Determination
The will to keep living... The resolve to change fate.
Let's call this power...
"Determination."ENTRY NUMBER 5, True Lab
Determination (JP: ケツイ) is a power that allows SOULs to persist after death.[1] The most determined being in the underground is able to SAVE.[2][3]
Determination is naturally possessed by humans and Boss Monsters. Undyne is the only regular monster who is confirmed to naturally have determination; should a monster acquire too much determination for their body to handle, their body melts upon death, usually turning to dust soon after. If multiple monsters melt in close proximity, they can form into an Amalgamate.[4] A being without a SOUL can gain the will to live if it acquires determination, a prime example being Flowey.[5]
SAVE Points can be found throughout the game. They express the protagonist's determination and thoughts in regards to recent events, and are manifestations of determination.[6]
If the protagonist kills Undyne, then she melts in a similar fashion to the Amalgamates before turning to dust.
As the protagonist traverses the True Lab, it is revealed that Alphys experimented with determination in an attempt to unleash the power of the SOUL and break the barrier.[7] Using blueprints to operate the lab's DT Extraction Machine, she extracted determination from the six human SOULs and injected it into the bodies of monsters who had fallen down, along with a golden flower that consequently became Flowey. Since monster bodies cannot handle determination, the monsters injected with it soon combined into Amalgamates.
During the fight against Asriel, the protagonist's determination reaches critical levels, exceeding their limit and making them incapable of dying,[3] resulting in the ability to Refuse.
When using a SAVE Point after exhausting a region's kill count, it only says "Determination." with no context in particular.
When Undyne takes a fatal blow from the protagonist, she holds on through her determination and challenges the protagonist as Undyne the Undying. Upon defeat, she melts in a similar fashion to how she melts on the Neutral Route before turning to dust.
- The description of the SAVE Point at Temmie Village refers to determination as "detemmienation".
- "Determination" is 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.[3]
- ↑
I've done it.
— ENTRY NUMBER 5, True Lab
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." - ↑
And when I tried to load my save file...
— Flowey
It didn't work.
<Name>... Your DETERMINATION!
Somehow, it's even greater than mine! - 1 2 3 "“Determination” also turns out to be Alphys’ code word for an actual physical substance that she injects into monsters, one that humans produce naturally in large quantities. This substance has the following properties:
- Creatures with too much are unable to die (de - termination)
- The being with the most “Determination” in the underground has the power to change fate and use the in-game save/load system"
- ↑
You see, unlike humans', monsters' bodies don't have enough...
— Alphys
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. - ↑
I've chosen a candidate.
— ENTRY NUMBER 8, True Lab
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? - ↑
This is a SAVE point. It's the manifestation of your own DETERMINATION.
— Undertale Demo Manual, page 6 - ↑
This is it... Time to do what the King has asked me to do.
— ENTRY NUMBER 1, True Lab
I will create the power to free us all.
I will unleash the power of the SOUL.