Asriel

Don't kill, and don't be killed, alright?
That's the best you can strive for.

Asriel, in the epilogue

Asriel Dreemurr (JP: アズリエル・ドリーマー) (typically /ˈæzriəl ˈdɹiːmər/) is the true form of Flowey, and the overarching antagonist of Undertale. As the biological child of Toriel and Asgore, he is the former prince of monsters, as well as being the best friend of the fallen human.

At the end of all three routes, Asriel appears in one of his forms, and is the last monster the protagonist confronts. As Asriel, he serves as the final boss of the True Pacifist Route, replacing Asgore in New Home.

Profile

Appearance

Asriel is a Boss Monster; like his mother, he resembles the Mimiga species from Cave Story. He has white fur, long ears, a snout, and a set of visible fangs. As a child, he lacks horns and has a small tuft of fur atop his head, unlike his parents. He wears a green long-sleeved shirt with yellow stripes and black pants, similarly to the fallen human's clothing. The number of stripes on his shirt varies: in his battle sprite before becoming the "God of Hyperdeath" it has four, in the flashback cutscene during his battle it has one, and in his overworld appearance it has two. Asriel's overworld sprite shares a color palette (white, yellow, green, and black) with Flowey's.

God of Hyperdeath

In contrast to his appearance as a child, Asriel has black sclerae with white slit pupils, longer fangs, a pair of horns, and black markings on the sides of his face. He wears a long robe with white sleeves and the Delta Rune symbol, akin to Toriel's robe, as well as a large collar with shoulder pads. He also wears a locket similar to the Heart Locket, which is named spr_asriellocket.

Final form

Asriel's body becomes more geometric, his horns are longer, and his claws and teeth get sharper. He has a pair of wings that continuously change color, and his lower body becomes sharp and heart-shaped. This form physically resembles the Delta Rune, as well as Undyne the Undying's armor and Mettaton NEO's body.

Personality

Before his death, Asriel was a docile, loving, and gentle child. He was also compassionate, as he helped the injured fallen human despite The War of Humans and Monsters. In the VHS tapes, Asriel's dialogue implies he highly trusted the fallen human, as he continued their plan to break the barrier to free monsterkind in spite of his doubt and discomfort.

As Flowey, he lacks a SOUL and is incapable of feeling love. This saddened him initially, as he blamed himself for his fate. Eventually, he became resentful and murderous.

After temporarily regaining his compassion, Asriel regrets adopting the "kill or be killed" philosophy and apologizes for his actions to the protagonist, understanding that they may not forgive him.

Upon exhausting all of his dialogue during the True Pacifist Route epilogue, Asriel will say "Don't you have anything better to do?" to the Protagonist, a quote said several times by Flowey.

It is possible that Asriel inherited his father's trait of being bad at coming up with names, as he named his flower form "Flowey".

Etymology

Asriel's name has several origins and meanings behind it. It is a combination of the names of his parents, Asgore and Toriel, likely stemming from Asgore being terrible at naming things, and Toriel's implied affinity for names ending in "riel". Interestingly, the name follows Anglo-Saxon naming traditions, from where the English language imported names such as Albert, Edgar, or Wilfred. His name may have also been inspired by typical goat naming conventions, in which goats are named after a combination of both their parents' names.

"Asriel" is partially derived from "Azrael", the angel of death in some sects of Judaism and Islam. It is also an anagram of "Israel", the country where Judaism was founded.

"Asriel Dreemurr" is an anagram of "Serial Murderer", referencing his violent behavior as Flowey. "Dreemurr" is similar in pronunciation to "Dreamer", alluded by the "Dream" ACT in the battle with him and by the title of a track that plays during said battle, Hopes and Dreams.

"Asriel" is a name of Hebrew origin that means "helped by God". This name appears several times in the Tanakh, the equivalent to the Christian Old Testament. The literal translation is "I shall be prince of God".

"Asriel" is an anagram of "Ralsei", which is the name of a character with a similar appearance from Deltarune, a game Toby Fox also created. His name and appearance could have also been inspired by Sariel, from the game Touhou: Highly Responsive to Prayers.

Main story

History

Asriel discovers the fallen human prior to the events of Undertale.

In 201X, long before the events of Undertale, Asriel was the prince of monsters in the underground. In the Ruins, he found the fallen human — the first human to fall into the underground. He helped them up, then assisted them as he brought them to New Home. After bringing them to his parents, the fallen human became Asriel's best friend and adoptive sibling.

