(thanks to @undertale-science for the flower theories and for putting things into perspective, and to this site for having a lot of transcripts which made compiling the information in this post a lot easier)
the story of what happened prior to the events of undertale is spread out over many different parts of the game. as a result, it’s easy to forget parts and to get confused. this post aims to clear things up using quotes directly from the game.
★ new home / monster tale
but somebody came.
★ true lab / tape 2 / asriel to chara
★ true lab / first half of tape 3 / asriel to chara
★ new home / genocide route / flowey
★ true lab / second half of tape 3 / asriel to chara
after seeing how sick asgore becomes from ingesting the flowers, chara comes up with the plan to die from the symptoms that eating buttercups causes so that asriel can absorb their soul. in chara’s plan, together they can collect six other human souls, supposedly to break the barrier and free all monsters, although chara likely had other motives.
(note: buttercups are members of the ranunculus genus)
All Ranunculus species are poisonous when eaten fresh by cattle, horses, and other livestock, but their acrid taste and the blistering of the mouth caused by their poison means they are usually left uneaten. Poisoning can occur where buttercups are abundant in overgrazed fields where little other edible plant growth is left, and the animals eat them out of desperation. Symptoms include bloody diarrhea, excessive salivation, colic, and severe blistering of the mouth, mucous membranes and gastrointestinal tract. When Ranunculus plants are handled, naturally occurring ranunculin is broken down to form protoanemonin, which is known to cause contact dermatitis in humans and care should therefore be exercised in extensive handling of the plants.
with these symptoms in mind, it’s hard to imagine anyone laughing about it, but chara apparently found it funny.
★ true lab / tape 4 / asriel to chara
chara eats the buttercups and falls ill, all according to plan. only asriel knows why chara fell sick, and he doesn’t share this with anyone.
★ new home / monster tale
★ true lab / tape 5 / toriel to chara
★ true lab / tape 5 / asgore to chara
★ new home / monster tale
★ true lab / tape 5 / asriel to chara
asriel, at chara’s deathbed, feels regret after chara goes through with the plan, but he resolves to carry out chara’s wishes.
★ new home / monster tale
not only is asriel grief-stricken, he’s fulfilling chara’s scheme and trying to carry out their last wishes.
★ waterfall / wall writing
perhaps asriel became a creature that was frightening to look at.
★ new home / monster tale
★ ruins / after true pacifist end / asriel to frisk
★ new home / monster tale
although asriel may not have gone through with the plot to absorb chara’s soul alone, chara’s last wish to see the flowers from their village probably made asriel give into it.
★ true lab / entry number 10 (about the golden flowers)
the seeds of chara’s favourite golden flowers likely got stuck to asriel’s fur when he carried chara’s body onto the flowerbed.
★ new home / monster tale
chara, knowing what humans are like, probably predicted this response.
★ ruins / after true pacifist end / asriel to frisk
chara wanted asriel’s body to retaliate and steal six human souls in order to either : a.) become a godlike being able to destroy anything
b.) break the barrier so that monsters and humans can wage war on each other, or c.) both.
★ new home / monster tale
★ ruins / after true pacifist end / asriel to frisk
★ genocide finale / first meeting / chara to the player
chara’s plan fails when they can’t force asriel’s body to fight back, essentially making chara’s sacrifice meaningless.
★ new home / monster tale
★ snowdin / library books / red bookcase
according to the school report, a monster’s dust can imbue what it lands on with its essence – asriel’s dust lands on the garden, and on the seed(s) of the golden flower he must have accidentally brought back with him.
★ true lab / entry number 7
alphys chooses to inject determination into the first golden flower that grew before all the others, fertilised by asriel’s dust – the flower contained asriel’s essence, but it wasn’t alive prior to being given determination as it lacked a soul.
★ true lab / entry number 10
★ true lab / entry number 12
it took a while for something to happen to the flower, just as the amalgamates took a while to get up and start walking (before ultimately melting into each other).
★ new home / genocide route / flowey
a parallel to when chara called for help and asriel came.
★ true lab / entry number 18
★ new home / genocide route / flowey
flowey flees the king’s garden, where alphys had been observing him, to visit his mother at the ruins.
”i decided to follow in your footsteps” seems to reinforce the idea that chara purposely committed suicide in order to achieve their goals.
so that’s pretty much it! this is most of the important information about chara/asriel/flowey in undertale, sorted into a neat little package. you can infer or guess plenty of different things from this.
