User blog:Norisuke/PG Removal: Toriel from UNDERTALE

Proposing PG Removal of Toriel from UNDERTALE.

What's the work?
UNDERTALE is a 2015 indie RPG produced by Toby Fox, which follows the story of Frisk, a human who has fallen down the mythical Mt. Ebott, where they then encounter various monsters. They can either murder or befriend the monsters, and as the story progresses, the human learns the monster's plight; bannished from the surface by humans, monsters yearn to once again reach the surface where they can defeat humans and live in peace. A core mechanic of this game is its morality system, wherein you can choose whether to be kind or cruel to the monsters who inhabit this underground, going so far as to either be a true pacifist, or to genocide the entire species.

Who is she?/What has she done?
Toriel, formerly Toriel Dreemurr, is the second character encountered by the human in UNDERTALE. She saves the child from Flowey's attempt at murdering them, taking them into her house and giving them a place to stay. She intends to raise the child, but is quickly met with opposition from them. Though the child wishes to escape and leave, Toriel insists on keeping them in her house, even if by force. Challenging the human to a battle to test their strength, Toriel refuses to let the human out. Only after the human either murders or breaks Toriel down emotionally can they pass. Toriel, although upset to see the child go, insists that they never return to her again. Until the end of the True Pacifist route, this is the last time Toriel is seen.

It's learned that Toriel was the former queen of the underground, ex-wife of Asgore Dreemurr. The two birthed a child, Asriel Dreemurr, and adopted a human, Chara. This period of their lives marked a turn in both Asgore and Toriel, coming around once again to humanity, seeking a peaceful means of existence. This ends, however, when Chara and Asriel conduct a plan wherein Chara commits suicide and Asriel harvests their soul, gaining the powers of a deity. Asriel passes through the barrier sealing all monsterkind underground, and begins viciously attacking humans to gain enough souls to break the barrier entirely. Asriel is easily killed, and Toriel and Asgore are left alone, both of their children now dead. Toriel's reaction to this is unknown, but Asgore was filled with rage and a determination to wipe humankind away, out of revenge both for sealing his species underground and for taking away his two children.

Asgore, confused and unsure of what to do, wants to inspire hope for his people at all costs. He formulates a 'plan', which consists of him passively waiting for human children to fall into the underground, so he may kill the and eventually harvest enough souls to break the barrier entirely. Toriel was disgusted at this plan, but she specifies that it's not specifically because of his intent to murder human children, but moreso the fact that he was willing to wait. Toriel leaves her throne, leaving Asgore to deal with this colossal task alone, and abandoning her kingdom to live in total isolation.

Why she is not Pure Good.
Toriel is easily a deeply flawed person, to the point where she puts others directly in the way of risk and emotional harm. For starters, her issue with Asgore's plan did not stem from a moral disagreement over hurting humans, but because Asgore intended to wait patiently for humans to fall on their own. Toriel states that it would have been better if he had killed one human, and used that soul to go to the surface and slaughter even more humans in their own homes, before returning to the underground to break the barrier (Dialogue to support this are here. 1 2 ). '''Toriel is not inherently against the murder of human children. '''

Toriel's abandonment of her duties as a queen is also not at all heroic, showing cowardice that threw her entire kingdom into turmoil. Instead of attempting to help Asgore, or come up with a better solution to his plan, Toriel left her throne entirely, hiding away in isolation in her Ruins. Toriel has no sense of responsibility, abandoning people who need her help.

Toriel's treatment of others, even the humans she adopts, is also highly questionable. When Frisk expresses a desire to leave the Ruins, Toriel attempts to keep them there, at first through subtle manipulation and then through physical force. She literally forces the human to battle her if they wish to leave her house. '''As sweet as Toriel was, she kidnapped Frisk. '''Although she took care not to kill them during battle, she still used her dangerous fire magic on a small child. She had no intentions whatsoever of letting them pass. Furthermore, when Frisk proves to Toriel they can survive on their own, Toriel tells a young child to never return to her home. She refuses Frisk any help from that point on, calling into question how much she truly cares about the safety of the children she takes in. Even if her intentions are good, she still is neglectful of her impact on them.

Her treatment of Asgore is also poor, but it could be debated whether or not this is justified. She calls Asgore various cruel, insulting names, even when Asgore attempts to earnestly make ammends and do right by his mistakes. She calls him a 'pathetic whelp', for example, among other things. In DELTARUNE, her cruelty towards her ex-husband is far less founded. Furthermore, it seems as though she ignores Kris' apparent turmoil over the divorce, making very poor attempts to hide her disdain for Kris' father.

Verdict
This feels like an obvious removal. Toriel exhibits dangerous, obsessive behavior towards children that puts them through physical harm. Although Toriel means well, she is an unfit caretaker and an especially irresponsible leader. She has no motivation to help others unless they literally fall into her backyard, and that desire to help is only tenuous, quickly fading away when they decide they want to explore outside of her small living space.