Ceroba Ketsukane

* Battle
* Kitsune
* Battle (Genocide)
* Face
* Overworld

A legacy not to be forgotten.

**Ceroba Ketsukane** is a major character in Undertale Yellow. She is Chujin's widow and the mother of Kanako. Intent on taking Clover's SOUL and advance Chujin's legacy, she serves as the final boss of the Pacifist route.

During the Genocide route, she replaces Starlo as Wild East's boss after Clover duels and kills Starlo.

## Profile

### Appearance

Ceroba is a fox-like monster with beige fur and long, wavy ginger hair. Her hair is tied up in a ponytail by a red ribbon with a small gold bell in the center. She has a long, white kimono with red trimmings, a red obi sash tied around her waist and long, white boots to match.

During her battle phases, she carries a long red staff with a bright yellow bell at the end two little red ribbons tied around the ends of the bell. Her attacks in the overworld are represented as white and pink flashes of light.

### Personality

Brilliant, supportive, and skeptical, Ceroba is a powerful ally when it comes to wanting to help those closest to her. She is shown to care a lot for her loved ones. However, she is highly stubborn, even going so far as to question the true meaning of Asgore's words when confronted with the truth of her husband's employment. Because of this, she is firm on her husband's legacy as a scientist and a hero of the underground, and she spends the days after her husband's passing trying to complete the work that he had passed down to her. However, when she finally tests it on Kanako and has it result in her falling down, Ceroba's beliefs strengthen to the point that she is fully willing to kill Clover to save the rest of the underground.

Ceroba is observant, and can tell how others are feeling just by a glance, and can also notice a shift or change in the other's moods. Though she is not hesitant to say them to others, she will try to hide them from those she loves as long as it does not harm others. An example of this is her relationship with Starlo, and she didn't confront him about his behavior until after his friends had come up about how it was making the rest of them feel. She is quite honest and straight-forward as well.

## Main Story

### Neutral Route

Most events regarding Ceroba that take place during the Pacifist route in the Wild East occur here as well.

If Starlo is killed, Ceroba finds Clover and asks them where he went. Regardless of their answer, she says she'll go north and ask his family. Going into the family home shows her talking to Starlo's family, thinking he'll return soon as they haven't exhausted all options and "he's a softie at heart", and leaves, this being her last appearance of the route.

If Starlo is spared, Ceroba will not follow Clover inside the Steamworks and will instead leave after interrupting the fight. She says this is because of Clover being strong enough to handle it on their own, but it is presumably due to Ceroba not being able to follow through with her plan to kill Clover because their SOUL is not pure, rendering Chujin's plan unusable.

### **Pacifist Route**

Clover first meets Ceroba in the Wild East. Ceroba formally introduces herself to Clover after Clover is taken to the saloon. She requests that Clover entertain Starlo, and in return, will see what she can do with letting them leave. Ceroba appears during most events with Starlo and the Feisty Four, and Clover is usually able to talk to her afterwards. After the battle with Starlo, she requests for you to accompany her through the Steamworks and to the lab in order to find Kanako, whom she hints to Starlo and Clover is still alive. Ceroba sends Starlo back to the Wild East and is with Clover for the majority of the Steamworks. While traversing the Steamworks, she reveals bits of her past. When the pair reaches the elevator on the other side of the Steamworks, they're confronted by Starlo and Ed. Here, it's revealed that while trying to arrange a party, Ed discovered something hidden within her house. Ceroba appears to panic and runs into the elevator, leaving Clover with Starlo and Ed.

### Genocide Route

Ceroba's first and only appearance in the Genocide route is soon after you kill Starlo in a duel. Having warned Starlo about Clover and expecting him to run away, instead Starlo challenges Clover to a duel. Regardless of if Starlo wins or loses the duel, Clover shoots him down. Ceroba appears In Starlo's last moments, and he encourages Ceroba to do what's right as she hugs him, before he soon turns to dust. Ceroba snaps at Clover and initiates a battle against them. Ceroba eventually falls to Clover, not before wishing them to go to hell.

