Determination

> "The will to keep living... The resolve to change fate. Let's call this power... "Determination.""— ENTRY NUMBER 5, True Lab
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**Determination** is a power that allows SOULs to persist after death. The most determined being in the Underground is able to SAVE.

## Overview

Determination is naturally possessed by humans. Should a monster acquire a high concentration of determination, its body melts, usually into an amalgamate. The only known monster who may naturally possess determination is Undyne. A being without a SOUL can gain the will to live if it acquires determination, a prime example being Flowey.

### Physical Determination

The game never makes clear how physical determination would look like after extracted, if it's liquid, solid, vapor or if its visual form resembles a magic spell of some sort. On MENUs and SAVE Stars, determination is represented by the YELLOW HIGHLIGHT, but cannot be assumed that physical determination is yellow, considered something Fan-canon, making this subject of determination's physical appearance, fall on the Fudge category on RIFTALE and its Encyclopedia.

## Main Story

Save Points can be found throughout the game. These SAVE points express the protagonist's determination and thoughts in regards to recent events.

### True Pacifist Route

In the True Lab, it is revealed that Alphys started experimenting with determination extracted from human SOULs in an attempt to unleash the power of the SOUL. She used blueprints to operate the DT Extraction Machine to obtain determination and began injecting it into the bodies of monsters who had fallen down. However, since their bodies cannot handle determination, the monsters injected with determination soon melted together and became Amalgamates.

### Genocide Route

Undyne, fueled by her determination, challenges the protagonist as Undyne the Undying. When defeated, she melts in a similar fashion to Amalgamates like when she dies in her normal form.

At the end of the route, the fallen human speaks to the player directly, explaining that they were brought back to life due to the player's determination.

## Trivia

* The SAVE point description in Temmie Village refers determination as "detemmienation."
* "Determination" might be a play on words, as the primary power it affords is the ability to reverse death, either the protagonist's or those they may have killed, hence *de-termination*.
* It is unknown if the Amalgamates mimicking game elements such as Frisk's "!" dialogue box or SAVE points are actually happening and related to the Determination they have been injected with, or are simply breaks of the fourth wall intended to catch players off-guard.
* The DT Extraction Machine resembles Omega Flowey.

## Lesson...?

"Determination, the Ability to move forward despite any possible hardship, the promise to return for a second chance no matter how much you're beaten and bloody. The power of Determination has sculpted legends for all of humanity, impossible feats, one in a million shots made like they're nothing, while those that pull them off stand alone.
Enigmatic and masterful in execution, Determination is capable of embodying the positive and negative aspects of any part of humanity, capable of both mercy and murder, friendship and scorn, creation and destruction- and this is not just from the prospect of a forward marching timeline. Determination believes themselves above consequences, and it's never a question of "Right or Wrong" but instead "Right AND Wrong". Determination will not stop with saving the world, Determination will continue to destroy it as well, seeing their lives flash through their eyes simply because they've tasted the other side and want more.
Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. If you fixate your single burning eye on a human of Determination, feign being their friend for the chance of them being satisfied with with a happy ending, but gird yourself and never trust them... they might just be a Dirty Brother Killer.
Further, the Ability to see all and destroy all, the inability to form lasting connections, a burning curiosity that destroys all around it, seeking to de-legitimize the innocence of humanity. An ambition to get revenge on all those who have wronged you, even if you are destroyed in the progress, the antithesis of Perseverance, the ruling force of humanity and its single biggest enemy.
Humanity's worst enemy is itself, and from the primeval jungle we beat back the rest of mother nature and continue to strike at each other! Bravery stands up to Determination, unfearing of the death they know is to come. No matter how much more skilled Bravery is than Determination, Determination will find a way to grind them into the dust. It's inevitable. Justice would force Determination to answer for their crimes, but Justice too will fall to the endless power of the Blood Red Soul.
Under the burning human sun, Kindness and Patience can't bring themselves to fight the inevitable, and instead only help as much as they can. Determination has no interest in the weak, and never has. From far away, aware enough to never be in sight or in mind, Integrity turns their back on the unstoppable force that is Determination.
Determination will spare Asgore. Determination will kill Asgore. It's no difference, they exist in a superposition where they can do both. They can be the good guy, and the bad guy, but DETERMINATION will break the cycle. The world will grind to a halt and soon darkness will override everything. The only way to stop Determination is with DETERMINATION. The demons that haunt us at night and seek to plunge our very world into darkness are nothing but a barrier to stop us from doing it ourselves. We are our own worst enemies, and nothing but the crippling abyss, the antithesis of our own capacities can change that. Determination is everything, the abyss is nothing.

## References

1. ↑ "*ENTRY NUMBER 5 I've done it. Using the blueprints, I've extracted it from the human SOULs. I believe this is what gives their SOULs the strength to persist after death. The will to keep living. The resolve to change fate. Let's call this power... "Determination".*" - Entry Number 5, True Lab
2. ↑ "*And when I tried to load my save file... It didn't work. Your DETERMINATION! Somehow, it's even greater than mine!*" - Flowey
3. ↑ "*You see, unlike humans', monsters' bodies don't have enough... Physical matter to take those concentrations of "determination." Their bodies started to melt, and lost what physicality they had. Pretty soon, all of the test subjects had melted together into... Those.*" - Alphys, True Lab
4. ↑ "*ENTRY NUMBER 8 I've chosen a candidate. I haven't told ASGORE yet, because I want to surprise him with it... In the center of his garden, there's something special. The first golden flower, that grew before all the others. The flower from the outside world. It appeared just before the queen left. I wonder... What happens when something without a SOUL gains the will to live?*" - Entry number 8, True Lab
5. ↑ "*ENTRY NUMBER 1 This is it... Time to do what the King has asked me to do. I will create the power to free us all. I will unleash the power of the SOUL.*" - Entry number 1, True Lab