Undertale

N.B. The subject of this article is not something created by Andrew Hussie. However, it is
considered relevant to the Wiki's scope due to connections it has to one or more of his works.

Undertale is an RPG franchise created by Homestuck music team artist Toby Fox. Undertale was first released on September 15, 2015, quickly gaining widespread acclaim and leading to the release of episodic spinoff Deltarune, first as a demo in October 2018 and then as a full game on June 4th, 2025.

Toby Fox apparently started developing Undertale in Andrew Hussie's basement.

Allusions to Undertale in MS Paint Adventures

• In Paradox Space strip "Vrisky Business", Vriska Serket asks Equius for a cup of spiders, just as Undertale character Muffet asks of the player.
• At one point in [S] Collide, Davepetasprite^2 engages in an Undertale-format fight with Lord English.
• Hiveswap: Act 1's OST on Bandcamp contains the bonus track B-SIDE: SPOOKTUNE ♫ by Toby. It's a remix of Relatively Visible Darkness ♫ with the leitmotif changed to that of Undertale's "Spooktune". It also contains the track Bedroom for an Annoying Dog ♫, which plays in the basement of Half-Harley Manor; the title is an allusion to the fact that Toby (whose in-game avatar is the Annoying Dog) started to develop Undertale in Hussie's basement.
• Half-Harley Manor ♫ and A More Defensible Position ♫ contain a "Snowdin Town" leitmotif.
• On the poster in Dammek's loft, a troll version of Toby Fox is pictured playing a bass guitar visually similar to Gaster Blasters.
• Page 211 of Homestuck: Beyond Canon lists anyngdogkind as a selectable kind abstrata.
• During Chapter 2 of Begin Session, Vriska Serket is wearing a black tank top, an eyepatch and a ponytail, which in combination resemble Undyne. Morefore, at the end of the session, she ascends in a much stronger form, not to mention an unnatural eye.
• On Fruity Rumpus Asshole Factory, naming yourself "KurlozMakara" gives the answer: “BEWARE THE MAN WHO POSTS IN HANDS.”

Allusions to MS Paint Adventures in Undertale

As Toby Fox was part of the Homestuck music team, several things in Undertale can be seen as references to Homestuck:

• In the Kickstarter for the game, the top reward tier was "Your fantroll will become canon in UnderTale." This is a direct reference to the Homestuck Adventure Game Kickstarter reward.
• Aaron – an extremely buff partially equine creature who sweats and flexes – may be a reference to Equius and his lusus, especially regarding the unique interaction with the somewhat catlike Temmie.
• One of the monsters from Hard Mode, Migospel, bears a resemblance to Gamzee Makara, due to associations with religion and clowns, as well as similar honking.
• A manticore in the lobby of MTT Resort bears a vague resemblance to Jade Harley.
• The Hotland area is highly reminiscent of the Land of Heat and Clockwork, while the Waterfall area is similar to the Land of Wind and Shade and Land of Caves and Silence. Following this, the Ruins area has a similar appearance to Derse.
• Asriel Dreemurr is described as the God of Hyperdeath.

Musical connections

• "Anticipation" begins with the same sound that plays after Bro flies away on hoverboard after beating Dave. This sound is absent in the Bandcamp version ♫ of Versus.
• "sans." was originally a track named "muscle", composed for a Homestuck-related project.
• "Another Medium" is derived from "Patient", an unfinished remix of "Doctor". The same motif also appears in "Waterfall", "CORE", and "Death by Glamour".
• Undertale's Battle Against A True Hero track also is quite similar to Versus ♫ from Homestuck Volume 5, both composed by Toby "Radiation" Fox.
• "Oh My..." is very similar to the opening chords of "Killed by BR8K Spider!!!!!!!!".
• "MEGALOVANIA" appears in the game, although this is not strictly a Homestuck reference, as "Megalovania" is Toby's "signature" song and has been used in a previous project.
• "It's Raining Somewhere Else" seems to be derived from a section in White ♫ from Homestuck Vol. 5.
• "Your Best Nightmare" (3:12 to 3:27) is similar to Terezi's Theme ♫ from 0:00 to 1:07. This is even more interesting because the SOUL linked to that part of the track is Justice, and Terezi has many ties to Justice herself, with her sign even being Libra.

Common sound effects

• "Dogsong" uses Mario Paint Composer sound effects. These sound effects have been heavily used in Homestuck, particularly for music relating to Nepeta, and also in the Trickster arc.
• Flowey's laugh is the same sound clip used for trickster and menacing cherub laughter in Homestuck, for example as heard in The Lordling ♫.
• Sans's whoopee cushion sound clip is the same as that used before Caliborn's piano performance.
• The sound effect when killing a monster in Undertale is the same as that from Openbound Part Two, when Mituna crashes into the ground after doing a (not so) sick grind.

