Kris - Soul POV

Profile Appearance Kris is a human with amber-colored skin and shoulder-length brown hair. A couple of stray strands of hair stick out at the back of their head, and their ears are often visible from the sides. Kris's bangs are somewhat unkempt and typically swept to the left, which casts a shadow over their eyes. In certain circumstances, Kris's eyes can glow bright red, like in the last cutscene of Chapter 1 when one of their eyes flash,[73] or when they descend into a Dark World. Kris's clothes consist of a lime green, long-sleeved shirt with a horizontal yellow stripe and nondescript brown pants and shoes. Their skin and shirt's colors are default colors from Microsoft Paint.[74]

Kris battle idle.gif Kris's idle animation in battle In the Dark World, Kris's skin turns cyan blue, and their hair changes to a dark navy shade. Their normal clothes are also replaced with silver armor, which makes them resemble a knight. This includes a set of pauldrons on their shoulders, a cuirass for their upper torso, two cuffed gloves, and a set of silver boots. In addition to the armor, Kris gains a navy blue armless bodysuit, and a pink cape[70] (also referred to as a mantle[71] or an ascot[75]) that drapes across their right shoulder. The shading for their skin and armor is also used for their cape, which gives the illusion of blue stripes in a few of their sprites.

From the player's perspective, Kris often has a blank, neutral expression, and they tend to be still in cutscenes. Their stillness is often used for comedic effect, as they can suddenly become very mobile and perform a wide variety of movements; this includes dance moves such as a pirouette or the kozachok. During some non-scripted actions in the overworld, Kris's actions are only conveyed by narration, rather than as an animation.[76]

Kris overworld slouch.gif Kris slouching forward When Kris is about to, or has ripped out their SOUL, they usually slouch and face towards the floor, causing their hair to conceal their face. Some of Kris's animations are more fluid in this state, and they display occasional bursts of movement such as leaping forward or swinging a hockey stick. Kris is capable of walking normally when their SOUL is removed, though it is significantly slower than their typical stride.[77] In this state, they can become exhausted easily. When devoid of their SOUL for too long, Kris changes to a sick, greenish color, and physically becomes sluggish, frail, and unable to walk. After regaining their SOUL, Kris's skin returns to its usual color, though their physical exhaustion persists.[78]

Personality Kris is quiet and introverted.[79] Their reticence causes others, such as Susie, to be more observant of Kris's body language to gauge their reactions.[20][80] Despite their quiet disposition, Kris has a proficiency in flirting, though they do not normally use it for romantic purposes.[81][82] Kris tends to speak in a "deadpan, mumbly voice", which causes others to occasionally repeat what they say.[83][84] However, during the events of Deltarune, Noelle notes that Kris's voice sounds unusual, as if it was "on speaker".[45] On the Weird Route, she notes that it is unrecognizably different from Kris's voice.[85]

Kris is not normally considered energetic. They have a history of not waking up on time, and often sleep through the start of class.[86] Kris also prefers someone else getting them to and from school.[87][88] Over time, they grew increasingly distant from their few friends.[89][90] Kris's side of their and Asriel's shared bedroom is also strikingly bare; the pair's game console rests underneath Asriel's bed, Kris's old children's books are stored in Toriel's classroom, and there is nothing on their shelves. It is implied that Kris enjoys reminiscing on their childhood, and that they are unsettled by the thought of growing up.[91]

Kris screenshot defending Susie.png Kris protects Susie from King without the player's input As the story progresses, Kris begins to disobey some of the player's prompts or choices that they dislike or do not agree with. Kris can do so by relaying the chosen prompt in a different tone,[92] covering their mouth, coughing, or not doing anything at all.[93] They are also shown performing actions independently of the player's control, even while the SOUL is in their body. This includes protecting Susie from King and the Sound of Justice, drinking juice with her in church, or kneeling to comfort Ralsei in the 3rd Sanctuary.

Interests Contrary to Kris's apparent detachment, they have a variety of interests. Kris has always been mischievous, frequently pulling pranks on Noelle such as hiding under her bed to scare her.[94] Kris also attempted to flush a bath bomb down the toilet at their home at some point, and Toriel is wary that they will try it again.[95] When they were younger, Kris studied the occult with Catti.[96] They appear to still have an interest in the topic, as one of their search queries shown in Queen's Mansion is "how to use magic". Kris also likes video games, having frequently played games with Asriel in their childhood[97] and being good enough that they can seemingly defeat Berdly in competitive games.[98] Kris is shown to have some knowledge of anime and its related subculture, showing a distaste for some words associated with it, such as "tsundere".[99][100][101][102]