## In Battle

*Main article: Ceroba Ketsukane/In Battle*
## Relationships

### Chujin Ketsukane

Chujin is Ceroba’s (dead) husband. It is shown throughout the game, (mainly in the Pacifist Route,) that Ceroba loved him very dearly. In the Steamworks, it is clear that Ceroba shows somewhat strong resentment towards Asgore because of his disregard of the eventual creation of Axis, (Chujin’s creation). Despite this, Ceroba and Chujin were somewhat distant when it came to Chujin’s work. Until going into the Steamworks, Ceroba was unaware that Chujin had finished creating Axis. She also remarked that she does not see Chujin very often, as he is usually in his lab[citation needed]. Most of all, she was not aware that Chujin had been fired from this job, claiming that he had retired. Regardless, it is Ceroba’s strong love towards Chujin that influences her motivations throughout the game, (specifically in the Pacifist Route.) She is willing to obtain Clover’s soul by ending their life, and deceive Starlo in order to progress his plans.

### Kanako Ketsukane

Kanako was Ceroba’s daughter. Ceroba is shown to deeply care about Kanako through dialogue and flashbacks. At some point, after Chujin's death, Kanako discovered the tapes in the basement. Upon finding out that Kanako discovered these tapes, she told her that she wasn't going to make Kanako a part of Chujin's plans. Despite this, Kanako eventually convinces Ceroba to use her soul, injecting the Integrity SOUL extract into her to extract the serum from. Kanako fell down soon after Ceroba gave her the extract which caused Ceroba to fall into depression.

### Starlo

It is shown throughout the game that Starlo and Ceroba are close friends. Presumably ever since childhood. Despite that, during the Pacifist route she still refuses to tell Starlo about her plans to finish Chujin's work using Clover's soul, and attacks him right before the final boss-battle of the Pacifist route. She does still deeply care about him though as shown during the Genocide route. When she snaps upon his demise at the hands of Clover which is what initiates her Genocide route battle.

When talking to her in the Steamworks, Ceroba mentions that she considered dating Starlo when she was "a naive kid", suggesting their relationship was a lot closer in the past. She also states her reason for moving on was because she wanted to grow up, and Starlo didn't follow.

## Gallery

A photograph of Ceroba and Starlo as teenagers, found in Starlo's family home.A photograph of Ceroba, Chujin, and Kanako found in the Ketsukane Estate.Concept artwork of Ceroba in the pacifist ending.Ceroba in Kitsune form with a slightly damaged mask (phase 2).Ceroba in Kitsune form with a heavily damaged mask (phase 3).
## Trivia

* Ceroba is one of the final bosses along with Martlet and Flowey.
	+ She is the final boss of the True Pacifist Route.
* While it is impossible to battle Ceroba on a casual playthrough of the Neutral route, it is still possible to see her in the first phase of the Flowey fight if a Genocide route is aborted after killing her in her Wild East battle.
* Ceroba's design is most likely to be inspired by the Kitsune, a creature from Japanese folklore. Kitsune are known to be tricksters, and this correlates with her attempt to trick Clover and take their SOUL.
* As shown in concept art the names for the pacifist ending phases are: Devoted, Decisive and Determined for each respective phase with the mask. This seems to lineup with the motto of her family's crest.
* In her masked forms she doesn't actually have tails, instead it is just her hair which resembles them. (As explained in the concept art)
* As revealed in the Pacifist Route when talking to her, Ceroba is scared of heights.
* Ceroba mentions Undyne and Waterfall in the Steamworks.

1. ↑ "Well... Perhaps at one point in my life I considered it. You know, back when I was a naive kid, kinda like you." ... "But honestly... I wanted to grow up and... Star wouldn't follow." - Talk option in `rm_steamworks_factory_01`
``- ↑ "I bet your faith in me is dwindling with every new obstacle" ... "I'm just as annoyed as you, trust me." ... "This journey should've been a cakewalk like I said." ... "Even still, it's likely the best path to Hotland we could've picked" ... "Places like Waterfall are heavily patrolled." ... "Guess there's also a patrol here, but..." ... "**Between Axis and Undyne, I'll take my chances**" ... "Doesn't seem like these bots want to leave the Steamworks either." ... "We won't be followed." - Talk option in rm\_steamworks\_factory\_01``