Allusions to MS Paint Adventures in Deltarune

In Chapter 1

• Alphys's square glasses are inspired by John Egbert, according to Toby Fox himself.
• The Card Kingdom shares Homestuck's chess and playing card imagery.
• When Lancer threatens to turn the protagonists "into blood", he produces a bucket with a spade symbol on it to catch it.
• Jevil is a purple-colored clown whose boss fight features a spinning carousel backdrop.
• Upon entering the Dark World, Kris transforms into a blue-themed swordfighter. Kris's name is an anagram for risk, which is part of Vriska's name. Kris also used to possess a red-colored horn headband.
• The text that appears when the Egg is disposed of is likely a reference to the recurring phrase "What pumpkin?"
• A drawer in Kris's house contains a faded box of crayons with every color except green.

Chapter 2

• Queen has a similar appearance to Roxy Lalonde (pre-scratch).
• Queen has a very similar talking quirk to Kanaya.
• In the Cyber Field, a silhouette of a Troll appears on a display.
• Queen bakes a bright green pie for Noelle, followed by Berdly baking identical one for her.
• Spamton is a red-cheeked ventriloquist's dummy who ascends to a reality-bending cybernetic form.
• An alternate route features several rings which grant its wearer immense power.
  • The same route has a recurring plotline of a character physically and emotionally forcing another character to become "stronger"

Chapter 3

• The couch Susie wakes up on wears a crown and a very familiar set of horns.
• Upon interacting with one of the televisions in the Green Room, Susie asks Ralsei if he would lick the screen of the television.
• Rouxls Kaard talks about having a playing card-based relationship system while being the glue that holds together the relationship between Elnina and Lanino.
• A piece of concept art for the rhythm minigame features Kris with a black decorative spiderweb running down their torso.
• Ramb implies that Kris has a boatload of dice beneath their couch, further adding to Kris's connections with Vriska.
• In the SPAMTON SWEEPSTAKES alternative reality game, there is a minigame that features a cat which alternates between green and yellow glowing hues.
• The Knight shares many similarities with Jack Noir:
  • Both are black creatures with white shade, whose weapon is a knife.
  • Both bear visual elements to various absent characters.
  • Both surprisingly attacked the heroes shortly after they defeated a final boss, preventing them from claimimg their Ultimate Reward.
  • Both engaged in combat with a blue swordfighter, who witnessed the defeat of their teammates at a later point.
  • Both dropped something incredibly powerful after their defeat.

Chapter 4

Noelle's house in particular features several seemingly intentional and unintentional references to MSPA:

• In her room, Noelle talks about asking her mom to let her go grimdark.
• A katana is proudly displayed in the kitchen, belonging to her overbearing guardian.
• There are many small Santa statues scattered throughout the living room.
• There are several bronzed paper snowflakes on the wall, courtesy of her mother.

There are many more references throughout the rest of the chapter:

• Jockington states that "life is a big, ballgame. And when the man is on the field, he does a big dunk." This seems to be a reference to SBaHJ #6.
• Jockington's depiction in the Prophecy wears triangular shades instead of the square shades he normally dons.
• Interacting with the sink in Rudy Holiday's hospital room will prompt him to ask Kris if they are expecting soda to come out from the sink.
• In front of the Flower King shop stands the business manticore from Undertale, who still has Jade Harley's face.
• If Noelle consumes the Ancient Sweet item (which cannot happen in normal gameplay), Noelle responds by saying "I'd.. I'd rather eat meat..." This is an obvious reference to the contrast between the Meat and Candy timelines of the Homestuck Epilogues.
• The backdrop of the Dark Sanctuary seems to be inspired by Derse.
• The Wafers of the Dark Sanctuary worship the Organikk statues, claiming the statues are their ancestors. However, in the Second Sanctuary created by Susie, this arrangement has changed; the Organikks are alive, worshipping the statues of the Wafers, which they believe to be their ancestors. This connects the two Sanctuaries to the two sides of a Scratch.
• One of the house-like mazes the SOUL must navigate during the fight with Jackenstein bears a striking resemblance to the Sburb logo.
• To seal the Dark Fountain, Kris stands alone on a platform to play an elegant rendition of their "main theme" ♫ on a giant blue pipe organ overlooking a vast blue landscape in order to open a door.
• As the Fun Gang reaches a dead end, Susie remarks that they have no choice but to wait for the Titan to arrive. Ralsei, however, tells her that it has been there the whole time.

Musical connections

• The unused song "demoscene" was used in Deltarune as "April 2012".
• "Smart Race" (0:00 to 0:10) resembles The Grubbels' song "Broom Temperature ♫" (0:14 to 0:19).
• "BIG SHOT" (0:00 to 0:13, 0:27 to 0:40) is similar to "Beatdown ♫" (0:06 to 0:20).
• "It's TV Time!" (0:00 to 0:19) resembles "Oppa Toby Style ♫" (1:22 to 1:28)
• The main melody of "GLACEIR" strongly resembles that of Terezi's theme.