanon Tropes==
===Fanon Splintering===
The version of Spamton before he became famous is sometimes treated as a separate character. This Spamton, occasionally called Addispam, looks more like a typical Addison, with white hair and the same outfit as the others. He is also portrayed as innocent and shy (if a bit chaotic), a stark contrast to Spamton's canon self.
===Humanization===
Although he is already humanoid, he is depicted in the game proper as a small, squat creature with a tiny body and a big head, quite akin to a ventriloquist dummy. Despite this, there is a profusion of fanart depicting him as tall, thin, and often handsome, even outside of his NEO form. Equally popular is to scrub every creepy or angular feature and draw him like a friendly Steven Universe character with barely even a long nose.
==Fan Reception==
With his entertaining-yet-sympathetic and memorable character, it's no surprise that sites such as Tumblr immediately took a liking to Spamton. However, contrary to what one might expect of a sexyman, fan content was usually not focused on portraying him as handsome or intimidating. Instead, he became something else entirely: a Tumblr sillyman.
Sillyman-Spamton content primarily erases the more disturbing parts of his character, instead making him more cute, innocent, and gremlin-like. These fans treat Spamton almost like an endearing pet raccoon, something people find funny and cute and want to take care of, even if it lives in a dumpster and brings dead rats into your home. That's not to say that sillyman-Spamton fans can't still find him attractive - in fact, a large portion of these fans do fantasize about a romantic relationship with him - but sexual attraction to him is not nearly as common here.
Another thing that often comes along with sillyman-Spamton is woobification and a heavy portion of angst. He is often shown as simply a sad, broken man that misses his friends/family rather than any kind of villain. In a similar vein, there are many works that take a more fix-it approach and portray him being happy or comforted, either in his past or future. Spamton x Readers or other self-insert material where one takes care of Spamton or lets him stay at their house are very popular.
Though not nearly at a Cipherization level, a few Spamton-centric AUs have been made as well. Most notable of these is the "Salt Route," a hypothetical Spamton-focused alternate route created by Tumblr user campyvillain.
===The Spamton Sweepstakes (2022/9/18)===
On September 17, 2022, the anniversary of Deltarune Chapter 2, a special event was hosted on the deltarune.com website: SPAMTON SWEEPSTAKES, a 24-hour charity auction of several bizarre pieces of Spamton merch, including Spamton's corpse, Spamton toilet paper, Spamton's old socks, a Spamton worm on a string, a Spamton-themed wedding ring, a Spamton body pillow, and more, as well as two special pieces that were auctioned: a giant golden Berdly statue with a winning bid of $11,100, and a "Mona Spamton" with a winning bid of $22,100. All of the money, a total of $322,805.68, went to the Child's Play charity, an organization to improve the lives of children in hospital through games. Near the end, donators were given the option to donate to decide Spamton's fate: you could donate towards his "freedom," or towards his "silence," with "freedom" ultimately winning. The Sweepstakes was also something of an ARG, with many secret elements scattered around the deltarune.com website providing what seem to be hints about the plot of future Deltarune chapters.
The Sweepstakes had a finale on the 18th in the form of a livestream on the Fangamer YouTube channel where the winners were announced, the whole thing being a little over half an hour long. Of course, it wasn't just that; it was a sort of horror production with purposeful VHS distortion in the style of shows and commercials from the late 20th century, produced by the Radio TV Solutions team. The stream is an experience to be sure, but the part we want to highlight here is that midway through the stream, "Spamton A. Spamton" and "Spamton B. Spamton," who are established to be actors imitating Spamton within the context of the stream, sing a song about accepting that they will die within an hour; the stream ends with Spamton A. Spamton running off set, coming out of a sewer, and desperately trying to call Spamton (presumably the "real" one) on a payphone, but something unseen ambushes the man and he is presumed dead as we see a shot of the phone hanging from its cord and a dial tone plays.
==External Sources==
*TV Tropes page
*Know Your Meme page
==External Links==
*Spamton on the Sexypedia Wiki.
Category:Characters
Category:Sillyman
Category:Tiamat
Category:Deltarune
Category:2021
Category:Toby Fox
Category:Animal Theming
Category:4th Wall Blurring
Category:Angst
Category:Lonely
Category:Distinctive Voice
Category:Quotable Catchphrase(s)
Category:Fanon Splintering
Category:Theme Song
Category:Chaoslord
Category:Retro
Category:Unkempt
Category:Distinctive Speech Patterns
Category:Perpetual Smiler
Category:Humanization
Category:LGBTQ+
Category:Creacher
Category:Stubby
Category:Distinctive Speech Patterns
Category:Smol
Category:Suitguy
Category:Spectacles
Category:Well-Dressed
Category:Sexypedia Overlap