Susie and Kris overworld knife reveal.gif Kris revealing their knife to Susie Kris has a strong interest in knives, and this has seemingly been the case since they were very young; if Noelle is given the AquaKnife, she refers to it as "nostalgic".[103] Their internet usage also reflects this, as they've searched for "sharpest kitchen knife jello", and unconsciously click on ads for making knives out of spaghetti. During the events of Deltarune, Kris is shown wielding knives in a more serious capacity, such as using one to make a Dark Fountain. Kris appears to have a specific attachment to a certain knife, as they seemingly carry it everywhere,[104] and Toriel refers to it as "YOUR knife".[105] It is also heavily implied that Kris still possesses this knife in the Dark World, but has chosen not to use it thus far.[106]

Kris overworld piano.gif Kris playing piano Kris enjoys playing the piano, and they have searched for tutorials to play video game songs.[107] They are proficient, as Toriel and the nurse praise Kris's skills.[108][109] During the events of Deltarune, Kris is typically unable to properly play the piano while under the player's control.[110] Kris still has an interest in playing the piano, as they can play piano renditions of several songs from the Deltarune soundtrack in Noelle's House, and has a negative reaction to the "I'll never play again" prompt in Chapter 4.[111][112] In the Dark Sanctuary, they manage to play a version of Don't Forget on the organ, despite the player's presence.

Kris favors sweet food, with Toriel's butterscotch-cinnamon pie being their favorite.[113] They also thoroughly enjoy chocolates, as they always sneak one unprompted from a box of Heart Candy,[114] and prefer a hot chocolate to have "melted candy bars".[115] Additionally, Choco Diamonds heal Kris significantly more than other party members.[116] While they are separated from the player in Noelle's House, they can be seen mixing together chocolate syrup and milk; they then proceed to gulp this mixture down all at once.

Gender Kris battle TakeCare.gif Kris's doctor and nurse outfits Kris is portrayed as a gender-neutral character. In addition to their unisex name, they are consistently and exclusively referred to with the singular "they" pronoun in the game and all external material. At one point during the UNDERTALE 6th Anniversary Stream, co-hosts Reid Young and Dan Moore refer to Kris by saying "He's stuck in a cutscene." Soon afterward, Toby Fox repeats them by saying "They're stuck", seemingly correcting Young and Moore.[69]

Kris battle lawyer.gif Kris's lawyer outfits Aside from their pronouns, various elements in-game avoid specifically gendering Kris as male or female. When using the "TakeCare" or "TakeCareX" ACT against Virovirokun in Chapter 2, Kris can appear with either a doctor's headband, a nurse's cap, or neither. In Chapter 5's battle against Blue and Yellow, they can cosplay as either Franziska Von Karma or Miles Edgeworth from the Ace Attorney franchise. In most cases, other characters only have one assigned outfit,[note 1] making Kris distinct in this regard.

The Festival's King and Queen competition allows Kris to be either the "King" or the "Queen". If Noelle rides the Festival's Ferris wheel with Kris, she states that as kids, the two of them were unable to agree on who would be the "King" and who would be the "Queen".[117] A sign in Mancountry describes the location as "A MAN'S WORLD," but it has an addendum noting that "NON-MEN ARE A-OK, TOO.",[118] avoiding categorizing Kris as "a man".

Main story History Years prior to the events of Deltarune, Kris was adopted by the Dreemurrs when they were a young child, and grew up in a loving family. However, since they lived in a town full of monsters, Kris often felt like an outsider. Kris once asked their adoptive parents when their "horns were going to grow in". In response, Toriel and Asgore bought a headband with red horns for Kris, who wore it for months.[119] At some point, Kris gained an interest in playing the piano.[108] They frequently played the hospital piano despite it missing "good keys".[120][121]

Growing up, Kris was very close with their older brother, Asriel. The two often spent time with their neighbors, Dess and Noelle, watching TV together and exploring the forests around town.[122] While the four were close friends, Kris and Noelle grew apart over the years. The cause for this is unknown. Kris had also wanted to befriend Bratty, as she was one of the "big kids". They willingly complied and retrieved food for her until she became sick.[123]

At some point, Toriel and Asgore divorced. While their family was broken, Kris and Asriel remained inseparable. On occasion, Asriel would buy Kris a hot chocolate at QC's Diner,[124] the place they used to frequent as a whole family.[125] One day, Asriel moved out to go to college, leaving Kris alone and without many friends, though they kept in contact before Hometown's internet outage.

Kris absolely hates the soul, they despise them more than anything, believing they ruined their life which they kinda did, they will shout at the soul, physically hurt them and more to show their hatred, only stopping if they get tired or someone enters the room, most likely putting the soul back into them.