Frisk

For the first fallen human who is named by the player, see Chara.

You're not actually <Name>, are you?
<Name>'s been gone for a long time.
...
Um... what...
What IS your name?
...
"Frisk?"
That's...
A nice name.

Asriel

Frisk (JP: フリスク) is the playable character, main protagonist, and the eighth human in Undertale. After falling into the underground, they venture to return to the surface, whether neutrally, mercilessly, or peacefully. The True Pacifist Route is the only route where Frisk's name is revealed.

Profile

Appearance

Frisk is a human child who wears a long-sleeve light blue shirt with two magenta stripes, light blue pants (often depicted as shorts in the official Undertale merch), and red-brown shoes (usually depicted as black or in a darker tone). When hugging Asriel, other magenta stripes appear on Frisk's shirt sleeves. They have medium-length straight red-brown hair, short and choppy bangs, and a blank facial expression — however, various NPCs have described emotions showing on their face. As with the fallen human, they have no stated gender and are solely referred to with "they/them" pronouns throughout the game, or by generic terms (such as "child", "human", or "kid").

Personality

Frisk's personality is usually ambiguous, and they're very often speechless. However, the narration that describes Frisk's actions occasionally changes depending on their LOVE. Frisk speaks to NPCs throughout the game, especially when ACTing in encounters, but the exact dialogue is implied only through choice prompts. NPCs' dialogue boxes display "..." to show that the NPC is listening to Frisk, and some NPCs respond to questions that Frisk asks.

Depending on their actions, players can interpret Frisk as kind or violent. Some NPCs emphasize Frisk's kindness, understanding, and grace in the epilogue. Frisk is obedient and only disallows player input when they follow someone else's instructions, such as when Sans tells them to hide behind the conveniently-shaped lamp. Despite this, Frisk can express displeasure at certain choices the player makes, such as when selecting soda in Undyne's house.

Abilities

Frisk's determination grants them the power to SAVE, heal at SAVE Points, and respawn at SAVE Points after death. This power emerged when Frisk first awoke in the Ruins. Frisk can reload the SAVE file to repeat events that occur after it, but NPCs' memories are not entirely erased unless a True Reset occurs or the Genocide Route is completed. Flowey's dialogue after the True Pacifist Route's ending implies that Frisk is not the one manipulating SAVE files.

Frisk is the only character who is ever shown using items or gaining EXP.

Main story

Neutral Route

Toriel leading Frisk through a dangerous puzzle in the Ruins.

Flowey attempts to kill Frisk after he pretends to offer honest advice. Toriel intervenes, fends Flowey off with fire magic, and serves as a guide to the Ruins. At the end of a long room, Toriel asks Frisk to wait for her to return and states that she has errands to do. To be safe, Toriel gives Frisk a Cell Phone to call her with.

Frisk travels through the remaining puzzles in the Ruins and eventually arrives at Toriel's home. They ask Toriel "How to exit the RUINS", which prompts Toriel to destroy the Ruins's exit. Toriel then battles Frisk because she wants them to prove that they can survive outside of the Ruins.

Then, Frisk meets Sans and Papyrus in Snowdin. The brothers set up traps and puzzles in an attempt to capture them. After Frisk passes through Snowdin Town, Papyrus confronts them.

Undyne, the head of the Royal Guard, pursues Frisk throughout Waterfall. Monster Kid often saves Frisk from Undyne by accident because they are so excited to see her in action. Following a chase, Undyne destroys a bridge that Frisk is standing on, and the latter falls into the garbage dump. Before they get up, they recall a memory from the fallen human. In the garbage dump, Mad Dummy battles Frisk after accusing them of mistreating their cousin, Dummy, in the Ruins. At the end of Waterfall, Undyne duels with Frisk after giving an abridged monologue atop a crag.

Upon entering Hotland, Frisk enters a Lab and meets Alphys and Mettaton. Alphys tells Frisk that she is not a bad guy, and Mettaton interrupts them with a quiz show. Alphys gives Frisk an upgraded cell phone after the quiz show concludes. She guides Frisk through Hotland and the CORE, helping them solve puzzles and evade Mettaton. At the end of the CORE, Mettaton reveals that Alphys had created all of the traps in Hotland in an attempt to endear herself to Frisk. He then transforms into Mettaton EX and fights Frisk in order to attain their SOUL.

