Thursday, July 14, 2022

Spamton Character Analysis by BP ("Deltarune" and "Undertale" property of Toby Fox)

As of now, Deltarune is currently an unfinished game with only two chapters, made by Toby Fox, who also created Undertale. But even with only two chapters, the game already has so much content and fun characters such as Susie, Ralsei, Kris, Noelle, even Berdly… But there is one character that completely stands out from the rest. Deltarune in general has a fun tone, but this character hardly fits in with that at all, yet fits in terrifyingly well with the game’s underlying plot. Enter Spamton G. Spamton.

In the middle of Chapter 2, the protagonist Kris and their friend Noelle are with the antagonist Queen in her car, and unfortunately they got stuck in a traffic jam because a silly little dog was holding up traffic. Kris is instructed to go to the other side of the road and press the traffic button, so they have to take a detour in the alleyway.

Kris is all alone now, and the alleyway is just oozing with creepy energy. Suddenly, the lid of the nearby dumpster slams open, and a silly little salesman jumps out of it. “HEY EVERY ! IT’S ME, SPAMTON G. SPAMTON!”

Before I go into his role in the story, I have to talk about his genius design first. Spamton has a large white head with sleek black hair, two-tone pink and yellow glasses perched upon his long, pointy nose, complete with rosy red cheeks accompanying a large smile. In his music tracks, you can hear his catch phrase: “Now’s your chance to be a [BIG SHOT]!” Yes, he sometimes speaks in [brackets]. Just like a spam email. It’s also fitting as spam email always gets thrown away on computers, hence why Spamton is found in a dumpster. Also, Spamton calls himself the [Number1RatedSalesman1997], which might seem kind of random, but it’s not. In 1997, there was a commercial for a soda that was literally called Big Shot. Spamton even looks like the guy in the logo for the soda. It’s just amazing.

Anyway, now I have to talk about Spamton’s first boss fight. Before you fight him, he mentions Kris’s [HeartShapedObject], their SOUL, which is creepy because no other character in Deltarune has mentioned anything about souls, which were a key concept in Undertale. Kris’s soul is what ties them to the player, allowing YOU to control Kris like a puppet. It’s unknown exactly how souls work in Deltarune in comparison to Undertale, but we’ll hopefully get more info in a future Deltarune chapter.

During Spamton’s boss fight, he has three different attacks. The first is where his large head grows even bigger, becoming a vacuum, as you have to dodge the [Kromer] being sucked into his mouth. “Kromer” is Spamton’s made up word for money. His next attack is where he spits out moving words at you like “Deals” or “Money” or other salesman related words. And the third attack he uses is him opening his mouth again and he spits out mini-Spamtons that jump around the screen that you have to dodge.

Overall, it’s a pretty easy boss fight. In fact, if you have enough TP (Tension Points), you can even use the Heal Deal command in the menu. Also, if you’re playing Deltarune on PC, you can even press F1 and a little Spamton angel comes down to heal you. It’s made pretty clear that this was designed to be an easy boss. After all, Spamton doesn’t even want to fight you. He’s trying to flatter you into his amazing deals.

As silly as this boss fight is, it starts to become creepy when Spamton starts saying things like “I’M A SALESMAN! I WAS NEVER IN IT FOR THE MONEY! I WAS ONLY EVER IN IT FOR… THE [Freedom]” or “PRICES SO LOW EVERYONE I KNOW IS [Dead]!” It’s all just very strange and somewhat uncomfortable, especially when you’re all alone in a dark alleyway.

After you take a few of his deals, Spamton now has trust in you, and he tells you to meet him later in his shop in the trash zone, and then he simply just walks away. Once you progress forward, there was another poster with Queen on it, but this one was torn and you can see a poster of Spamton underneath it. It makes you wonder who this silly little man really is.

As Kris was instructed earlier, they made it to the other side of the road to get rid of the traffic, and was reunited with Queen and Noelle. It all just feels like complete whiplash, because you have no idea what all of that was all about. Then the main story continues as normal, and after a couple of plot twists and character arcs later, Kris reunites with their friends Susie and Ralsei in Queen’s Mansion.

This is probably the reason why I love Deltarune and Undertale so much. The thing about them is that you can make so many choices, as opposed to other stories where you just go along with it. Some people who play for the first time might just forget about Spamton telling them to meet in the trash zone, and will most likely just breeze on through the game. But you can actually return to the trash zone, and Spamton will be there in his little shop.

