Reading this Undertale LP fills you with determination.

[nosimpleway]

Mettaton goes out just happy he was able to perform for a human audience. Alphys tries and fails to hide how emotionally devestating it is that I killed her estranged best friend. I mean, Mad Dummy showed us that a ghost that just happens to occupy a physical object still can't be harmed physically, so it's all Alphys's fault that Mettaton is even vulnerable. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


Wow, Flowey's getting really dedicated to force-crashing the game.

So anyway. End-of-game phonecall when you've killed Toriel, Undyne, and Mettaton:

: so... it's been a while. since you left... things have gotten really strange. overnight, a bunch of people mysteriously disappeared. as well as the human souls. people were heart-broken. everyone they looked up to... everything they were relying on, in one night, disappeared. everyone clamored to elect a new ruler as fast as possible.

: so, uh... by process of elimination... papyrus became the ruler? why doesn't he talk to you about this...

: HELLO!!! HUMAN!!! IT'S STRANGE. ASGORE, ALPHYS, METTATON, AND UNDYNE WENT AWAY. SANS SAYS THEY WENT ON VACATION. I HOPE THEY'RE HAVING FUN!!!

: OH YEAH. I'M THE RULER OF THE UNDERGROUND NOW!!! EVERYTHING IS IMPROVING A LOT HERE. PRODUCTIVITY IS UP! BECAUSE I TELL EVERYONE TO KEEP WORKING. AND, NO ONE GOES HUNGRY!!! BECAUSE I COOK EVERYONE SPAGHETTI. MEANWHILE, MY BROTHER HANDLES THE PAPERWORK. STRANGELY... HE SEEMS TO BE WORKING HARD?

: THIS SOUNDS MESSED UP... BUT... I'M PROUD... OF HIM??? OH NO!!!

: AS FOR OUR HUMAN POLICY... WE'VE DECIDED, UM. SANS, WHAT WAS IT?

: we can't judge humans to be all good or all bad.

: RIGHT! SO IT'S CASE-BY-CASE! IF THEY'RE EVIL... WE GIVE THEM PUZZLES! IF THEY'RE GOOD... WE ALSO GIVE THEM PUZZLES! THAT SEEMS TO BE THE BEST WAY!

: ...

: ...

: IS SANS GONE?

: YOU KNOW... DON'T TELL MY BROTHER, BUT... DESPITE THE IMPROVEMENTS WE'VE MADE... SOMETIMES THIS JOB IS KIND OF HARD. SINCE THE KING WENT AWAY... LOTS OF PEOPLE JUST WANT TO GIVE UP. SOMETIMES, EVEN MY BEST ENCOURAGEMENT...

: DOESN'T WORK.

: AND, AND, I MISS UNDYNE, TOO. SHE NEVER ANSWERS MY PHONE CALLS...

: SHE MUST BE HAVING A LOT OF FUN ON VACATION.

: I JUST WISH SHE'D SEND A POSTCARD.

: ...

: BUT HEY!!!

: I WON'T GIVE UP!
I CAN'T GIVE UP! I HAVE TO MAKE EVERYONE GIVE UP GIVING UP!

: WE'LL GET OUT OF HERE, SLOWLY!!! THEN WE CAN ALL HANG OUT AGAIN! NYEH HEH HEH!!!

Oh, Papyrus, you perfect cinnamon roll. Too good for this world, too pure.

So here's the thing. I'm going down the neutral endings, seeing what happens each time, for each new figurehead killed. Toriel I'm getting used to killing or sparing, it doesn't bother me anymore. Undyne and Mettaton I don't really care about. But Papyrus?

Man.

I gotta kill Papyrus next time.

And here's the thing. More so than the true pacifist ending, or any other neutral run, or even the pacifist ending to undo killing Flowey so things would go back to normal there... I actually don't want to restart to do this playthrough. I like Papyrus. Napstablook I identify with, what with the crushing loneliness and depression, but the impossibly cheerful, driven, hardworking, enthusiastic, optimistic, slightly naive Papyrus? I actually feel vaguely guilty I have to do this.

...I can reset afterward, I guess. I can fix everything once I'm done, and reset the game.