While passing through New Home, the capital of the underground, Frisk learns the story of Asgore and Toriel's children from passing monsters. Then, Sans judges Frisk in the Last Corridor and explains the meaning of LOVE and EXP. He also emphasizes Frisk's importance in the fate of the world.

Escape

The battle against Asgore.

Frisk enters the Throne Room and finds Asgore, who tries to make small talk, only to realize their fated confrontation. The two walk to the barrier and Asgore gives Frisk one last opportunity to leave before fighting.

Just before the fight, Asgore shows the six collected human SOULs, preparing the containment process after the battle. He also destroys the MERCY button with his trident, making it impossible to spare or flee. However, at the fight's conclusion, Frisk can explicitly choose whether to spare or kill Asgore. Regardless of the choice, Flowey appears, destroys Asgore's SOUL and takes the human SOULs. The game then abruptly closes, or restarts from the fake "humans and monsters" intro on the console versions.

When the game is reopened, Frisk finds out that Flowey has overwritten their SAVE file with his own game, having gained the power to do so from the stolen human SOULs. Loading Flowey's game, Frisk confronts Omega Flowey. Regardless of the equipped weapon, the attack animation defaults to a curled, red slash during this fight. This animation and the sound effect is shared with the Stick, Toy Knife, Worn Dagger, and Real Knife.

After Frisk calls for help several times, the stolen SOULs begin to revolt: first, they heal Frisk, and then they weaken Flowey, leaving him vulnerable to damage. Eventually, Frisk reduces Flowey's HP to 0, to which he regenerates his HP in full via reloading a SAVE file. After Frisk listens to Flowey's gloating and calls for help one more time, the human SOULs strip Flowey of his ability to SAVE or LOAD and finish him off. After this, Frisk can choose to kill or spare the weakened Flowey before leaving the underground, returning to the surface, and ending their journey.

Sans's phone call introduction in most Neutral Route endings.

After Frisk leaves the underground, they receive a phone call from Sans, who leaves a message about what happened to the underground in the wake of Asgore's death. The call's contents vary based on what monsters were killed and what friendships were completed.

True Pacifist Route

To complete the True Pacifist Route, Frisk must have first completed the Neutral Route.

If Frisk has completed the Neutral Route without gaining any EXP or LV (i.e. without killing anyone), it is possible to backtrack in the existing SAVE file to complete any missing friendships, then achieve the True Pacifist ending.

If Frisk acquires any EXP or LV, they have to reset the game to reach the True Pacifist ending.

Friendships

While Frisk befriends many of the monsters in the underground, only the Undyne, Papyrus, and Alphys friendships are required to achieve the True Pacifist ending.

Frisk gains Papyrus's friendship by visiting him at his home and hanging out or dating him.

If Frisk chooses to give Undyne some water after being pursued, Undyne can be befriended (if they have not gained any EXP beforehand). Otherwise, a reset is needed to achieve Undyne's trust and friendship. Frisk visits Undyne with Papyrus's help, and Undyne gets "revenge" by trying to befriend Frisk and become "besties", setting her house on fire in the process. She tries to fight Frisk to regain honor but realizes that Frisk is a "wimpy loser with a big heart" just like Asgore and decides to be friends.

Undyne, having been encouraged to send a love letter to Alphys, gives the letter to Frisk, who delivers it to Alphys. This results in a date sequence with Alphys in which she and Undyne realize their feelings for each other and Alphys begins to come to terms with her past mistakes.

After befriending Alphys, Papyrus recommends traveling to Alphys's Lab. In the lab, there is a letter on the floor that, when picked up, reads a monologue and the instructions needed to learn "the truth." Walking through the bathroom door reveals an elevator which goes down to the True Lab after a malfunction.

Frisk then explores the True Lab and learns of Alphys's failed experiments with determination and the origin of Flowey along the way. After talking to Alphys, she gains the confidence to reveal the truth about her experiments to the rest of the underground. While attempting to leave, Frisk receives a phone call in the elevator from an unknown person. The elevator immediately and forcibly brings Frisk to New Home.

Barrier

Flowey restrains Frisk's friends before the final battle.

