Dogamy and Dogaressa

What's that smell? (Where's that smell?)
If you're a smell... (... identify yoursmellf!)
Hmmm... Here's that weird smell...
It makes me want to eliminate.
(... Eliminate YOU!)

Dogamy and Dogaressa before their battle

Dogamy (JP: イヌッス) and Dogaressa (JP: イヌッサ), collectively referred to as Dogi (JP: イヌカップル), are a pair of minibosses encountered in Snowdin. If spared, they appear later as NPCs in Grillby's. They are members of the Royal Guard's Snowdin Canine Unit.

Profile

Appearance

They are near identical in appearance, both having round snouts, floppy ears, and muscular builds covered by dark hooded robes with the face of their spouse printed on the front. Their main differences in appearance being Dogamy's thick lowered brow, cowlick and pseudo-mustache, and Dogaressa's emphasized eyelashes. In battle, they both wield long battleaxes, with eyes that show features imitating those of their owners.

To differentiate between speakers in text boxes, Dogaressa's speech is always written between parentheses.

Personality

The sign near the area in which the Dogi are fought warns the protagonist of a "Dog Marriage". Inspecting the sign again yields the message "(Yes, you read that correctly.)"

They primarily use their sense of smell to detect others, but not much else, implying their eyesight is inferior, much like Doggo, who either of them may be biologically related to. Despite this, they love each other dearly, and this is shown in their attacks in battle, using heart-shaped attacks and coordinating their axe strikes to form a heart-shape with the gaps between their blades. Dogaressa is occasionally referred to as a puppy, referring to the human habit of referring to affectionate partners by the similarly infantile baby.

If either is killed in battle, the other's shirt is shown to have their spouse's picture on it, proving their love further. Each Dogi reacts differently towards the death of the other, with Dogamy falling into hopelessness and despair, while Dogaressa makes threats in a fit of rage, though both show their resentment toward the protagonist by growling and refusing to be pet.

The Dogi are implied to be color blind. The smell danger rating sign in front of their sentry stations gives human smell a GREEN Rating, with the word "green" in red letters.

Etymology

Dogaressa is the term used for the wife of a doge, the title used by the rulers of the Renaissance-era Republic of Venice (now part of Italy), which ties into the Dogi's marriage theme. The name Dogamy is a wordplay on the suffix -gamy used to describe different forms of marriage (endogamy, monogamy, etc.) and ties in with the pair's marriage theme and the sign near their area that reads "Warning: Dog Marriage".

Main story

Prior to the events of the game, the couple came #2 in the "Nose Nuzzle Championship '98", having lost the number one position to Toriel and Asgore.

Neutral Route

If the protagonist kills Dogamy and Dogaressa, interacting with Doggo in Grillby's leads him to wonder where they are, complaining that he cannot play alone because Greater Dog will win the card game matches. Similarly, the bear arranging the Christmas presents under the tree in Snowdin tells the protagonist about their present exchange tradition and wonders where they are.

If the protagonist kills all other dog enemies, Dogamy comments that the place smells "quiet". Dogaressa comments that Grillby's is lonely and asks the protagonist if they want to play a card match with her should her friends not show up, although the protagonist is not given the option to. If Dogamy and Dogaressa were the only Royal Guard members killed, Undyne comments on their deaths before her battle.

True Pacifist Route

Their yellow text in the credits of the game list them as being "finally" #1 Nose Nuzzle Champions; the previous number one champions (Toriel and Asgore) presumably being unable to participate in subsequent championships due to their divorce. To reflect this, they are shown nuzzling each other back and forth.

In the playable epilogue to the True Pacifist Route, the Dogi appear outside Snowdin library with Doggo, Greater Dog, and Endogeny. The Amalgamate is revealed to contain the parents of both of the Dogi, and Dogamy muses on whether this means he is now married to his sister before dismissing it as something dogs often do regardless.

In battle

Attacks

If the protagonist first slays Dogaressa, Dogamy's attacks become weaker; conversely, if the protagonist slays Dogamy, Dogaressa's attacks become stronger.

• Two axes are in the battle range. They rise a little before moving downward, moving in opposite directions. The attack ends with the axes creating a heart shape. To best avoid this attack, the SOUL should stay near the bottom of the bullet board and move under the axes when they rise.
• Two dogs are on each side of the battle range, the one the left (Dogamy) barks a ring of eight hearts to the dog on the right (Dogaressa). Four of the hearts are blue, allowing the SOUL to enter and leave the ring if they do not dodge it.
• If the protagonist slays Dogaressa, the only attack is the barking dogs, but there is only one dog barking on the left (Dogamy), which feebly barks a single heart towards the bottom of the screen. This represents Dogamy's sadness, as he becomes weaker and appears to be upset about Dogaressa's death in his quotes. The dog itself does not do actual damage.
• If the protagonist slays Dogamy, the only attack is the two axes going across the battle area, but they rise and drop much more rapidly. This represents Dogaressa's anger, as she becomes stronger and appears to be angry about Dogamy's death in her quotes. As the axes travel faster than originally, the aforementioned heart shape formed by the axes breaks apart before the attack ends, signifying Dogaressa's feelings of loss and heartbreak fueling her rage against the protagonist.

Strategy

Spare

• The protagonist must Roll Around in the snow to disguise their scent and then use Re-sniff, making the Dogi believe the protagonist is a lost puppy. The protagonist must then Pet both of them, opening their minds to the idea that dogs can pet other dogs and making them able to be spared.
• Alternatively, using the Stick as an item causes them to play fetch and can result in a SPARE as well.

