River Person

Tra la la. I am the riverman.
Or am I the riverwoman...? It doesn't really matter.
I love to ride in my boat. Would you care to join me?

First interaction with the River Person

The River Person (JP: かわのひと) is a hooded figure who provides transportation services to Snowdin, Waterfall, and Hotland on their wooden boat for the underground. The protagonist can request a ride to any of the locations above if they reach Hotland on any route.

During the trip, the River Person has a list of messages they can say at random, each picked with a chance. They are often a hint to a secret or an allusion to something in the game. One hint—the hint to finding Temmie Village—is specifically scripted to occur on the second ride.

Messages

With no known special meanings

• Tra la la. The waters are wild today. That's <good/bad> luck...
• Tra la la. Dancing on a boat is danger. But good exercise...
• Ah,
• Tra la la. Why don't you sing with me. Tra la la.
• Tra la la. Uh oh. Suddenly, feeling tropical...
• Tra la la. Tri li li. Tre le le.
• Tra la la. The water is very <wet/dry> today.
• Tra la la. What's my name? ... It doesn't really matter.
• Tra la la. Somewhere, it's <day of week>. So be careful.
• [Normal]
  • Tra la la. Eat a mushroom everyday.
  • Why? Then I know you're listening to me...
• [Normal]
  • Tra la la. Hmmm...
  • I should have worn a few more pairs of pants today.
• [Normal]
  • Tra la la. Hmmm...
  • I should have worn a few million more pairs of pants today.
• Tra la la. [Unused]

With known or possible meanings

Message	Meaning/Allusion
Tra la la. Remember to take a break every-so-often...	Possibly referencing Ness's father in EarthBound, who would occasionally phone Ness and remind him to take a break.
Tra la la. Did you ever hear the old song coming from the sea?	Possibly referring to the "Sound Test" room, which can sometimes be encountered if the fun value is 65 when entering a specific waterside room in Snowdin. Alternatively, it could possibly be hinting at room_tundra_dock (room 70 in most versions and room 71 in the Xbox version), where the wrong number song can play if the fun value is in between 2 and 39. It may also be foreshadowing Onion's dialogue in Chapter 2 of Deltarune, where they mention hearing a familiar song "coming from the sea", one which is "not a "new" song".
Tra la la. I heard ASGORE has a favorite food.	Eating the Butterscotch-Cinnamon Pie during the fight against Asgore reduces his AT and DF.
Tra la la. I heard spiders have a favorite food. It's spiders.	A hint to an alternate way to defeat Muffet.
Tra la la. The piano plays the tinkling song. Hmm... tinkling.	Hinting at the solution to the piano puzzle.
Tra la la. You can never have too many hot-dogs. ... sadly, that's not true.	If the protagonist buys a hot dog from Sans with a full inventory, he places it on top of their head. He continues to stack 29 hot dogs on their head before stopping, saying "i'll be 'frank' with you. as much as i like putting hot dogs on your head... thirty is just an excessive number. twenty-nine, now that's fine, but thirty... does it look like my arms can reach that high?"
Tra la la. Don't snoop behind people's houses... You might be mistaken for a trash-can.	A hint directing the protagonist to check behind houses for secrets, particularly the back entrance to Papyrus and Sans's house.
Tra la la. The angel is coming... Tra la la.	Alluding to the legend of the Delta Rune.
Hum hum hum. Hum hum hum. I'm having a little concert.	A hint on how to get the yellow text for Shyren.
Pet pet pet... The neck stretches infinitely into the cosmos. ... don't worry about it.	Hinting at how Lesser Dog's neck can grow if it is pet several times.
Tra la la. What's a game you can play with a dog? Asking for a friend...	Possibly referring to how the protagonist can use the Stick in battle to play fetch with the Snowdin Canine Unit and Endogeny.
Tra la la. Temmie Village... ... the room before the darkening lantern room.	A hint on how to find Temmie Village. This is always used the first time the River Person's boat is in the shape of a dog.
Tra la la. If it's hot or cold, you can count on me.	Refers to the fact that the River Person can stop in both Hotland and Snowdin.
Tra la la. Humans, monsters... Flowers.	Flowey is neither human nor monster, but an entity all on his own.
Tra la la. Beware of the man who speaks in hands.	Presumed to be a reference to W.D. Gaster.
Tra la la. Beware of the man who came from the other world.	Presumed to be a reference to Sans, W.D. Gaster or Toby Fox/the Annoying Dog.
Tra la la. What's inside an acorn? It's really just a mystery.	Presumably foreshadowing an interaction in the 2nd Sanctuary in Chapter 4 of Deltarune, where an Organikk will mention to Kris that they "heard there's something inside the acorn", though they don't know how to find an acorn or what one is.

Gallery

• 
  The River Person and their boat.
• 
  Their boat with the dog face.
• 
  Concept art of the River Person in a flower shirt.

Trivia

• The River Person is likely based on Charon, the ferryman of the River Styx in Greek mythology.
• The River Person's gender is unknown, and they dismiss it as irrelevant. However, they are internally referred to as spr_riverman, hinting that their gender may have been initially intended to be male, as the dialogue for the character could have been made after the sprite was named.
• The River Person's services are used for public transport in the underground, as implied by calling Papyrus and Undyne.
• The River Person's boat always faces left, regardless of which location the protagonist is going.