So... yeah. I guess for the sake of the Let's Play, I gotta do it.

[François]

I'm sure we all greatly appreciate your reluctant descent into cruel turpitude! In a way, Papyrus' death is on us all.

...shit.

[nosimpleway]

I think the only thing that I haven't tried on the Dummy is just beating it with a stick until it runs out of HP. Toriel has a quick scolding prepared if you try it.


Surprise, Mad Dummy has a thing to say about it.


All these playthroughs and I just finally understood this. Everyone in the underground is really into anime, get it?

Okay. Levity aside.








The dirty deed is done.

[nosimpleway]

The loss of their loudest resident immediately shakes the residents of Snowdin to their collective core.






Sans disappears for the rest of the game.


Undyne gets no report of your appearance or progress through Waterfall, but none of those scenarios are changed anyway.

[nosimpleway]

Speaking of Undyne, she doesn't even try to tell you the monsters' tragic backstory and fire up her hot-blooded theme music.

: Papyrus didn't come to his meeting today. Say what you want about him. He's weird, he's naive, he's self-absorbed...

: But Papyrus has NEVER missed a meeting.

: And no matter what time you call him on the phone... Night, day, afternoon, morning...

: He ALWAYS answers within the first two rings.

: ...But now he's gone. And his brother isn't around, either.

: ...What did you do to him?

: What did you DO TO HIM?

: Papyrus, who I have trained every day... Even though I KNOW he's too goofy to ever hurt anyone... ...Go ahead. Prepare however you want. But when you step forward...

: I will KILL you.


Spoilers: she does not.

Even though her hit point bar does get kinda weird there at the end.

[nosimpleway]

Sans still shows up to explain EXP and LOVE, in the Final Corridor. His speech is unchanged, up until the end, when...

: one thing about you always struck me as kinda odd. now, i understand acting in self-defense. you were thrown into those situations against your will. but... sometimes... you act like you know what's gonna happen. like you've already experienced it all before. this is an odd thing to say, but... if you have some sort of special power... isn't it your responsibility to do the right thing?

Um... I guess?

: ah.

: i see.

: ...

: Then why'd you kill my brother?

[nosimpleway]

Since the last True Reset, I haven't killed Flowey. In fact, getting Flowey back to not halfassedly hiding from me was why I did another pacifist run and true reset in the first place. But you still only have to fight Photoshop Flowey the first time after a true reset. After that, Flowey remembers that his plan to kill you and save over your death doesn't work, so he just takes the souls and leaves. There's no fight after Asgore, it's just that Flowey's dialog changes slightly from "Told you I wouldn't let you win" to "Welp, guess I can't win."

When you've killed only Toriel, Papyrus, Undyne, and Mettaton:

: it's been a while, huh?

Oddly, it's still Sans who calls you. I mean, I'm not sure who else would, but he takes the brother-killing thing awfully personally.

: ...it seems a number of important people disappeared overnight. but no one else was harmed. the people were confused. it was complete bedlam. somehow, at the end of the day...

: a small, white dog became president of the underground. it sleeps on the throne and does absolutely nothing. strangely, it seems this is the best life for everyone.

: thanks.

Most of these phonecalls take place in silence, but this one plays Dogsong to drive home just how ridiculous it is. Did Sans just thank me for killing Papyrus and Undyne?

[nosimpleway]

If you don't kill Flowey, he pops up after the endgame phonecall...

: Oh, I get it. You wanna be friends, huh...?

: You're PATHETIC. You REALLY think I want to be friends with YOU?

: Heh... You really DON'T get it, do you?

: There's only one person I could care about anymore. And even then, I couldn't TRULY care about them. I just like to think there's someone out there... Someone that I won't get tired of.

: Someone like ME.

: Say.

: Quit looking at me with that stupid expression. You're pissing me off.

And Flowey exits, booting you back to the game intro. If all it takes to get that endgame text is to spare Flowey at the end of a neutral run and then do another neutral run, it's possible to get it before the pacifist ending fills in the details of Flowey's personality and motivation.

[nosimpleway]

Hang on, before I reset, I wanna do a little adjustment to that last run...


I intentionally saved the game while I still had some random encounters left, namely in the CORE. So I go on a quick murder spree before ending the game again.