Spamton’s first boss fight was slightly unsettling, but his shop just drives it all the way home that there is something weird and creepy going on. The background has colorful blue bricks with a sun painted on it, which is just odd considering his shop is in a pile of trash. The music that plays in the shop is slow and somber, which doesn’t fit Spamton’s bombastic personality. Then on the side of the screen, there’s a telephone that rings on beat with the music, but Spamton just ignores it. On top of that, in the shop menu it says you can buy a few different things, like S. Potion or Big Shot Bowtie. But if you buy any of his items and check them outside of his shop, they’re revealed to be S. Poison or Frayed Bowtie. ALSO, in most of the game’s shops, you can press “Exit” to leave the shop, but in Spamton’s shop the button says “RUN AWAY”.

At this point, it’s obvious that something’s wrong with Spamton. But despite living in a dumpster and literally having nothing of his own, he still has a huge smile on his face… even if it’s not a genuine one. The reason why his boss fight was so easy was because he wanted you to help him. No, he needed you to help him. He could have just asked for you to help him, but now everything’s worse because he’s not telling you anything. Maybe it’s because he can’t tell you what’s going on.

One phrase that Spamton uses a lot is [Hyperlink Blocked]. It’s completely unknown what [Hyperlink Blocked] is, but it most likely means “choices” or “freedom”. One of Deltarune’s themes is that your choices don’t matter, as opposed to Undertale, where every action you made had some sort of consequence, but there’s more evidence for that later.

Another thing you can do in Spamton’s shop is talk to him. He says a ton of cryptic stuff that’s probably foreshadowing future chapters, but the most jarring moment in his shop is when he’s rambling on, but then suddenly he stops talking and his glasses go static, like a TV. Then he says “...can anyone hear me? Help…”, but then his eyes light up and he goes back to “normal”. Also, his eyes go static again when he randomly mentions someone named Mike, then he yells at you that Mike is a criminal and to not trust him, but we have no idea who Mike is or how he’s related to Spamton in any way. It’s so unsettling.

Anyway, Spamton says that in the deep abyss of Queen’s Mansion there is a “workout ready body” that’s there “for a limited time only”, but apparently he’s not allowed in the mansion, so he tells you to get the empty disk for him, which is found in the mansion’s basement. He gives you the Keygen, which can be used to unlock a hidden door to the basement.

Queen’s Mansion is supposed to be fun and entertaining, with lots of enemies, energetic music, and the acid river. So it’s especially unnerving when you find the basement, which is empty, dark, and not somewhere where you’d want to hang out. There’s even railroad tracks, which is definitely not something that belongs in a mansion. After powering down the barrier blocking you from progressing, you find a broken machine in one of the corridors which has the Empty Disk, and then you have to return it to Spamton.

Another detail that I love is that after you leave Spamton’s shop the first time, Susie and Ralsei ask if Kris bought any candy, and after you find the Empty Disk in the basement, Susie is goofing around because she stole Ralsei’s glasses and is making fun of him. This is most likely intentional because so far, Kris has been the ONLY ONE interacting with Spamton at all. His shop and the mansion’s basement are just generally spooky, but it’s only made creepier with Susie and Ralsei not having any clue as to what’s happening.

Then Kris returns the disk to Spamton, and then they begin the “transfer”. Being the computer virus that he is, Spamton is able to insert himself into the Empty Disk. But before he transfers, he tells Kris to “GO. PUT THE DISK. BACK WHERE YOU FOUND IT.” and then laughing excitedly, Spamton disappears from his shop, into the disk.

So you return to the basement of the mansion, with the Loaded Disk in hand. You insert it into the machine… and nothing happens. You hit the machine, you kick it, and you try shaking it. Nothing happens. Well, that was that. Time to go back to-

Suddenly, a shadowy figure jumps out from the ceiling, held up by green strings. As the light shines to show what the figure is, it is revealed to be Spamton. But he isn’t like what he was before. He now has a large pink body, with a set of wings, and longer limbs. He’s become Spamton NEO. He’s bigger and better than ever. Or… so he thought. The only reason Spamton wanted to be inserted into the machine was to have freedom. But his entire body is held up by green strings, like a puppet.

Ralsei and Susie luckily come down to help Kris, because Spamton had an arm cannon, ready to take Kris’s soul, hoping it would finally grant him freedom. Due to the fact there were railroad tracks, Spamton NEO summons three roller coaster cars, and so begins one of the toughest boss fights so far in Deltarune.

This boss fight is absolutely amazing. The objective is to cut Spamton free from his strings, or he’ll be able to take your soul. The fight seems to take place on an underground roller coaster, but in the background there seem to be buildings with the shape of Spamton’s head.

His attacks are MUCH faster and harder than his first fight, because now he has the power of NEO on his side. Another thing I love about this boss fight is that it’s a direct reference to Mettaton NEO’s fight from Undertale. In the song that plays during Spamton NEO’s boss fight, you can even hear Mettaton NEO’s theme. Unfortunately, Mettaton NEO dies in one hit, but Spamton Neo brings an entire boss fight with him.

But despite Spamton NEO having a full-on hard boss fight, it’s… really not that hard. Chapter 1 of Deltarune took place in the Card Kingdom, with Chapter 2 being in the Cyber World. The secret boss of Chapter 1 was Jevil, who represents the joker card, and as such can do whatever he wants. Jevil was locked away in a prison, but he believed that he lived in a little freedom and everyone else was locked away. Jevil, being free, had a very hard boss fight that will likely take lots of tries.

But Spamton, he’s still attached to his puppet strings. After his NEO boss fight, you can meet the Addisons outside of his old shop. The Addisons used to be Spamton’s advertising buddies, hence why they’re called Addisons. Spamton would always say to them that one day, he would be a big shot. He would someday live in Queen’s Mansion.

But nothing ever happened. Until… one day. Spamton must have found the right person. Or did the person find him? But anyway, once he made that call, his sales skyrocketed. He became a big shot. The other Addisons left him because they didn’t think he needed them anymore. Spamton finally made it to the Queen's mansion. He had everything he ever wanted… until it all came crashing down.

Whoever the mysterious caller was who helped Spamton must’ve disappeared. His sales dropped to zero. Queen did say that her acid river shrunk people, which is why she had little vacation houses in the middle of the river. Also, in Spamton’s shop, he randomly says “[Ow!] NO, STOP! [Help me]! IT BURNS!!!”, and he’s also considerably shorter than the other Addisons, so it’s probably safe to assume that he was dunked in the acid river.

And that’s likely how he wound up in the dumpster, and the rest is history.


Back to his NEO boss fight, the text at the bottom of the screen sometimes says: “Spamton appeals to the audience with a festive jig!”

“Spamton begs the audience. Spamton prays to the audience.”

“Spamton begs the audience to stop taking the furniture out of his room.”

“There is no audience.”

He’s trying his absolute best for SOMEONE to come help him, but… he can’t. There is no audience. No matter how hard he’s trying, he can’t be free. That’s why he was so overjoyed when Kris came to help, but now things are worse now that he’s attached to puppet strings. He’s more desperate than he is powerful, and thus he’s easier than Jevil.

In fact, for his final attack, he spits out his very own soul, everything he has left, just so he can get Kris’s soul and be free, but he spits his soul in such a way that it ends up being his easiest and most predictable attack to dodge.

Suddenly, Spamton only has one string left to be snapped. For the first time in his life, he feels happiness. The background turns into a happy sky with a painted sun like the one in his shop, and happy music starts to play. In fact, the song that plays when he jumps out of the dumpster at you is called “HEY EVERY!”, but it was just a short loop because Spamton was forcing his smile.

The happy music that plays here, “A Real Boy”, is actually “HEY EVERY!”, but it sounds much happier and more exciting. Spamton went from living in a dumpster to literally trying to take someone’s soul for his own selfish desires, and yet they still made it this far to ensure Spamton’s happy ending. He was finally going to have friends. He was finally going to be free. Kris readies their sword for the one last string to snap, and…

…Spamton NEO’s lifeless body falls to the floor with a loud thud.

“It appears I could be nothing more than a simple puppet. But you three, with a power like that, perhaps you could break free from your own strings. Let me become your strength.” were Spamton’s last words, before turning into a pair of glasses that the heroes may use. No [bracket] text, no shouting. Spamton tried. So hard. And that’s where he ended up.

I guess the reason why Spamton is such an amazing character is because he’s goofy, unnerving, tragic, and relatable at the same time. I’ve read lots of books and played lots of video games, but I don’t think I’ve seen a more well written character than the [Number1RatedSalesman1997]. He just wanted to be free, no strings attached.

After the Spamton NEO battle, Kris is the only one that seems to be deeply unsettled by what just happened. Kris frequently tries to get rid of their soul, because it’s the metaphorical string that connects them to the player. But after seeing what happened to Spamton, it makes sense that Kris is worried about what would happen if they got rid of their soul.

But wait! There’s more!

The reason why Undertale became so popular is because you could choose how you play the game. One of the things that the game teaches you is that the lives of the monsters you fight can be spared, as opposed to most video games where you just kill every enemy in your way. So, you can do the pacifist route by sparing every enemy and getting the happy ending.