After returning to the Throne Room and confronting Asgore again, the pre-fight dialogue is interrupted by Toriel, who stops Asgore from fighting Frisk. Toriel is immediately followed by the other main characters who encourage everyone to get along. However, in a surprise twist, Papyrus reveals that it was "a tiny flower" who told him to bring everyone there.

Immediately after this, Flowey appears, having again stolen the SOULs of the six other humans. He attempts to kill Frisk, but Undyne, Toriel, Alphys, Asgore, Sans, and Papyrus use their power to block Flowey's finishing blows. Directly after this, all of the underground's monsters arrive to encourage Frisk in the fight against Flowey. However, Flowey reveals that this is what he wanted all along so that he could absorb the souls of all the monsters in the underground along with the six human SOULs.

Asriel's intro right before the final battle.

Due to the immense power gained from the six human SOULs and all of the monster SOULs, Flowey can transform into his true form; just before the fight begins, it is revealed that he is actually Asriel.

During this fight, Frisk is invincible; any fatal hit instead causes the SOUL to reform back together after splitting. The first time this happens, it is accompanied by the text "But it refused." After stalling for long enough, Asriel transforms again. At this point, Frisk can feel the souls of Toriel, Asgore, Alphys, Undyne, Papyrus, and Sans within Asriel. The ACT button subsequently changes to SAVE to represent the act of freeing everyone's souls. This is accomplished by completing a short sequence of ACT options to restore the memory of each Lost Soul after selecting the said lost soul of a chosen character.

After saving each monster, Frisk realizes that there is still one more person to save. After choosing to save "Someone else", Asriel's memories of the fallen human (who strongly resembled Frisk) begin to play in a slideshow. It is then revealed this "someone else" is Asriel himself. Asriel starts to feel the love the monsters feel for Frisk through the SOULs he has absorbed, and slowly loses the will to fight as he is overcome with his fear of dying alone.

Upon reverting to his child form, Asriel learns Frisk's name. He apologizes for hurting everybody, and Frisk can choose to forgive or not forgive Asriel. Regardless of the choice made, Asriel destroys the barrier using the power of all of the SOULs before releasing them. Knowing that he will turn back to a flower without the power of the SOULs to sustain him, Asriel says one last goodbye to Frisk before leaving. At this point, there is a choice to hug Asriel or do nothing.

Freedom

The Main Menu after the barrier has been broken.

After Asriel finishes talking with Frisk, the latter wakes up in front of Toriel, Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys and Asgore. While the monsters remember little about Flowey and nothing about his incarnation as Asriel, they do know Frisk's name. At this point, Frisk can backtrack through the underground and talk to the other monsters, and can optionally use their cell phone to receive text messages from Toriel's phone. If Frisk inspects any mirror or the lab console, the narration also acknowledges them by their name.

If Frisk backtracks through the Ruins, they can find Asriel tending to the golden flowers. Asriel asks about Frisk's desire to travel up Mt. Ebott in the first place. Receiving no answer, Asriel lists off foolishness or fate as possible motives, but concludes that "only you [Frisk] know the answer".

Photo shown if Frisk says that they have places to go.

After passing through the final door to the surface, Frisk leaves the underground with their friends. Asgore offers Frisk the chance to be the monsters' ambassador to the humans. Most of the main monster cast then leave, except for Toriel, who asks about Frisk's plans. At this point, Frisk can choose to stay with Toriel or to go elsewhere.

If Frisk chooses to stay with Toriel, the ending scene shows Frisk sleeping in a bed, and Toriel bringing a slice of pie to Frisk's bedroom.

If Frisk has "places to go", Toriel ends their conversation with "Frisk. "See you around."" As Toriel leaves, Frisk turns north and does not watch her. The game ends with a group photo of the main monster cast with Frisk in the middle.

Genocide Route

For further information, see Chara#Genocide Route.

Creation and development

The earliest known design of Frisk originates from a mockup of the stats menu UI, where the name is set to "Hero". This version of their design is only minorly different, as Frisk's shirt stripes are yellow instead of magenta, their sleeves are much shorter, and they appear to be wearing a red bow similar to the Faded Ribbon. A red heart appears over their chest, though it is unclear if this is intended to be their SOUL, or a part of their shirt design.

An earlier version of Frisk's sprite with a different palette.

