Toriel

I am TORIEL, caretaker of the RUINS.

Toriel introducing herself

Toriel (JP: トリエル) is a main character in Undertale. She rescues the protagonist from Flowey, and teaches them to avoid the dangers of the underground. Toriel is the former queen of monsters, the ex-wife of Asgore, the mother of Asriel, and the adoptive mother of the fallen human. She is also the first boss of the game, guarding the exit from the Ruins.

Profile

Appearance

Toriel with her reading glasses, seen on the title screen if the protagonist spares her.

Toriel is a Boss Monster, bearing a strong resemblance to the Mimiga species from Cave Story. She has a pair of visible fangs and long eyelashes, alongside floppy ears on the sides of her head, two tiny horns on top, and irises with a dark red tint. Her body is anthropomorphic, with paws at the end of her limbs. She wears a long purple robe with white sleeves and the Delta Rune on the chest. On occasion, Toriel can be seen with reading glasses.

Personality

Toriel is kind and acts as a protective mother figure for the protagonist. She is sincere in expressing her love through words and actions, as evidenced by her former marriage to Asgore. She was also excited to become a mother.

Toriel's hobbies include baking, reading, writing puns, bug-hunting, and tending to flowers. She enjoys baking Butterscotch Pie, as well as her favorite, Snail Pie. She has many books at her house, as well as a journal full of puns. She enjoyed puns even before meeting Sans.

Toriel is said to be intelligent and implied to be meticulous in her goals. She can come off as intimidating when she is serious. Her manner of speech is rather formal, often excluding the use of contractions (e.g. using "is it not" instead of "isn't it").

Toriel aspires to be a teacher. She offers instructions on puzzles and prepares a curriculum for the protagonist. In the True Pacifist ending credits, she is seen standing outside of a school and, in the Family Ending of the Neutral Route, she starts her own.

Despite Toriel's motherly nature, she is not above swearing. Toby Fox stated in a deleted tweet that it is possible for Toriel to have said the "F-word". According to Papyrus in UNDERTALE Alarm Clock, Toriel started acting weird due to drinking too much eggnog once; this included singing holiday songs and replacing all of the lyrics with swears.

Etymology

Toriel's name is a play on the word "tu-torial", as she teaches the player about how the game works. Her name is similar to that of the Watcher angel "Turiel" (more commonly known as "Yomiel") in Judaism and Christianity.

While unintentional, Toriel's name contains the Japanese word torie, meaning "virtue", "merit", or "redeeming feature". Since Toriel teaches the protagonist how to be a good person in Undertale, this is noted as a "fitting coincidence".

Main story

History

Prior to the events of Undertale, Toriel was married to Asgore, with the two being the queen and king of monsterkind respectively. At some point, they had a son, Asriel. When the fallen human fell into the underground, she and the rest of her family adopted them as their child. After the deaths of their children pushed Asgore to declare war on humanity, Toriel was disgusted. She left him, retrieved the fallen human's body in order to give them a proper burial, and relocated to the Ruins.

Toriel often checks the entrance to the Ruins to tend to the bed of golden flowers and aid those who fall into the underground. She is implied to have cared for the previous six fallen humans in the same way she does for the protagonist before they take their leave. Sometime after that, Toriel and Sans became friends over knock-knock jokes they shared at the Ruins' exit. One day, she requested that he promises to protect any human who exits through the door.

Neutral Route

If you truly wish to leave the RUINS...
I will not stop you.
However, when you leave...
Please do not come back.
I hope you understand.
Goodbye, my child.

Toriel

Toriel welcomes the protagonist to the Ruins.

Toriel rescues the protagonist from Flowey and introduces herself to them. She then guides them throughout the beginning areas of the Ruins. She introduces Undertale's battle system through a dummy and encourges the protagonist to resolve conflicts peacefully.

Following an independence test, Toriel leaves the protagonist alone to attend to some business. She asks them to wait and offers them a Cell Phone to call her if needed. If the protagonist waits in the room, Toriel calls them every 5 minutes.

Toriel calls the protagonist on their Cell Phone at various points as they travel throughout the Ruins. She inquires about their flavor preferences and offers advice on item management. At the entrance to her home, Toriel attempts to call the protagonist again before noticing that they have already arrived. From there, Toriel guides them to her home and announces her intention to raise them as her child.

Battling against Toriel, as Heartache plays

The protagonist, insisting on leaving the Ruins, eventually forces Toriel to rush to the basement. Noticing that they are following her, she explains that, since all humans who left the Ruins had died, she plans to destroy the Ruins exit to prevent the protagonist from leaving and meeting the same fate. She then engages in battle against the protagonist as a way for them to prove their strength.

