what was chara laughing at?

(undertale spoilers)

one of the biggest mysteries in undertale is finding the explanation for chara’s inexplicable fits of laughter during inappropriate moments. why would chara laugh off asgore’s buttercup poisoning? why do they laugh at snowdrake’s mother?

to answer these questions, the other instances of chara laughing must be examined. does chara have a pattern of laughing nervously? or do they find these situations funny? (this analysis takes the narrachara theory into account.)

pacifist route: true lab / tape 3

in the tapes, asriel says he and chara accidentally put buttercups in a pie instead of cups of butter. this mistake caused asgore to fall terribly ill and made toriel “really upset.” asriel felt horrible about it, but chara “laughed it off.”

now, this “laugh” may not have been one of amusement, but rather chara brushing off the incident as nothing to worry about. while this laugh could be either cruel or nervous, asriel’s phrasing implies it is instead dismissive. if that is the case, this example is too cryptic to say anything certain about chara’s sense of humor. it would only mean they did not find the incident particularly alarming. instead, one must look at the other times chara is seen to be laughing.

genocide route: hotland / fight with the royal guards

upon checking RG01 in the genocide route, the text is notably in first person. considering the text later in new home, first person text clearly represents chara’s thoughts and actions.

more interesting is what occurs upon checking RG02. at the thought of both of the royal guards dying together, even knowing how they love each other, chara responds in a peculiar way: “i couldn’t stop laughing.”

although the royal guards’ checks are a direct quote from a book (“kitchen” by banana yoshimoto), toby fox has stated that references must be able to be taken within the context of the game, in case the player is not familiar with the source.



if the quote is taken at face value, that means there is at least one occasion where chara is shown laughing at the tragic fate of two other people. not only will their love “end in hell,” but chara seems to encourage this tragedy.

pacifist route: true lab / fight with snowdrake’s mother

the genocide route provides evidence that chara is capable of speaking through white text. RG02′s check proves that chara is capable of speaking in the middle of battle. so it makes sense that the second person text is also chara’s narration.

if this is true, it seems that chara finds the amalgamate’s existence to be funny. this narration is triggered if the player chooses to “laugh” from the ACT menu. it’s important to note that in the pacifist route, chara has no influence over frisk’s body because the kill count is at zero. so even if chara finds the situation funny and expects frisk to laugh as well, frisk doesn’t find anything funny about it. despite the player’s input and chara’s narration, frisk does not find it funny and does not laugh.

choosing to laugh a second time will prompt chara to acknowledge that frisk is not amused by snowdrake’s mother’s existence. however, that did not prevent chara from laughing the first time.

choosing to heckle snowdrake’s mother will prompt an even more cruel response. this seems to cement the idea that chara really was laughing at an existence they found to be pathetic. again, chara realises that frisk never said anything like that, but chara still thought it themself.



if the above is the case with snowdrake’s mother, it proves that even without kills chara can still offer a cruel response. this contradicts the theory that the player “corrupts” chara. rather, this appears to be chara’s default response when witnessing the pain of others, regardless of the route the player chooses.

important note: a common counterpoint is that this particular laugh could actually be nervous laughter. while this is certainly plausible – after all, laughter is a common coping mechanism – the context seems to imply this is not the case.

genocide route: the dog food in the lab

there is something else that chara finds amusing – they quite literally call it funny. although laughter can be interpreted in many different ways (such as nervousness or anxiety), something being described as outright “funny” is harder to question. this is in regards to the dog food in alphys’ lab.

this text is not exclusive to the genocide route. in fact, it can be triggered without entering the genocide route at all. the trigger for the “something funny” dialogue is the following:

all of the dogs in snowdin (doggo, lesser dog, dogamy, dogaressa, greater dog) must die AND the total kill count must be at least 21.

(video proof)



things that don’t trigger this dialogue, only giving the “half-empty” message without the “something funny” message:

in a neutral route, kill only doggo (and none of the other snowdin dogs) and then enough monsters to bring the total kill count to 21

(video proof)

begin a genocide route and kill nothing after toriel

begin a genocide route, kill toriel, and kill only one dog in snowdin

in a neutral route, kill 21+ monsters but no snowdin dogs

(for more specifics about the dog food, please see this post.)