Or… you can do the “No Mercy” route, where you kill every single monster that you meet, and the story changes drastically. Undertale’s pacifist route is fun and you get to meet so many characters, but the no mercy route just feels empty and bleak. Undertale is probably one of the only games where killing monsters makes you feel bad.

But in Deltarune, your choices don’t matter. However, the choices of the characters do. And so begins the “Snowgrave” route.

Once Noelle joins you on your quest, you’re supposed to just keep exploring and sparing enemies with her. But Noelle isn’t super defensive. If you tell her to use Ice Shock and freeze enemies, she’ll oblige without stopping you.

Once the music in the city gets slower, you know you’re doing something… wrong. After a few buildings and alleyways, Spamton is still waiting in his dumpster. If you give him 1997 kromer, he will give you a weapon called the Thorn Ring. If you give the ring to Noelle, it will set her HP to 55. Why 55? In Roman numerals, 55 is LV. In a normal video game, LV would stand for what level you are at. But in Undertale, LV stood for LOVE, which was an acronym for Levels of Violence. If that gives you chills, just wait.

Later, Noelle is noticing that Kris is acting strange. When you meet Berdly in another alleyway, he also knows something is off. Berdly is usually a high and mighty nerd who makes fun of you, but now he’s serious.

With Spamton’s Thorn Ring equipped, there’s a new command that you can use: Snowgrave. If you press it, Noelle will say that she doesn’t know what you’re talking about. You have to press the button multiple times before something happens.

Then the music goes away, Noelle suddenly looks soulless, and a sudden blizzard appears, freezing Berdly in a chunk of ice. Noelle says she doesn’t feel good, and walks away. This locks you into the Snowgrave Route.

You are then reunited with Susie and Ralsei at Queen’s mansion, but something’s completely off. In a normal route, Queen has Noelle and Berdly on her side at this point. But in the Snowgrave Route, Berdly’s frozen chicken, and Noelle has no idea what’s even going on, so Queen is empty handed, giving a certain someone the perfect opportunity to take over.

Spamton’s theme is playing as you walk through the empty mansion, and his face is on the paintings that once belonged to Queen. Just like how Queen put her posters all over Spamton’s when he was evicted from the mansion.

It isn’t long before you make it to the roof, where Susie leaves to go help Noelle and Ralsei decides to invite Queen to the Castle Town, leaving Kris to seal the Dark Fountain by themselves.

The fountain was created by the Knight, who seems to be the main antagonist of the game. In Chapter 1, the fountain was created in the game room, creating the Card Kingdom, and here in Chapter 2 it was created in the computer lab, creating the Cyber World.

Kris is just about to seal the fountain when Spamton NEO jumps out of the sky at them just like in a normal route. But this time, he doesn’t care about his strings being cut. All Spamton wants is to keep the fountain for himself, which is why he took advantage of Kris and Noelle earlier by selling them the ring.

The fight against him is pretty much the same as the normal route, but the setting is different, Susie and Ralsei aren’t there, and you’re trying to beat him instead of his strings. Spamton Neo is also calling you out on your actions: “I SHOULD’VE KNOWN YOU WERE GONNA USE THAT RING FOR EVIL… OH WAIT THAT’S WHY I SOLD IT TO YOU”

It isn’t until you’re almost done with the fight that it gets creepy. Once he has about 10% of his HP left, he says “DIDN’T YOU KNOW [Neo] IS FAMOUS FOR ITS [High Defense]?”, which is a funny Mettaton Neo reference, because Mettaton had zero defense and went out in one hit. But now Spamton Neo is invulnerable due to his high defense, and there’s nothing Kris can do but call for help.

Kris tried calling for Susie, Ralsei, and Noelle, but nobody came. Once you call for Noelle, even Spamton seems disgusted with you, that you would use her to kill Berdly, and then call for her help to beat Spamton. Then the creepiest thing happens.

Kris called for help… but nobody came.

You gently whispered Noelle’s name…

And with a quick flash of snow, the fountain is sealed, ending the chapter, and most likely also Spamton's life.

I think that's everything we know (so far, as of Deltarune chapter 2) about Spamton G. Spamton. I'm honestly nervous for characters in future Deltarune chapters, because I have no idea if they'll be able to top Spamton.

And that's all I have to say, thanks for reading!

1 comment:

  1. You're welcome! This is so well written -- I'm not a gamer, but I have kids and grandkids who are. Your writing was clear, clean, and easy to read.

    ReplyDelete