Destiny and Determination: Themes of Fate and Control in Toby Fox’s Undertale and Deltarune
Leinonen, Mila (2026)
2026
Kielten maisteriohjelma - Master's Programme in Languages
Informaatioteknologian ja viestinnän tiedekunta - Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2026-05-27
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202605276419
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202605276419
Tiivistelmä
This thesis inspects how Toby Fox’s video game Deltarune (2019) and its literal and spiritual predecessor Undertale (2015) approach the themes of fate and control through both the story elements and the unique mechanisms that video games enable as a medium of storytelling, such as metafiction and gameplay mechanics. Additionally, the unique potential of video games as a storytelling medium for metanarratives is inspected through examples from Undertale and Deltarune. Through the inspection of these elements, we can evaluate that the methods of Fox’s deconstruction and criticism of video games, and especially the role-playing game genre, are effective in both games, and that the methods have developed between them.
Undertale is analysed through the concepts of katabasis, predetermined fate, and the player’s control over the playable character granting them the power to free the race of monsters from their fate through either pacifism or violence. The implications and consequences of both approaches are discussed in terms of their appeal to the player, and the criticism Fox is making through the metanarrative present in them. This thesis claims that the utilisation of the concept of fate and the control the player has over the game’s world are key features that strengthen Undertale’s criticism of player violence as the default approach, as they intertwine with the metanarrative.
The analysis on Deltarune is built upon the core conflict between the player and the playable character, who is aware of being controlled. The concept of fate is applied to the game world’s Prophecy and how the game characters fighting against a tragic future fit into the classic format of a hero’s journey, which includes the finding and development of one’s true self. How the player is consistently reminded of their position and power as an extradiegetic puppeteer is inspected especially in the context of the violent routes in the game, which utilise numerous metafictional elements. The analysis leads to the claim that in its first four chapters, Deltarune has established an effective narrative framework within which the commentary and deconstruction of the relationship between player and player character can develop, and that the themes of fate and control are at their core. The fact of Deltarune being incomplete as of the completion of this thesis is taken into account in the analysis involving the game’s story elements.
Undertale is analysed through the concepts of katabasis, predetermined fate, and the player’s control over the playable character granting them the power to free the race of monsters from their fate through either pacifism or violence. The implications and consequences of both approaches are discussed in terms of their appeal to the player, and the criticism Fox is making through the metanarrative present in them. This thesis claims that the utilisation of the concept of fate and the control the player has over the game’s world are key features that strengthen Undertale’s criticism of player violence as the default approach, as they intertwine with the metanarrative.
The analysis on Deltarune is built upon the core conflict between the player and the playable character, who is aware of being controlled. The concept of fate is applied to the game world’s Prophecy and how the game characters fighting against a tragic future fit into the classic format of a hero’s journey, which includes the finding and development of one’s true self. How the player is consistently reminded of their position and power as an extradiegetic puppeteer is inspected especially in the context of the violent routes in the game, which utilise numerous metafictional elements. The analysis leads to the claim that in its first four chapters, Deltarune has established an effective narrative framework within which the commentary and deconstruction of the relationship between player and player character can develop, and that the themes of fate and control are at their core. The fact of Deltarune being incomplete as of the completion of this thesis is taken into account in the analysis involving the game’s story elements.