At some point, the two devised a plan to break the barrier and free monsterkind. When the fallen human fell ill due to consuming buttercups, Asriel absorbed their SOUL to fulfill their last wish, which was to see the golden flowers at their village on the surface. With their shared SOUL and body, the fallen human carried their own body across the barrier to their home village.

The villagers assumed Asriel had killed the human child and attacked him in response. Asriel fled the village, refusing to fight back. Upon his return to the underground, he died from his injuries and turned to dust, which spread across the garden in New Home.

Asriel as Flowey, his SOULless form

Later, as part of Alphys's experiments with determination, she injected the substance into one of the golden flowers from the garden — the first one to bloom after Asriel's death. Initial experiments on the flower vessel proved unsuccessful, and Alphys returned it to Asgore. Not long after being replanted, Asriel awoke within the garden, reincarnated as Flowey.

Though the injection of determination granted Flowey the will to live, he soon found that neither his mother nor father could elicit any emotional response from him. He did not have a SOUL and thus could not feel love, joy, or compassion, which eventually turned him murderous.

Neutral Route

It sounds like it came from over here...
Oh! You've fallen down, haven't you...
Are you okay?
Here, get up...
...
<Name>, huh?
That's a nice name.
My name is

Asriel, in the memory the protagonist recalls at the garbage dump

Asriel does not appear in-person during the Neutral Route. However, when the protagonist falls into the garbage dump, they hear Asriel's voice while recalling a memory from the fallen human.

As the protagonist traverses New Home, various monsters recount the story of Asriel and the fallen human to them.

True Pacifist Route

Frisk...
You're...
You're going to do a great job, OK?
No matter what you do.
Everyone will be there for you, okay?
Well... My time's running out.
Goodbye.

Asriel

Within the True Lab, the protagonist discovers that the fallen human and Asriel had worked together on a plan to retrieve six human SOULs and reach the surface. As the human was on their deathbed, Asriel told them he did not think it was a good plan anymore; ultimately, this led to him aborting the plan.

When the protagonist restores the power to the True Lab's elevator and enters it, they receive a Cell Phone call from someone whose voice they "have never heard before". The voice is revealed to be Asriel's shortly after.

Flowey transforms into Asriel after the protagonist encounters Asgore, by absorbing the six human SOULs along with every monster's SOUL (except Napstablook's).

Battle against Asriel, as Hopes and Dreams plays

Asriel greets the protagonist as "<Name>" before transforming into the "God of Hyperdeath". He tells the protagonist that he does not care about destroying the world anymore, and instead wants to reset the timeline so that everything unfolds again from the beginning. Asriel believes that the protagonist will continue even if he resets the timeline because they want a "happy" ending.

Following the "Hyper Goner" attack, Asriel states that his first form is a fraction of his real power and transforms into his final form. He reasserts that the protagonist will die in a world where nobody remembers them.

The protagonist calls out to the Lost Souls inside Asriel's SOUL, and reminds them that they are friends with the protagonist. After all of the Lost Souls regain their memories, the protagonist realizes that there is someone else who needs to be saved. The protagonist calls their name, and several sepia tone pictures of Asriel and the fallen human together are displayed.

Asriel apologizes to the protagonist following his battle.

Overwhelmed by his memories of the fallen human, Asriel begins crying and reverts to his appearance as a child. Upon learning that the protagonist's name is "Frisk", Asriel tells them that the monsters really love them and apologizes for his actions. He then breaks the barrier with the power of the SOULs.

He then tells Frisk that he has to go. Frisk has the option to hug Asriel before he leaves. As he walks away, Asriel tells Frisk to take care of his parents for him.

Asriel can then be found at the flowerbed in the Ruins. Frisk may only encounter him immediately after they fight him; if the player watches the True Pacifist ending credits and reloads the game, Asriel does not appear. He speaks extensively to Frisk and offers them a different philosophy than before: "Don't kill, and don't be killed." He also mentions to be careful on the surface because "[t]here are a lot of Floweys out there".

Asriel briefly appears in the credits as the "God of Hyperdeath", reminding the player that they are not finished yet. Reverting to his appearance as a child, he begins the "Special Thanks" portion of the credits. After the credits, Asriel returns as Flowey if the game is reopened.

Genocide Route

For further information, see Flowey § Genocide Route.

Flowey mimics Asriel while begging for mercy.

