Undertale’s Toriel might be one of the first in-game characters you meet, but there’s plenty of mystery surrounding this maternal character that you might not unpack if you’re not paying close enough attention. So, to save you from picking up Undertale from the start again, we’ve put together a guide to everything you need to know about Toriel. There are spoilers ahead, so don’t say you haven’t been warned.
For more in-depth lore from Toby Fox’s modern classic, be sure to check out our character guides for Undertale’s Frisk, Undertale’s Chara, and Undertale’s Papyrus. Or, if you’re looking into the future and can’t wait for the next instalment of Deltarune, check out our Deltarune chapter 3 guide for all the freshest information on the conclusion of the saga.
Who is Undertale’s Toriel?
Acting as the maternal figure to the player, Toriel is one of the first and most important characters you meet in any run. Though it isn’t explicitly said until later in the game, Toriel is the wife of the ruler of the underworld, Asgore, and is the grieving mother of Asriel, their child who was killed by the humans before the events of Undertale.
You later find out that Toriel and Asgore adopted a human who had fallen into the underground years before Undertale’s protagonist. After becoming ill, potentially on purpose, the fallen human merged spirits with Asriel, Toriel’s son, so that they could go back to the human world. It’s here that Asriel cannot face harming the humans, unlike actual human Chara who is more than willing and is killed by the humans.
This makes sense as to why Toriel is so maternal and protective at the start of the game. She knows that if her husband, King Asgore, finds any humans he will happily take them out as revenge for his fallen son. You find out in one of the rarer endings that this is also the reason for Sans following you around, having been asked by Toriel to look after you on your quest, with the pair striking up an unlikely friendship.
How do I beat Undertale’s Toriel fight?
The battle with Toriel comes very early on in the game, and your decisions when battling her have a massive effect on which route you take and ending your receive. We’ve broken down the three main routes, and how to approach the Toriel fight to complete them.
Toriel fight: neutral route
If you’re headed down the neutral route, it doesn’t matter all too much whether you kill or spare Toriel, so long as you don’t then either kill all other monsters or spare all other monsters. There are some slight changes to the text at the end of the neutral route if you kill the character, and you lock yourself out of the possible Toriel ending, but if you’re aiming for something different, it doesn’t matter all too much.
Toriel fight: pacifist route
If you’re heading down the pacifist route, you need to just keep opting to spare Toriel until she finally calls it quits. Compared to what you face further down the line, this is one of the easier pacifist battles, and shouldn’t take you too long to complete.
Toriel fight: genocide route
Assuming that you’ve already completed either the neutral route or potentially the pacifist route, the genocide route starts as it means to go on by making you take down Toriel in cold blood. This is possibly one of the most heart-wrenching moments in all of Undertale, and even if you try and forget, Flowey will never let you live it down.
What is Undertale’s Toriel age?
While Toriel is one of the few characters who is explicit in her gender, she still doesn’t have a particular age assigned to her, and as a non-human character, it’s very difficult to make any assumptions. In the depths of Reddit, fans have her as anything from middle-aged, 40 or 50, to a millennia-old, thanks to what they interpret as little clues in the game’s dialogue, but in all honesty, no one but Toby Fox, and maybe Temmie, can be sure.
Is Undertale’s Toriel in Deltarune
Undertale’s Toriel is in Deltarune, kind of. This time rather than acting as the player’s mother, Toriel actually is your mum in Deltarune, and she sends you off to school with a smile and a wave. Toriel has much more of a sideline role in Deltarune chapters one and two, and we still don’t actually know if this Toriel is the same as the one in Undertale, or if this is some sort of alternative universe Toriel. Either way, she still gives a mean hug.
There you have it, that’s all you need to know about Undertale’s Toriel and her tragic backstory. Once you’ve seen all the endings in Toby Fox’s title, find something similar to jump right into with our list of the best games like Undertale on Switch and mobile. Or, if you’re eager for another engaging indie, check out our Stardew Valley characters and Stardew Valley fish guides.