If, during Sans's judgment, you say that you don't have any particular responsibility -- I mean, come on. I can reset time. so the nature of the power itself kind of removes and responsibility in it -- he just calls you a dirty brother-killer.

And the endgame phonecall if you kill a bunch of people in addition to all potential leadership:

: ...things have gotten pretty bad down here. everyone considered a leader disappeared overnight. it's gotten so quiet. there's a bad feeling hanging over everyone. like everyone's just going to die here, trapped in the dark...

: ...i bet you're wondering why i'm not the ruler. eh. i'm not cut out for something like that. i like to take it easy, you know?

: ... ...that's a joke. this is what happens when people like me take it easy.

: but, at least things are less crowded. 'cause of the people you killed. hope that was a good experience for you.

: just kidding. i don't really hope that.

: go to hell.

[nosimpleway]

As are you, I must observe.

: What's wrong with you?

: Are you trying to start the Flowey Fan Club? Because if you want to join THAT... You'll have to talk to Papyrus.

: Yeah, he started one. A few different times, anyway. I won't lie. He's one of the better characters to mess around with.

Weird that Flowey calls him a "character" rather than a "person"...

: Took me a long time to get bored of that one. ...Yeah. Talk to him about it.

[nosimpleway]

Well, now I'm just curious how far this goes, so I kill Asgore a couple more times without resetting.

: Did you start the Flowey Fan Club? Ha. I'm just kidding. I was watching. I know you didn't.

: But I don't care. Really. He probably would have invited his garbage brother. You know. Smiley Trashbag.

: ...Say. If I have ONE piece of advice for you...

: DON'T.

: Let his brother.

: Find out ANYTHING about you.

: He'll... well... Let's just say. He's caused me more than my fair share of resets. Stay away from that guy.

Fair enough. So the game reboots, I reload, kill Asgore again...

: : [i]Why do you keep coming back here? You don't REALLY want to be friends, do you...?

: ...No, I get it. You're just like me, aren't you? You don't care about anyone. You're just bored. You just want to see what I'll say.

: So you can laugh and throw me away like a broken toy.

: Well, TOO BAD!

: I'm not LIKE everybody else. So, from now on... you're not getting ANYTHING.

And, reboot again. Kill Asgore, and all you get is...

: ...Don't you have anything BETTER to do?

...forevermore. So.

[nosimpleway]

I've killed everyone but the potential leaders. I've killed each combination of the potential leaders, working my way down the line of succession. There's really not much else for me to do, or new endings to see...

Kill. Everything.

...oh. Yeah. I could just kill everyone in one go.

So, uh. Disclaimer! This is the start of the much-ballyhooed Genocide Run. It's called that because you --by which, in typical Let's Play pronoun confusion, I mean I -- kill everything. The game changes rather a lot when you do, treating Frisk like the inhuman murder-machine they are, throughout.

So that twinge of guilt I felt when it was time to kill Papyrus? The whole playthrough is like that. If you're attached to the characters and are going to be traumatized when they die, now's the time to stop reading. It was a good LP. Just assume I do another pacifist run eventually and everyone gets to keep their happy ending.

Otherwise... well, I'm told this is some of the most compelling writing and storytelling that's ever been put in a video game. All the whimsy and lightheartedness goes out the window, this is some Serious Business. Oughta be interesting.

[nosimpleway]

The name of the First Child will remain the same, of course.


From the very first Froggit that hops along, the one that Toriel usually glares at to make it leave, I start bashing things with a stick until they dust.


Napstablook turns out to be a tough cookie. They aren't that tough to dodge, but hitting them doesn't do much HP damage, and...


Napstablook: we're sorta incorporeal and all
Napstablook: i was just lowering my hp because i didnt want to be rude
Napstablook: sorry... i just made this more awkward...
Napstablook: pretend you beat me...


Pyrrhic! Although it makes sense. EXP is Execution Points, and I didn't get to kill anything to earn any.


A few more heartless murders, and that's the RUINS cleared.

[nosimpleway]

Eventually the game dispenses with the flavor text and just tells you "Determination" when you save.




Slash! Stab!