Fight

• Killing Dogaressa sets Dogamy's DF to -30, quickening the kill process. His single attack becomes incredibly weak and easier to dodge, as the attack barely travels on the screen. Killing Dogamy sets Dogaressa DF to -8.
• Similarly to the Royal Guards, it is impossible to kill one of the Dogi while sparing the other.
  • If the player uses debug mode to kill one and spare the other, the game continues as if having killed both of them.

Quotes

Pre-battle

• What's that smell? (Where's that smell?)
• If you're a smell... (... identify yoursmellf!)
• Hmmm... Here's that weird smell...
• It makes me want to eliminate.
• (... Eliminate YOU!)

Battle

Dogamy

• Take my wife... 's fleas. [Neutral]
• Don't touch my hot dog. [Neutral]
• No. 2 Nuzzle Champs '98!! [Neutral]
• Let's kick human tail!! [Neutral]
• Hm? What's that smell? [Before Roll Around]
• What! Smells like a ... [Re-sniff after Roll Around]
• Paws off you smelly human. [Pet before Roll Around and Re-sniff]
• Wow!!! Pet by another pup!!! [Pet after Roll Around and Re-sniff]
• Stop! Don't touch her! [Pet Dogaressa before Roll Around and Re-sniff]
• What about me...... ........ [Pet Dogaressa after Roll Around and Re-sniff]
• Whine. [Alone]
• Whimper. [Alone]

Dogaressa

• (Don't, actually ...) [Neutral]
• (He means me.) [Neutral]
• (Of course we were second.) [Neutral]
• (Do humans have tails?) [Neutral]
• (Smell mystery) [Before Roll Around]
• (Are you actually a little puppy!?) [Re-sniff after Roll Around]
• (That's not your husband, OK?) [Pet Dogamy before Roll Around and Re-sniff]
• (Well. Don't leave me out!) [Pet Dogamy after Roll Around and Re-sniff]
• (Beware of dog.) [Pet before Roll Around and Re-sniff]
• (A dog that pets dogs... Amazing!) [Pet after Roll Around and Re-sniff]
• (Misery awaits you.) [Alone]
• (Kneel and suffer!) [Alone]
• (I'll chop you in half!) [Alone]
• (...) [Unused]

Post-battle

• [If spared by rolling around and petting]
  • Dogs can pet other dogs??? (A new world has opened up for us...)
  • Thanks, weird puppy!
• [If spared by using the Stick]
  • Weird smells can bring good things... (Friendly fun fetch!)
  • Thanks, weird smell! (It sure was fun to "stick" together!)

Flavor text

Dogi

• Dogi assault you! [Encounter]
• The Dogs keep shifting their axes to protect each other. [Neutral]
• The Dogs are re-evaluating your smell. [Neutral]
• The Dogs are practicing for the next couples contest. [Neutral]
• The Dogs are saying sickly sweet things to each other. [Neutral]
• The Dogs are too suspicious of your smell. [Pet Dogamy before Roll Around and Re-Sniff]
• The Dogaressa is too suspicious of your smell. [Pet Dogaressa before Roll Around and Re-Sniff]
• [Roll Around]
  • You roll around in the dirt and snow.
  • You smell like a weird puppy.
• The Dogs may want to re-smell you. [After Roll Around]
• [Re-Sniff before Roll Around]
  • The Dogs sniff you again...
  • But you smell just as weird as before!
• [Re-Sniff after Roll Around]
  • The Dogs sniff you again...
  • After rolling in the dirt, you smell all right!
• The Dogs think that you may be a lost puppy. [After Roll Around and Re-Sniff]
• You pet Dogamy. [Pet Dogamy after Roll Around and Re-Sniff]
• You pet the Dogaressa. [Pet Dogaressa after Roll Around and Re-Sniff]
• The Dogs already know you smell fine. [Re-Sniff again]
• You threw the stick and the dogs ran to get it. You played fetch for a while. [Using Stick]
• The Dogs' minds have been expanded. [Spare conditions met]
  • Every dog loves to play fetch!!! [After using Stick]

Dogamy

• Husband of Dogaressa. Knows only what he smells. [Check]
• Dogamy is brokenhearted. [Neutral]
• Dogamy just growls at you. [Pet]
• Dogamy won't even lift up his snout. [Re-Sniff]
• You threw the stick. But nothing happened. [Using Stick]

Dogaressa

• This puppy finds her hubby lovely. SMELLS ONLY? [Check]
• The Dogaressa is on the warpath. [Neutral]
• The Dogaressa just growls at you. [Pet]
• The Dogaressa won't even lift up her snout. [Re-Sniff]
• You threw the stick. But nothing happened. [Using Stick]

Creation and development

In the UNDERTALE Art Book and the 10th Anniversary Stream, Toby Fox states that Dogamy and Dogaressa's designs are inspired by Brian Lee's Trobblers.

Outside of Undertale

In Deltarune, Dogamy and Dogaressa, along with the rest of the Snowdin Canine Unit, appear in Chapter 2 the Wet-Nose Bandits who are a group of criminals. They start off in jail, having run straight into Undyne's arms while fleeing a failed break-in, but can be accidentally freed when trying to warn Undyne about Dark Fountains. They can later be found in Hometown's library in Chapter 4, where they feign reading books.

Gallery

• 
  Dogamy and Dogaressa pins sold on Fangamer.
• 
  Dogamy and Dogaressa tarot card as "The Lovers"
• 
  Artwork from Undertale's 5th anniversary.
• 
  Dogamy and Dogaressa seen in the background of the Royal Guards tarot card.
• 
  Dogamy and Dogaressa as seen in the background of Grillby's tarot card.