Asriel’s memory, not Chara’s

(undertale spoilers)

At the conclusion of Frisk’s battle against Asriel, a memory sequence is triggered when the player selects to “save someone else.” However, this is not Chara’s memory. This memory belongs to Asriel.

The Evidence

Temmie Chang is one of the artists that worked on Undertale. According to her FAQ, she worked on the opening prologue sepia sequence and “the sepia sequence when Asriel regains his memories.”

“Regains his memories” is a strange way of wording it, considering there is no indication that Flowey forgot his memories of how he met Chara. However, the definitive evidence is in the code itself.

Code excerpt from obj_asrielfinal.js

room_asrielmemory.xml



After selecting to save “Someone else,” the code redirects the player to room 332. Room 332 is named room_asrielmemory, and it contains obj_asrielpanels. This is the room in which the memory sequence of Chara and Asriel’s meeting plays. This naming is evidence that the memory belongs to Asriel, not Chara.

On the other hand, the memory seen in Waterfall is without imagery. This belongs to Chara, and it’s heard by Frisk because the two share Frisk’s body.

Possible Explanation

The question now is, how is Frisk able to save Asriel if it’s not Chara’s memory? The original theory was that Chara’s memory is used to save Asriel.

Before talking about how Frisk can save Asriel, it’s important to recognize how Frisk saves their friends.

Frisk doesn’t recount memories of what they and their friends have done together. Frisk speaks in the present and uses both their words and actions to trigger the memories.

When Frisk saves “someone else,” they call “their name.” This “one last person that needs to be saved” is Asriel.

At this point in the battle, Asriel still believes that Frisk is Chara. Perhaps hearing “Chara” say his name triggers his earliest memory of his best friend.

This “feeling” Asriel is referring to is likely love. After the battle, Asriel explains that he regained his compassion because of everyone’s souls inside of him. More importantly, he also acknowledges that Frisk is not Chara.

As @butterflygon pointed out in an ask, if Frisk had been able to tell Asriel about how he met Chara, he would have projected Chara onto Frisk even more. Knowing how Chara and Asriel met would be compelling evidence that Frisk is Chara. However, this does not happen, and Asriel states that Chara is gone.

If this is Asriel’s memory, how does Frisk see it? It might be because Asriel’s battle takes place in a dream-like setting. After all, Frisk’s friends are “in there somewhere,” yet Frisk is able to see them and even communicate with them.

Conclusion

It’s not Chara’s memory that saves Asriel. It’s his own memory and the monsters’ love for Frisk that saves Asriel, after “Chara” called his name. By remembering what it’s like to feel love for his best friend, Asriel finally gives up, unable to continue with his plan to keep “Chara” trapped in his game forever.

» read more: asriel’s battle with “chara”