Ralsei

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Character
Name: Ralsei
Occupation: Prince
Relationships: Kris (teammate), Susie (teammate), Lancer (tenant)
Fandom: Deltarune
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Ralsei is a party member in Deltarune.

Canon Overview

Ralsei meets Kris and Susie in the Kingdom of Darkness after they are both deposited there by the supply closet having mysterious technical difficulties. He tells the two of them the Delta Rune prophecy and that the three of them are destined to save the world together, introducing himself as a prince without subjects who has been waiting all alone for Kris and Susie's arrival all his life. He also serves as the dark world's tutorial character (even stepping in to correct other in-game tutorials), and encourages both Kris and Susie to use the ACT and Spare system instead of fighting, explaining to them that this is a world where the Fight command is unnecessary and all conflicts can be solved nonviolently, and that he believes kindness is the only way to a happy ending. Where Susie and the narrator both hold the opinion that this is a world where one's choices do not matter, Ralsei agrees with W.D. Gaster that choice makes all the difference.

He remains with Kris throughout the dark world segment of Chapter 1, though he and Susie occasionally butt heads over her aggressiveness and picking on him, a conflict that results in her temporarily defecting from the party. Ralsei explains that it is Darkners' purpose to serve and assist Lightners, and that doing so is the only way they can feel fulfilled. While he stands up to Susie frequently, he is an extreme doormat when it comes to Kris.

In the final confrontation with the Chaos King he falls for the king's ruse and nearly gets the party killed. Afterwards, he despairs that it was naive of himself to believe that kindness could solve everything, but is reassured by a matured Susie that while sometimes fighting is necessary, failing to be kind and trust others at least sometimes can result in hurting the people one cares for.

In chapter 2, Ralsei explains that not all Darkners are compatible with all Dark Worlds, and that only his own kingdom is guaranteed to be safe for any Darkner to inhabit because its Dark Fountain is of pure darkness without influence from the real-world areas that form bases for the others. Therefore, he hosts refugees from the Card Kingdom (and later the Cyber World) and is at last no longer alone. He also makes personalized bedrooms for Kris, Susie, and Lancer inside his castle so that they may stay there if they need to.

During the party's adventures in the Cyber World, he and Susie leave the party together to have their own adventure through the City, and here he teaches Susie how to use healing magic. Over the normal route of the game, when the party splits up once more to rescue Noelle from Queen's castle, Ralsei goes on a romantic boat ride through a battery-acid lazy river with Kris and reflects on his changing understanding of friendship.

Ralsei's physiology is bizarre, even compared to monsters: When knocked out in battle he collapses into an empty pile of clothing, and his scarf is prehensile and can be used as a limb (he slaps enemies with it, and uses it to doff his wizard hat while using items). During his first appearance he wears a full-body robe like the Riverperson from Undertale, which he then takes off to reveal a furry black monster with glasses; at the end of chapter 1's Dark World segment he also removes the hat to reveal that he is actually a white-furred Boss Monster, and looks like a bespectacled teenage version of Asriel Dreemurr to boot. In chapter 2, it is further revealed that Ralsei seems to have no trouble acclimating to vastly different Dark Worlds, making him an anomaly among Darkners, who are supposed to become petrified if they spend too long in an incompatible realm. He also appears out of nowhere in the Cyber World without Kris needing to bring his physical vessel along with them as they do with Lancer and Rouxls.

His idea for what to call the main characters' team is "The Legendary Heroes: The Herald [sic] of Fun and Friendship", abbreviated by Susie to "The Fun Gang". The name RALSEI is an anagram for ASRIEL.

Fandom

Not long after the game's release Toby posted some scrapped dialogue where the player could either express affection for or annoyance at Ralsei's habit of infodumping, joking that these choices ended up reflecting fans' opinions on the character.[1] Save points' referring to Ralsei as a "fluffy boy" led to fans who like him adopting that as an affectionate epithet. Some fans expressed disappointment at the reveal of Ralsei's true face on the basis that him being a black-furred goat would have been cuter. Fangamer's plush version of Ralsei does have black fur in the mockup photos posted on the site.[2]

Popular trends in fanart include drawing Ralsei as exaggeratedly tiny, sometimes with cartoonish proportions, compared to the other characters to make him look extra cutesy (where canonically he is about the same height as Kris); portraying him as wielding various oversized gatling guns and other heavy artillery for comedic purposes; and comparing him to Niko from the game Oneshot due to similar elements in both characters' designs.

