Heartache

You want to leave so badly?
Hmph.
You are just like the others.
There is only one solution to this.
Prove yourself...
Prove to me you are strong enough to survive.

Toriel before the fight

Heartache is the 14th track in the UNDERTALE Soundtrack and the 12th track in the Undertale Demo OST. It plays during the fight against Toriel.

It has a unique loop in the Undertale Demo OST.

Creation and development

It was directly mentioned in an interview with Toby Fox, as one of the songs originally composed for other projects. These songs were Fallen Down, Ghost Fight, Another Medium, and MEGALOVANIA, with Heartache, sans., Nyeh Heh Heh!, and Bonetrousle in specific being initially made for another RPG idea that never came to fruition. Said idea later turned out to be Deltarune.

Toby later revealed that the original title of Heartache was "Joker Battle", implying that it may have originally been Jevil's theme before it was repurposed for Undertale.

Trivia

• The track name itself is most likely referring to the heartache that Toriel feels while fighting the protagonist, since she cares deeply for them.
  • ASGORE quotes Heartache in its B section (0:34-1:50), possibly because he does not want to hurt humans either. Another reason for this may be referencing their relationship.
• The track is played at x0.97 speed in the Fangamer Demo (1:04-2:56).
  • It plays at exactly 97% the pitch and tempo of the OST version. This soundfile shows the comparison.