At this point, Toriel can be either killed or spared. If killed, she offers a final warning to the protagonist before turning to dust, her SOUL lingering for a brief moment before shattering. If spared, she hugs the protagonist before allowing them to leave on their own. She can then be found tending to the golden flowers at the beginning of the Ruins.

After the protagonist leaves the underground, Toriel attempts to return to the throne as its ruler following Asgore's death. Depending on how many monsters the protagonist has killed, she is either successful or is banished back to the Ruins.

Hard Mode

Eh??
You are ending it NOW?
And on such a dramatic moment...?

Toriel

In Hard Mode, Toriel reacts similarly to other routes until she excuses herself to prepare a Butterscotch Pie. However, in the room with multiple Froggits, Toriel instead calls to ask if the protagonist enjoys other flavors aside from butterscotch or cinnamon.

Nearby Home's overlook, a Froggit informs that Toriel left without any groceries, and that she appeared disappointed.

Inside her home, Toriel pauses in her words as she notices the protagonist's expression to the scent of the Snail Pie she baked.

Toriel's battle continues as normal until the end, where the Annoying Dog walks on-screen and exclaims it is the end of Hard Mode. Toriel is displeased by this announcement and makes various expressions. Afterwards, she instead considers baking another pie, even if she was supposed to die via FIGHTing. When the Annoying Dog admits to consuming the previous pie, she leaves the area. After Flowey insults the player, and asks if the player will keep going, off-screen, Toriel simply remarks, "It's over."

True Pacifist Route

Do not be afraid, my child...
No matter what happens...
We will always be there to protect you!

Toriel

Toriel and other main characters, as Fallen Down (Reprise) plays.

Toriel appears again just as Asgore and the protagonist prepare to fight, interrupting him with her fire magic much like she did with Flowey. She explains that she was constantly worried about the protagonist, and realized that they would have to take a life to leave, something she was trying to prevent since the beginning.

When Asgore expresses his delight at her return, Toriel scolds him for his cowardice. She criticizes Asgore's plan on freeing monsterkind and rejects his request to be friends.

As the protagonist's friends arrive, she introduces herself to them and recognizes Sans's voice immediately. She tells the protagonist that while they may have to stay underground with all their friends, they will live a happy life regardless.

Flowey then appears. Having absorbed the six human SOULs, he binds Toriel and company with vines. When Flowey tries to kill the protagonist for good, Toriel is the first monster to intervene, using her fire magic to block Flowey's bullets. Her SOUL, along with every other monsters', is subsequently absorbed by Flowey, allowing him to become Asriel.

During the protagonist's battle with Asriel, Toriel appears as one of the Lost Souls. However, she and the others are eventually saved by the protagonist when they help the Lost Souls regain their memories of their recent experiences with them.

Epilogue

After the fight against Asriel concludes, she learns the protagonist's name, "Frisk". She tells them that they are free to go through the underground to talk to more of their friends. Meanwhile, Alphys upgrades Toriel's phone, allowing her to send text messages.

Toriel standing outside the school.

Frisk leaves the underground with Toriel and their other friends. As the others leave Frisk to begin their lives on the surface, Toriel asks Frisk what they will do now.

• If Frisk decides to stay with Toriel, she says that none of this would have happened if they remained with her at the beginning of the game and that it was for the best that they decided to leave the Ruins. She then promises to take care of Frisk for as long as they need. Like in the Ruins, Toriel takes Frisk's hand as they walk off-screen together. After the credits, Toriel brings a slice of pie to Frisk's room.
• If Frisk says that they "have places to go", Toriel says that she will see them later. After the credits, Frisk and their friends are shown together in a sepia-toned photograph.

In the credits sequence, Toriel welcomes Monster Kid to a school that she teaches at.

Genocide Route

Y... you... really hate me that much?
Now I see who I was protecting by keeping you here.
Not you...
But them!
Ha... ha...

Toriel

Toriel behaves as she does in all other routes until her battle with the protagonist, where they deplete her HP in one hit. She immediately recognizes their hatred, and claims she was protecting the rest of the underground from the protagonist before collapsing and turning to dust.

In battle

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

Relationships

The protagonist

Do not be afraid, my child.
It is I, TORIEL, your friend and guardian.

Toriel, upon meeting the protagonist at the end of the adventure

Toriel hugging the protagonist, as Fallen Down plays

Toriel is affectionate with and protective of the protagonist. While she guides the protagonist, she often looks behind her and waits for the protagonist to follow her. Toriel instantly refers to them as "my child", which becomes a recurring line as she enjoys their company. During puzzles, Toriel is patient and offers guidance. When the protagonist completes a puzzle, Toriel praises them. At the blueprint puzzle, she hesitates before asking to hold the protagonist's hand through the puzzle, reasoning that it is too dangerous for them.