It is also a common joke between some fans that Ralsei is in canon the way that Undertale Asriel is commonly depicted in fanon (i.e. a cute, sweet, unproblematic tragic boy, as compared to Asriel's many canon flaws, which some of his fans prefer to ignore).

Dataminers discovered unused files for Ralsei's manual (which in-game is not usable) quickly after the demo was released. Some parts of the manual refer to system aspects that were apparently phased out of development, but its assertion that the game takes place in 202X is hesitantly accepted by some fans as canon.[3]

Fan Theories

Many fans express suspicion towards Ralsei based in a worry that he is too good to be true, sometimes pointing to the way that he already knows Kris and Susie's names when they appear and the way he closes the Kingdom of Darkness (supply closet)'s door behind himself and Kris when they venture into the Card Kingdom, or the way that Lancer could also fulfill the role of "a prince from the dark" in the prophecy. Some were disappointed that he never "does a Flowey" over the course of Chapter 1, feeling that he would be more interesting as a traitor; others either still hold out hope for or fear the possibility of Ralsei doing a heel turn in the full game. Ralsei's differences from other Darkners coming to light in chapter 2, along with how he is able to direct the player to observe Susie and is always talking to Kris when we resume control of them, have been added to the pile of Reasons Ralsei Is Sus.

How and why Ralsei is connected to Asriel is another subject of fan debate, especially as Ralsei does not seem to have a real-world toy equivalent like all the denizens of the Card Kingdom. Common fan theories are that he is an old original character or imaginary friend of Asriel's, perhaps drawn on the closet wall or on a paper left in the closet; or that Ralsei might be based on a Boss Monster doll like the ones in Undertale Asriel's bedrooms in Home and New Home in that game, perhaps wearing Kris' old horn headband, as Ralsei's horns are pink. This could explain why Ralsei still appears as a teenager instead of as an adult.

This could also create some very on-the-nose symbolism, considering that Deltarune's version of Asriel is a model heterosexual citizen, successful and popular "alpha male" stereotype, and perfect Nice Christian Boy, and yet Ralsei (who has been hidden in the closet) is a delicate and effeminate boy who lives to serve and support others instead of trying to take any glory for himself. The comparison of Ralsei with the Ultimate GOD of Hyperdeath from Undertale (also thought to be based on a power fantasy OC of Asriel's) is another popular subject.

Other fans believe this to be a red herring and think it is more likely that Ralsei is in fact Kris' old OC or imaginary friend. These theorists point to Ralsei's subservience to only Kris, and speculate that Ralsei could be Kris' idealized version of the Boss Monster they wish they were, or modeled on Asriel's past self from the days when the siblings were still close.

Common Pairings

  • Kris/Ralsei (Kralsei)
  • Susie/Ralsei (Susei)
  • Susie/Kris/Ralsei (Krusei)
  • Noelle/Susie/Kris/Ralsei (Kruseille)

Wank

Kris/Ralsei fic tends to get a lot of bashing from anti-shippers who claim that it is "basically incestuous" and therefore bad/impure/etc because Ralsei looks like and is implied to be in some way connected to Asriel. The amount of canon shiptease present in-game for this ship tends to go uncommented upon by said anti-shippers.

Fanworks

Fanfic

Fanart

Meta

Archives and Fannish Links

References

  1. ^ Looking through old files and these dialogue choice options from 2015 ended up kinda accurately reflecting how people feel LOL - Toby Fox on Twitter, posted 4 November 2018 (retrieved 18 December 2018)
  2. ^ DELTARUNE - Ralsei Plush - Fangamer (retrieved 18 December 2018
  3. ^ Deltarune Unused Graphics - Dark World - Ralsei's Manual via The Cutting Room Floor (retrieved 18 December 2018)
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