“something funny” will only be remembered if 21 monsters are killed, including the whole snowdin canine unit. as a result, it cannot be referring to the amalgamates (this text can be seen before doing a pacifist route) and since there’s a dependency on the dogs’ deaths, it cannot refer to something innocent. because this dialogue always appears in the genocide route – which is associated with chara’s control – it’s reasonable to conclude it is chara who finds the dogs’ deaths “funny.”



in undertale, “you” doesn’t always refer to frisk – the snowdrake’s mother situation above is an example of this. while the narration says “you said”, it quickly reveals those thoughts don’t match frisk’s behaviour; it is more likely that the “you” actually describes chara’s thoughts. in the case of the dog food, if the “you” here isn’t chara, then frisk is the one who finds the deaths funny, which seems out of character. instead, it’s reasonable to presume the “you” is a case of projecting, similar to what chara does when heckling snowdrake’s mother.

pacifist route: soulless pacifist ending

the “soulless pacifist route” is a pacifist route completed after a successful genocide route. it occurs after chara is given “your soul” in the abyss. nothing changes in the soulless pacifist route… until the very end.

if the choice “i have places to go” is selected and frisk does not stay with toriel, an altered photo is shown after the credits.

instead of frisk standing with all their friends, chara is seen smiling with everyone’s faces crossed out. it’s implied that chara, without any help from the player, has murdered (or intends to murder) them all. during this, music from the genocide route plays in the background (a slowed version of “anticipation”).

on the other hand, if frisk stays with toriel, frisk is shown sleeping in their new bed while toriel leaves some pie for them. once toriel leaves, frisk spins around – but it’s not actually frisk.

after chara’s eye glints, the screen goes black. during this darkness, a laugh can be heard. this laugh is a pitched down version of flowey’s laugh, but only chara is in the room. chara is laughing. after the laugh, the player is greeted with “the end” in chara’s red text. once again, a slowed version of “anticipation” can be heard, mirroring the other ending.

what happens next is not shown, but because it’s heavily implied that chara kills frisk’s friends in the ending with the photo, it’s reasonable to assume chara has the same intentions in the ending with toriel. this means chara laughs out loud with the intent to kill. this cannot be nervous laughter or a panicked response due to circumstances they cannot control (i.e., the player forcing them to kill) as they choose this ending all on their own.

genocide route: erasing the world

there’s another instance of chara laughing that isn’t shown through text or sound – it’s visual.

if the player decides not to go along with chara in erasing the world by selecting the “do not” option provided, chara will let the player know that either they aren’t the one “IN CONTROL” (or that the player “MADE [THEIR] CHOICE LONG AGO”). immediately afterwards, the jumpscare occurs. chara attempts to terrify the player with a distorted, horrific expression.

this scene uses three particular sprites…

“spr_truechara_laugh.” chara is laughing. if the movements weren’t clear, the file names for chara’s jumpscare sprites prove it. when the player attempts to defy chara, chara laughs and destroys "this world.”

genocide route: flowey’s story

just prior to the fight with sans, at the conclusion of flowey’s story, flowey suddenly becomes terrified of chara.

most likely, flowey’s fear is a result of chara’s change in demeanour after hearing the “creatures like us” lines. flowey tells chara to “back off”, but chara proceeds anyway.

although it’s not seen, chara apparently makes a “creepy face”. it’s unknown what this exact expression is, but flowey gives us a hint.

flowey wouldn’t feel the need to say that “this isn’t funny” unless chara actually looked like they found something funny. maybe chara is laughing. maybe they’re not. they probably look entertained or amused, at the very least. either way, flowey heavily implies that chara finds his fear “funny”.

then there’s the line that summarises the key to chara’s laughter, the line that explains why chara laughs inappropriately and finds tragic situations funny: flowey states that chara has “a SICK sense of humor”.

given what examples are present in the game, it’s suggested that chara finds the suffering of others amusing. they laugh off asgore’s illness. they laugh before killing both royal guards. they laugh at snowdrake’s mother’s painful life and describe it as “SO funny.” the dog food brings up a “funny” memory, dependent on the deaths of the canine unit. chara laughs at the very end of the soulless pacifist route, with the intent to murder frisk’s friends. they laugh before destroying the world in the genocide route, when the player attempts to resist. finally, it’s implied that chara finds flowey’s fear of death “funny” – and flowey even says himself that chara has “a SICK sense of humor.”

asriel, who knew chara better than anyone, said it best: