User:GetYourFix/Blog:Ghosts: Mettaton Explained
Hi there! This blog post is my first attempt at a theory post - if there is any way that I can improve, please let me know! If you would like clarification of the canon that I worked with, feel free to post on my message wall.
Mettaton becomes completely corporeal on the Genocide Route, which is why he does not attack the protagonist. However, the implications of a ghost becoming corporeal are speculative.
I will post relevant canon about the ghosts so that we're on the same page before going into the theory.
umm... you do know you cant kill ghosts, right? We're sorta incorporeal and all. I was just lowering my hp because I didn't want to be rude. sorry... I just made this more awkward... pretend you beat me... oooooooo
Napstablook, if the protagonist attempts to kill him.
Napstablook is a fully incorporeal ghost that the protagonist initially encounters in the Ruins. He is unaffected by physical attacks and lowers his HP because he doesn't want to be rude. Being fully incorporeal, he is one of a handful of characters that can enter and leave the Ruins at will; other characters include the spiders and Flowey. If the protagonist hangs out with Napstablook, he may phase through the right wall of the house. If the protagonist visits his snail farm, Napstablook tells them that his cousins used to work with him before they left to find corporeal forms.
Us ghosts spend our whole lives looking for a proper vessel. Slowly, slowly, we grow closer to our new bodies... Until one day, we too may become corporeal beings. Beings able to laugh, love, and dance like any other...
Mad Dummy, if the protagonist killed the Ruins dummy.
Mad Dummy is ghost that possesses a dummy in Waterfall in an attempt to become corporeal. On a Neutral Route or True Pacifist Route, the protagonist has a battle encounter with Mad Dummy. Regardless of what the protagonist did to the dummy in the Ruins, Mad Dummy is enraged and explains that that the protagonist scared his cousin out of his Ruins dummy corporeal form.
During his battle, the protagonist can "damage" him with the magic dummy missiles that spawn; however, he then comments that he's still incorporeal and that damage to his physical form does nothing. After a set number of turns, Mad Dummy announces that "YOU CAN'T HURT ME AND I CAN'T HURT YOU! YOU'LL BE STUCK FIGHTING ME... Forever. Forever! FOREVER!!!!"
Eureka. Eureka! EUREKA! Human. That moment of unbridled emotion. It allowed me to finally fuse with my body! How's that sound? I'm fully corporeal now!
Mad Dummy, Genocide Route
Instead of a battle encounter, Mad Dummy becomes fully corporeal. He is so happy to finally be one with his physical body that he spares the protagonist. If the protagonist chooses to kill him, the "Glad Dummy" will turn to dust and leaves no physical body behind.
Don't worry about me. I might seem like I'm dying now, but... Dr. Alphys can always repair me.
Mettaton, if the protagonist kills him on a Neutral/Pacifist Route.
Mettaton is a ghost friend of Alphys who wishes to have a fully corporeal form. In his normal box form, Mettaton is invulnerable to attack, but once he transforms into either his NEO or EX form, he appears to take damage. However, check text states that "his weak point is his heart-shaped core," which indicates that it is not his SOUL. Regardless of whether the protagonist spares or kills Mettaton EX, a physical body remains after the fight. If killed, his box form is shown broken and tipped over. If spared, his Mettaton EX body is shown; he has simply run out of batteries.
THOSE ORIGINAL FUNCTIONS HAVE NEVER BEEN FULLY REMOVED. COME ANY CLOSER, AND I'LL BE FORCED TO SHOW YOU... MY TRUE FORM!
Mettaton, before his Genocide Route fight.
Mettaton transforms into Mettaton NEO in an attempt to stop the protagonist from progressing. He finds it "ghastly" that the protagonist is going to kill monsters and humanity, as he won't have an audience to watch him perform. In this form, he does not attack, regardless of what the protagonist does. The only way to end the encounter is by killing him. Afterwards, no physical body remains.
http://i.imgur.com/LbWVpgY.png
YOU SEE, I CAN'T BE A STAR WITHOUT AN AUDIENCE.AND BESIDES... THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE... I WANT TO PROTECT.
Mettaton before his Genocide battle.
There are a few things that can be drawn from what we see between this triumvirate. First and foremost, it is likely that Mettaton becomes fully corporeal in the Genocide Route, as no physical body is left behind after his death. How does this occur, though? Mad Dummy mentions that it was an intense emotional response that lead to his becoming corporeal instantaneously. Knowing that Mettaton only becomes corporeal on the Genocide Route allows us to infer that he, too, had feelings so intense that he fused to his transformed body. There is one event that must occur in order to face Mettaton NEO: the protagonist killing Undyne the Undying.
If the protagonist kills none of the 40 required monsters to continue the Genocide Route, Mettaton NEO is still encountered and, subsequently, killed. This means that the event that leads to his fusion must be Undyne the Undying's death. Though Undyne states that she dislikes Mettaton, Alphys has a huge crush on Undyne and is close friends with her. Similar to the Mad Dummy, Mettaton may hold so much compassion and love for Alphys that he feels empathy for her insofar that he fuses his to physical body.
This fusion, however, is not as simple as "feel love, fuse to a body." Ghosts become akin to any other monster after becoming corporeal; they can be killed and turned into dust, regardless of previous invulnerability of the physical body. Mad Dummy tells the protagonist that ghosts seek out a corporeal form so that they can "laugh, love and dance like any other." This phrase explains many of the characteristics of the ghosts; they are unable to fully express the monster mix of love, compassion and mercy so long as they are not fully corporeal.