Toriel is surprised if the protagonist calls her "mom", and states that if it makes them happy, she heartily approves of it. Calling Toriel on her phone in the Ruins and flirting with her makes her assume the protagonist is joking. If they do it again, she is unsure what to make of that. If they flirt with her after calling her "mother", she becomes uncomfortable and calls the protagonist an "interesting" child. She also mentions this in the epilogue.

At her home, Toriel reveals that she wants to raise the protagonist, and her future plans for them, such as educating them herself. When Toriel reveals the extra room to the protagonist, she brings them over to it, and strokes their head. If the protagonist insists on leaving, Toriel tries to distract them with snail trivia before excusing herself. In the basement, Toriel insists she is protecting them. If the protagonist spares her, she lets them leave the Ruins, but not before giving them a parting hug.

Toriel's reaction if the protagonist kills her after she is spared thirteen times.

If the protagonist kills her when she stops attacking, she says that the protagonist is no different from the monsters outside the Ruins and laughs hysterically before she dies. On the Genocide Route, she realizes that by keeping the protagonist in the Ruins, she was protecting not them, but the underground's inhabitants.

If the game is reset, Toriel says that talking to the protagonist is like "meeting an old friend for the first time" and also says that she feels this way about most fallen humans.

Asgore

Do not "Tori" me, Dreemurr!
You pathetic whelp.

Toriel after meeting Asgore years later

Asgore is Toriel's ex-husband. They were extremely close while married, winning first place in the '98 Nose Nuzzle competition and open about their affection for one another. During their marriage, Toriel's nicknames for Asgore included "Fluffybuns" and "Gorey".

Toriel left Asgore and New Home after he declared war on humanity. Upon their reunion on the True Pacifist Route, Toriel criticizes his plan for freeing monsters but still believes that he deserves mercy, even though he is "terrible". When Asgore asks if they can reconcile or at least be friends, Toriel responds negatively. While she appears to be civil with Asgore when she speaks to him about the future of the underground in the aftermath of the fight against Asriel, once they are on the surface and everyone else has left, Asgore wonders whether he should leave too, and Toriel glares at him, prompting him to depart. In the ending credits, she does not mind him trimming the bushes in her vicinity, hinting at a developing tolerance.

Asriel

Asriel is Toriel's son. While little is known about their relationship, she is implied to have loved Asriel dearly. Despite being "really upset" when he and the fallen human had accidentally poisoned Asgore, she likely didn't hold much of a grudge against him. Toriel was greatly saddened by Asriel's death and still loves him years later, as indicated by her routinely visiting the bed of golden flowers in the Ruins to care for them.

The fallen human

<Name>... Can you hear me? We want you to wake up...

Toriel to the ill fallen human, VHS tape 5

The fallen human is Toriel's adoptive child, who she loved just as much as Asriel. After the human's death, she refused to let their body be left in an unburied coffin, and had brought their body to the Ruins to give them a proper burial. Little else is known of their relationship before the human's death.

Toriel keeps a brand-name chocolate bar in her residence's kitchen, possibly in remembrance.

Flowey

Toriel despises Flowey, and refers to him as a "terrible creature" for his attempt to kill the protagonist.

Toriel is normally unaware that Flowey is Asriel, but seems to be aware on a subconscious level.

Sans

That voice ...!!
Hello, I think we may...
Know each other?

Toriel, upon meeting Sans face-to-face

Although Toriel and Sans have become good friends from their years of sharing jokes, they do not meet in person until the end of the True Pacifist Route, as well as the Family and Exiled Queen endings of the Neutral Route. They started their friendship by telling jokes to each other through the door between the Ruins and Snowdin. According to Sans, Toriel once entrusted him with protecting any human that left the Ruins. They continue to bond in the epilogue and text each other as Frisk backtracks through the underground.

Creation and development

Toriel is meant to be a parody of tutorial characters such as Fi from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. This is punctuated by Toriel holding the protagonist's hand as she guides them through the blueprint puzzle. Toriel's inclusion was also because Toby felt that general RPGs, such as the Pokémon games, EarthBound and Mother 3, also lacked involved motherly characters.

Originally, Toriel was designed to be a human-like goddess monster, but this was later changed as Toby considered her to be too similar to Myria from Breath of Fire III. Her horns were initially not a part of her design, and was added to distinguish her from the Mimiga. Toby also admits that he had difficulty drawing her hands.