Asriel does not appear in-person on the Genocide Route. At New Home, the monsters who tell the story of Asriel and the fallen human do not appear, meaning Asriel's name is never mentioned on the route. Instead, Flowey welcomes the protagonist before discussing his experiences in the body of a flower, as well as how he discovered his ability to SAVE.

After killing Asgore, Flowey emulates Asriel's face and voice while begging for the protagonist not to kill him.

In battle

For an in-battle description, see Asriel/In battle.

Relationships

The protagonist

On the True Pacifist Route, Asriel initially mistakes the protagonist for the fallen human. After the final boss fight, he realizes that Frisk is not the fallen human and asks what their real name is. If Frisk backtracks to the flowerbed, he tells them that he no longer regrets not killing the humans since another war would've happened otherwise, though he does think the situation could have ended better because of how long it took for the monsters to be freed. After the credits, Flowey asks the player not to reset everything and let Frisk live their life.

The fallen human

Asriel and his family before the events of Undertale

Asriel found the fallen human when they fell into the underground. He became their best friend after they were adopted by the Dreemurr family, and the two formed a sibling-like bond.

After the human carried their own body to their village on the surface, Asriel decided not to act on his best friend's desire to unleash their shared body's full power, and the villagers fatally wounded them. With the human's body in his arms, Asriel returned to the underground and collapsed from the injuries. After becoming Flowey, he could not think of a world without the fallen human due to considering them the only person who understands him, to the point of attempting to commit suicide and mistaking the protagonist for the fallen human. After the protagonist saves Asriel during the battle with him, he admits the fallen human "wasn't really the greatest person".

Asgore

For Asgore's perspective, see Asgore § Asriel.

Asgore is Asriel's father. When Asriel first awakened as Flowey, Asgore was the one to find him. Asriel then "spent weeks" with his father, hoping to feel something; however, having lost his SOUL, he eventually discovered he felt nothing for Asgore anymore.

Asriel's habit of saying "golly" and "howdy" is shared with Asgore.

Toriel

For Toriel's perspective, see Toriel § Asriel.

Toriel is Asriel's mother. After failing to feel anything with Asgore, Flowey had turned to Toriel in hopes of feeling love again with her. This ultimately failed as well, as he could not love others without a SOUL.

Creation and development

Concept art of Asriel with "boyband hair"

Asriel originally stood in battle; he flies in the final game because, as stated in the UNDERTALE Art Book, he "looked like a doofus" just standing.

Toby Fox considered giving Asriel's "God of Hyperdeath" form "boyband hair" for "five seconds" before rejecting the idea. However, he later said he was glad that Asriel was eventually understood as the kind of character who would have that hairstyle.

A document from a very early stage of Undertale's development shared by Toby during the 10th Anniversary Stream revealed that Asriel was going to have two obtainable items related to him, "Asriel's Shirt" and "Asriel's Bat".

Outside of Undertale

Newsletter

The ISSUE 7 - Autumn 2024 of the Newsletter, sent out on Undertale's 9th Anniversary, contains a Letter at the end. The letter is implied to be written by Asriel.

Asriel writes that the fallen human's favorite number is nine, since it is "the highest number", and states that the human's reason is "[i]f everything gets high enough, you become invincible. Nothing can hurt you anymore. Nothing can hurt anyone anymore." However, he prefers to not keep count of his good memories with the fallen human, and simply hopes that he will continue to be friends with them for "999 more years".

Deltarune

Main article: Asriel

In Deltarune, Asriel is absent from Hometown during any of the currently-released Chapters, as he is attending a university out of town. He lives in the Dreemurr residence with Toriel and Kris, who is his younger sibling.

Gallery

• 
  Asriel in his child form, crying
• 
  Frisk hugging Asriel at the end of the True Pacifist Route
• 
  Asriel in the True Pacifist ending credits
• 
  Asriel's sassy headshake in battle
• 
  Asriel wielding a pair of blades in battle
• 
  Flowey mimicing Asriel's face
• 
  Asriel in Flowey's tarot card, as Major Arcana XII, "The Hanged Man"
• 
  The official tarot card for Asriel's "God of Hyperdeath" form, as Major Arcana I, "The Magician"
• 
  The official tarot card for Asriel's final form, as Major Arcana XIII, "Death"

Trivia

• If the player attempts to name the fallen human "Asriel", the narration reads "..." and the game bars the name from use.
• If the protagonist has not killed anyone, Flowey's monologue at the end of the Ruins includes the line "I am the prince of this world's future." This may be a hint at his old self, who was the prince of monsterkind prior to his death.

See also

• Asriel article on the Deltarune Wiki