Therefore, it is in that moment of absolute compassion and love of another being that a ghost becomes a corporeal monster. Mettaton loves himself throughout all other routes, but stands against the protagonist in the Genocide Route to protect the humans and Alphys. Once he expresses the monster mix, he becomes like any other monster. Monsters, unlike ghosts, require a small amount of physicality.
Mettaton NEO, as a monster, should be attacking the protagonist using the bullet board. However, his battle is uneventful even after checking him and giving him a chance to attack. Given that he seems so impassioned to stop the protagonist, it's likely that he is unable to attack and not that he doesn't want to. Seeing his lack of dialogue in the fight, he may even be unaware that he's not attacking the protagonist.
Is this because he may be soulless? This is possible, but we know that the soulless Flowey uses magic. We also know that humans, physical beings, can use magic as they did to seal the monsters Underground. However, Mettaton is no longer a ghost inhabiting a physical vessel - he may be a soulless monster. There are some small details of the war that may aid our understanding somewhat. Ancient glyphs in Waterfall read the following:
- But this cursed place has no entrances or exits. There is no way a human could come here.
- We will remain trapped down here forever.
- Without candles or magic to guide them Home, the monsters used crystals to navigate.
I won't be discussing the seeming contradictions that are within the ancient glyphs, but there may be some truth to take from this. There are times when a monster cannot use magic; these seem to relate to how much hope they have. Information about magic in game is quite scarce. The glyphs and the Snowdin Library are the main sources of background information about magic. Alternatively, Alphys tells us, via one of her phone calls:
- "That's the CORE. The source of all power in the underground. It converts geothermal energy into magical electricity, by..."
The text message cuts off there. Perhaps Alphys looked at the blueprints for the CORE and managed to create a smaller version of this in Mettaton's heart-shaped core. Less physical energy can be maintained in a body that is composed of dust, and this may be why Mettaton is unable to use magic attacks; there isn't enough magical electricity produced by this reduced physical form.
This battle could also be read as Mettaton attempting to use his physical human-annihilation weapons, and being unable to because they no longer work. There are a multiplicity of reasons why Mettaton may be unable to attack the protagonist.
Ghosts probably do not have SOULs. The ancient glyphs read:
- It would take the SOUL of nearly every monster... Just to equal the power of a single human SOUL.
However, Napstablook and Mettaton manage to avoid Asriel completely in the True Pacifist Route; Napstablook explains that when Asriel knocked on the door, they blatantly ignored him. It's possible that Flowey was unable to absorb the ghosts' SOULs because they don't have them; they are instead essences that seek to become corporeal in an attempt to become a true monster. This could relate to the Genocide Route appearance of Chara. Since we play the game guiding Frisk's SOUL (if you don't follow this theory, I will make a post on it later), it makes some sense why the player loses complete control at the end of the Genocide Route; Frisk's SOUL has left the physical form completely, which allows Chara to use the vessel to efficiently kill Asgore and Flowey. During these last two encounters, no SOUL is present in the attack process. After the actions of the Genocide Route, Frisk is scared "right out of their dummy," allowing Chara to become corporeal and thus be represented as an overworld sprite. This is also why Chara does not have a SOUL of their own if the game is restarted; they are akin to Flowey in that they are a vessel without a SOUL. That moment of despair that causes Frisk's SOUL to leave the physical body may be the same emotion that causes Chara to become corporeal. They look happy about it, too. The protagonist is a constant fluctuation of influences from Frisk, Chara and the player; it is not unlikely that emotions can be shared between these influences. However, Frisk may be a ghost, as well.
If you recall, there was an interesting bit of dialogue in the epilogue in which the main cast discusses Frisk flying around. I will replicate it here:
- Sans: "frisk, why don't you fly? it's faster."
- Papyrus: "YEAH, FRISK, WHY DON'T YOU FLY?"
- Toriel: "Hmm... Flying sounds a little dangerous."
- Alphys: "But they CAN'T fly!"
Sans is the one recommending that the protagonist fly around; he's the most informed of the main cast, when it comes to humans. Why is he suggesting something so ludicrous? Perhaps because he knows something that we don't. Sans can see inside of the protagonist, and he may know that they are no longer human.
If the protagonist backtracks in the Ruins after sparing Napstablook, he can be found at the bottom of one of the holes. He mentions that he's fallen, but that ghosts can just fly away. Other than for mentions about Whimsun, these are the only two occurrences of "fly" in the game. Perhaps Frisk is a ghost in the epilogue, as Chara is throughout the rest of the game.
(Note: THIS SECTION IS ALMOST COMPLETELY SPECULATION! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!) Looking into the code of Undertale, there is an item called the "Ghost fruit." Its description reads:
- "If eaten, it will never pass to the other side."
The protagonist cannot eat the "ghost burger" offered by Napstablook during his hangout. We're uncertain if monsters can eat ghost food - however, this item was planned as a consumable. This may hint that the protagonist is not exactly a physical being during their non-scripted segments. It may also hint that corporeal beings are unable to completey die; perhaps "the light" at the end of the True Pacifist Route and "the void" at the end of the Genocide Route represent forms of death achieved by finishing the polarized routes.
Ghosts may offer insight into the relationship between Chara and the protagonist; we are unsure where ghosts come from, and we are also unsure why they do not have bodies to begin with. Moreso, some NPCs such as Aaron don't even know that ghosts are real - and Aaron lives in the same area as Napstablook! This theory offers some explanation as to why Chara and Frisk exist though they may not have a physical form or a SOUL.