A side to side comparison of Toriel dying by suicide (unused sprite, left) and Toriel being killed (right). The only difference is the mouths.

Earlier in development, Toriel's death was intended to be mandatory to progress. The choice to make her spareable was made while her dialogue was being written as in Toby's eyes, it felt "wrong" to have violence be the only option.

In the game files, there is a sprite called spr_torielboss_suicide, looking similar to the sprite where she is killed. This implies that at some point in development, it was possible for Toriel to kill herself.

In a 2013 MSPAForums post regarding the Undertale Demo, Toby admits that he prefers that the players do not have a choice on staying with Toriel. The dialogue after Toriel is spared is of her distancing herself from the protagonist, as she does not want to be distressed over them. In the post, he also mentions that Toriel "turns her phone off so she can think for a while".

Outside of Undertale

Kickstarter

Toriel in the promotional art for the Undertale Kickstarter, by Guzusuru.

On the Undertale Kickstarter page, Toriel is featured along with Flowey and the protagonist on the Undertale promotional art by Guzusuru. In the Stretch Goals section, Toriel bows her head on the "Thank you very much!" banner underneath. In other banners, Toriel sits in the guest room in her home, and reads a book to the protagonist.

There are also various artworks from Temmie Chang, where she occasionally drew Toriel being muscular, alongside Flowey and the Annoying Dog. One such example is featured as the "Beauty" Border for console versions of Undertale.

Undertale Q&A

For Undertale's 1st Anniversary, a Q&A occurred. According to Sans, at some point after the events of the game, Toriel drank three glasses of wine and threw pizza at him like frisbees.

Further in 2017, Toby Fox clarified that these pizzas were meant to be miniature Lunchables pizzas and not regular, full-size pizzas, but he doesn't mind either way because he finds the concept of Toriel throwing full-size pizzas at Sans to be funny.

3D Toriel

Main article: 3D Toriel

A 3D figure of Toriel is often shown in official video content, such as Undertale trailers. Most of the time, the 3D Toriel performs events that do not happen in the game, with a disclaimer stating so.

Cucumber Quest

Toriel-shaped slippers appear on page 675 of Gigi D.G.'s webcomic Cucumber Quest, worn by Peridot. Toby Fox used this image as his Twitter avatar for a period of time in 2015.

Deltarune

Main article: Toriel

In Deltarune, Toriel lives in Hometown with her adopted child, Kris. Her son Asriel is away at college during all of the currently released chapters. She divorced Asgore some time ago for currently unknown reasons. She works at the school as a teacher alongside Alphys, and also attends the church service, where she is the lead singer of the choir.

The outfit worn by members of the choir is based on the robe Toriel wears in Undertale.

Gallery

• 
  Toriel guiding the protagonist
• 
  Toriel on a Steam trading card.
• 
  Toriel glaring at a hostile Froggit.
• 
  Toriel glaring even harder as Froggit leaves.
• 
  Toriel's initial reaction to the protagonist boring the Dummy.
• 
  Toriel still confused by the strange outcome of the boring dummy fight.
• 
  Toriel's expressions in the Hard Mode Ending.
• 
  Toriel's shocked reaction when she kills the protagonist.
• 
  Toriel Little Buddy sold on Fangamer.
• 
  Toriel plush sold on Fangamer.
• 
  Toriel Nendoroid sold on Fangamer.
• 
  Toriel's official tarot card as Major Arcana III, "The Empress".
• 
  Toriel reading to the protagonist in the "STORY" banner.
• 
  Toriel on the Beauty Border.
• 
  Bonus group postcard made by Gigi D.G. for Fangamer.
• 
  Artwork from Undertale's 5th anniversary.

Trivia

• If the player attempts to name the fallen human "Toriel", the narration reads "I think you should think of your own name, my child", and the game bars the name from use.
• Toriel has a sock drawer despite never wearing socks in-game.
  • The narrator's reaction to Toriel's sock drawer and Sans's sock pile is similar.
• Attempting to open the menu by pressing C after fleeing her battle makes the menu disappear instantly. Leaving the room while sliding against the wall also causes the protagonist to appear in the wrong spot in the previous room. This effect ends after leaving the room.
• Toriel once wore a flower-patterned muu-muu; other monsters complimented her by saying "nice muu-muu", but she assumed everyone was calling her a cow and never wore it again.
• The Toriel plush doll sold on Fangamer has a white heart hidden inside, representing her SOUL. The doll must be cut or ripped open in order to retrieve the heart.
• Toriel's dialogue after she is fatally wounded has the slowest text speed in the game, at 10 frames per character, or three characters a second.

See also

• Toriel article on the Deltarune Wiki