: To think I was worried you wouldn't fit in out there...

: Eheheheh!!! You really are no different than them!

And Toriel dusts. I've done that to her plenty of times for all those neutral endings, but this is the first time I waited for her to drop her guard before betraying her.



: You're not really human, are you? No. You're empty inside. Just like me. In fact...

: You're Rtwo, right?

: We're still inseperable, after all these years... Listen. I have a plan to become all powerful.

: Even more powerful than you and your stolen soul.

: Let's destroy everything in this wretched world.

: Everyone, everything in these worthless memories...

: Let's turn 'em all to dust.

So... first Toriel says that we're just like "them" -- and remember this is a game that advances the cause of the filthy Ess Jay Doubleyous by insisting on the gender-neutral singular "them" for a lot of characters -- and Flowey immediately pegs Frisk's behavior as just like Rtwo was back when Rtwo was alive. That "you and your stolen soul" comment leaves plenty to wonder about, too...

[nosimpleway]

: it's ALWAYS funny.

: thats, uh. your cue to laugh.

: or, uh, to emote at all...?

: ... (gee, lady, you really know how to pick 'em, huh...?)

: OK, that's fine. everyone's got their own sense of humor.

Sans introduces himself, invites us through the gate, and tells us to duck behind the conveniently-shaped lamp before Papyrus shows up. But...


Frisk doesn't move. I don't even get the chance to.



: yeah.

: REALLY!?!? WOWIE!!! GUESS THAT'S SETTLED!!

And Papyrus leaves.



: my brother'd really like to see a human...

: so, y'know, it'd really help me out...

: if you kept pretending to be one.

Sans is stone. cold.

[nosimpleway]

The save points have now stopped noting my determination at all, and just give me a number of targets left in the area.



: I WANT TO LOOK MY SUNDAY BEST... OR AT LEAST MY TUESDAY PRETTY-GOOD.

: don't you only have one outfit?

: YEAH, BUT I COULD STYLE MY HAIR!

: yeah. good idea. say, why don't you look over there?

: WHAT AM I LOOKING AT?

: behold.

The camera pans over, as it usually does in this scene, to reveal the nearby stone in the path.

: OH MY GOD!!! WHY ARE YOU TELLING ME TO LOOK AT A ROCK.

: hey, what's that in front of the rock?

: OH MY GOD!!! I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THAT IS.

: well. it's not a rock.

: NOT A ROCK...? OH NO!!! BY PROCESS OF ELIMINATION!!! THAT MEANS IT'S A HUMAN!!!

: AHEM!! HUMAN!! PREPARE YOURSELF!! FOR HIGH JINKS! FOR LOW JINKS! DANGERS! PUZZLES! CAPERS! JAPERS! BEING CAPTURED!! AND OTHER SORTS OF FUN ACTIVITIES. REFRESHMENTS WILL BE PROVIDED... IF YOU DARE! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!!!

And Papyrus leaves.

: ...and you don't even bat an eye, huh?

Frisk doesn't have any facial expressions programmed in, but presumably in other runs they react like any kid would to two silly skeletons doing silly things. Because the genocide run quickly establishes that Frisk is cold and emotionless, and sticks with it.

[nosimpleway]

The snowman barely gets a word out before Frisk pulls a chunk out of it.


This is the only time you can get more than one Snowman Piece.


...by just ripping the thing apart with your bare hands. Cold, emotionless, and also callous and cruel!


With no patience for frivolity, Frisk just walks across the electric maze before Papyrus even turns it on.

: FOR YOU SEE, THIS IS... THE, INVISIBLE... UHHHHHHH...?

: HMMM... YOU MUST BE HAVING CULTURE SHOCK. YOU SEE, WHERE I COME FROM, IT'S A LOVING TRADITION TO SUFFER THROUGH HORRIBLE PUZZLES FOR NO REASON.



: ...

: SIGH... WHY COULDN'T WE GET A HUMAN THAT LIKES PUZZLES???

[nosimpleway]

Since the immediacy of Snowdrake's family is something of a plot point, there's only one of them around. After you kill that one, Chilldrakes start showing up instead.

(For this purpose we are going to ignore the two Snowdrakes who appear side-by-side in New Home during the backstory narration leading up to a neutral ending.)