Prior to their design being finalized, Frisk was intended to have black hair and outlines, which was later changed to brown. The UNDERTALE Art Book reveals this was changed because the sprite did not show up on the game's dark backgrounds that well. One of Temmie Chang's first pieces of concept art for the game was a sketch of Frisk sitting in a patch of golden flowers. An early version of the intro cutscene depicts Frisk falling into the underground instead of the fallen human, though with only one stripe on their shirt instead of two.

On February 4th, 2013, Toby Fox posted various early sprites for Undertale in a joke thread on Starmen.net, claimed to be from a non-existent Earthbound hack, "Underbound 2". Frisk's original black hair sprites were shown, and some early information about them was revealed, though it is unclear how much of this was real information at the time, and how much of it was a joke. Frisk is described as a young androgynous child, and they are stated to be the step-cousin of "Squeezo", a character from the non-existent EarthBound hack, "UnderBound". It was also jokingly mentioned that Frisk's love interest was a female Cuban cigar, concerning a question of whether the "love" in the game was romantic or like love of a fine cigar.

In a 2013 interview during the Undertale Kickstarter, Toby states that Frisk does not have a detailed personality, as it is in favor of letting the player identify with Frisk and for role immersion.

Outside of Undertale

Frisk is only alluded to in Flowey's UNDERTALE Alarm Clock dialogue, where one of his talk-sprites mimics their blank expression.

Gallery

• 
  Frisk's eye being stained by Sans's telescope prank.
• 
  Frisk covered in fruit and vegetables, during the hangout with Undyne.
• 
  Frisk hugging Asriel at the end of the True Pacifist Route.
• 
  Frisk when Undyne is approaching in Waterfall.
• 
  Toriel bringing Frisk pie in the True Pacifist Route ending.
• 
  The Human Little Buddy sold on Fangamer.
• 
  The Human Nendoroid sold on Fangamer.
• 
  Frisk's official tarot card, renamed to "the human" in the official merchandise page, as Major Arcana 0, "The Fool".
• 
  Frisk latching onto Doggo's back on his tarot card.
• 
  Frisk sitting with the small bird roosting on their head.
• 
  Frisk as seen in the reflection on Sans's tarot card.
• 
  Frisk as seen on the promotional image for the Undertale Kickstarter campaign.
• 
  Bonus group postcard made by Gigi D.G. for Fangamer.
• 
  Frisk's early concept art.
• 
  Frisk and Papyrus's Newsletter artwork for Undertale's 10th anniversary.

Trivia

• Naming the fallen human "Frisk" initiates Hard Mode.
• When just tapping right, Frisk does not put their foot up. This is not true for the other directions.
• When holding up and down on the north wall of any room, Frisk will appear to flash quickly between their two north and south sprites.
  • When in the room overlooking the castle with the Monster Kid and going either left or right while holding up and down, Frisk walks twice as fast.
• Frisk appears to be left-handed, as they hold the umbrella and glass of water using their left hand.
  • The slicing attack animation curves to the right, implying that force was carried from the left to the right during the attack. In addition, most fatality battle sprites display steep slashes from top left to bottom right, a pattern not commonly made by someone who is right-handed.
• While Frisk is allergic to Temmie, this is not true of the other furry residents of the underground.
• At the end of the True Pacifist Route, Napstablook was the only monster who did not know Frisk's name until they mention it.
• Frisk is the last of the eight humans to fall into the underground after traveling to Mount Ebott. Out of all the humans that fell, Frisk is the only human to survive the adventure in any ending.
• Toby Fox was asked two interview questions regarding Frisk. One was whether Frisk's pronoun is a design choice, and in regards to Frisk's parents not being mentioned in-game. However, Toby responded with "Skip" to both, as he was offered to skip any questions he did not want to answer.
• Frisk's striped clothing is most likely a reference to the EarthBound/Mother series, where the main protagonists of each installment also wore striped clothing. The series was one of Toby Fox's major inspirations for Undertale.
• In Waterfall, there is an area with pools of water. If Frisk is near or on top of them, their reflection is visible in the pool; however, if the player modifies the game to enable debug mode and presses the Space key, the reflection will show an unused sprite with orange skin and a yellow shirt with green stripes, blue pants, brown shoes, and a shadow covering their eyes. The sprite has some similarities to Deltarune's Kris.