That's Snowdin cleared.


Who cares how many sides it's got? It's round-ish. It's fine. Whatever.


I'm a little surprised that the next puzzle is actually the exact same as it normally is.


That the word search made Frisk pause for a moment, but the invisible electric maze did not, is endlessly frustrating to Papyrus.


Vines? Are they poorly photoshopped? Is Flowey backing me up, here?


Well, I said Snowdin was clear, but there are still the scripted battles with the Royal Guard. Killing my way through reveals that Dogamy and Dogaressa each wear sweaters with the other's face embroidered on the front.


Killing one also disrupts their usual dual attacks.




There's no need to do the pathing puzzles. The spikes are already retracted.

[nosimpleway]

Oh, yeah. From the moment you step into Snowdin the music changes to an off-key, slowed version. It eventually gives way to But Nobody Came after you wipe out the remaining monsters, and later the game gets a little confused whether it should be playing the regular Snowy theme, the genocide Snowy theme, or But Nobody Came after each cutscene with the skeleton bros.



: ...ARE YOU SERIOUS? SANS!!! HELP!!! THEY KEEP WALKING THROUGH MY PUZZLES! THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO LET ME EXPLAIN THEM. THEN THREATEN AND BAFFLE THEM WITH DANGEROUS JAPES.

: well, maybe they don't like japes.

: EVERYONE LIKES JAPES!!!

: what about undyne? doesn't she hate puzzles?

: SHE HATES PUZZLES. BUT SHE LOVES JAPES.

: that makes sense.

: HUMAN!! WHAT DO YOU THINK!? PUZZLES OR JAPES?

: ...

: ...

: OKAY, THIS IS NORMALLY THE PART WHERE YOU EITHER AGREE OR DISAGREE. AND DEPENDING ON YOUR ANSWER, WE SAY SOMETHING GREAT IN RESPONSE.

Papyrus gets fed up with my uncooperativeness and leaves. Nice skewer of RPG responses before he went, though.

[nosimpleway]

Before it started taking itself way too seriously and jammed its collective head into its collective ass, TVTropes codified a few shorthand terms into general use. One of them is that a character who performs an act of needless or wanton cruelty in order to establish themselves as a villain is said to have "kicked the dog". In the case of a genocide run, it's almost literal... and "almost" only because I'm equipped with the Tough Glove, not the Ballet Shoes.


The speech introducing the Gauntlet of Deadly Terror remains the same as it ever was. But this time, it's not activated because...

: ...THEY'RE PROBABLY GOING TO WALK THROUGH IT. AND IT WON'T BE ANY FUN AT ALL.

: hmmm... so this human thing was a bust, huh?

: WELL. I MEAN. I'M EXCITED TO CAPTURE THEM. SO I'LL BECOME A FAMOUS ROYAL GUARDSMAN!!! BUT ALL THE TIME I PUT INTO THESE PUZZLES... IT'S KIND OF LIKE THROWING A BIRTHDAY PARTY...

: without traps and fire?

: EXACTLY!! IT'S POINTLESS!!! MAYBE YOU WERE RIGHT TO BE LAZY ABOUT PUZZLES.

: me? right about something? really?

: ...YEAH!! WHAT AM I SAYING! YOU'RE STILL COMPLETELY WRONG! I JUST HAVE THE WRONG AUDIENCE! THINK ABOUT HOW MUCH FUN UNDYNE WOULD HAVE HERE! FLAMES, VIOLENCE, IT'S RIGHT UP HER ALLEY! SO I WON'T WASTE THIS PUZZLE ON YOU. I JUST HAVE TO APPRECIATE THE FRIEND I ALREADY HAVE! PHEW! A VALUABLE LIFE LESSON! NYEH HEH HEH!!!


Sans remains behind, as he so often does.

: guess we didn't need your help to have a good time after all. ...say, I've been thinking.

: seems like you're gonna fight my brother pretty soon. here's some friendly advice. if you keep going the way you are now...

: you're gonna have a bad time.


Then the screen flashes dark, and when it lights again, Sans is gone. This is the first time he's ever used a "shortcut" onscreen. It's jarring.