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flightworks2018-11-21 10:37 pm
feralphoenix) wrote in flightworks2018-11-21 10:37 pm
A Look at the Integration of Leitmotif and Narrative in "Undertale" and "Hopes and Dreams"
another rehomed essay due to Tumblr Having Problems. this was originally hosted here. i did an illustrated version of it for japanese audiences which can be viewed here on pixiv (and which was also originally posted on my art blog at this link).
Did you know that the track "Undertale" (yes, the title track, the one that plays when you first visit New Home) narratively reflects the story of Chara and Asriel's relationship?
It's true!
Toby Fox is just really really good at leitmotif, and even though dozens of people have written essays about the depth of Undertale's soundtrack and integration with the story there are STILL new things to discover.
For instance, here's underappreciated Undertale ost fact #84759836497238947: the opening of the track "Amalgam" is a distorted version of the "determined monsters" leitmotif present in "Battle Against a True Hero" and "Power of "NEO""; skipping every other note and in a different key. I didn't notice this until I listened to Yuuyu's cover of Alphys' theme from Underveil, which incorporates the lab tracks and in which this is immediately apparent.
But anyway, before I get too sidetracked: Analysis of what's going on in Undertale-the-song depends on awareness of leitmotif, because Undertale-the-song is composed of two character themes: Asriel's (Memory) and Chara's (Once Upon a Time).
This is easiest to appreciate if you listen along, so either get out your copy of the ost or pull it up on Toby's bandcamp page.
0:00, the beginning of the piece, sets off with Asriel's theme alone.
At 0:37 the A part of Chara's theme comes in, and the two melodies "meet", with Chara's theme taking the forefront and Asriel's as counterpoint. For a while these two themes are alone with each other, striking a tentative harmony.
At 1:34 the accompaniment comes in, creating a warm atmosphere around the two character leitmotifs. It's worth noting that these three sections of Undertale are the ones that play when you first enter Asgore's house and the monsters tell you about how Asriel found Chara and Chara was fostered in the Dreemurr household: This is pretty clearly depicted in the musical backdrop to the story.
2:49 switches to the B part of Once Upon a Time on flute, and Asriel's theme is silent. This is the part of the piece that starts when you go down the stairs onto the ramparts, and the monsters tell you of how Chara suddenly became sick and died. You find out later that Chara's death was a suicide, and interestingly enough, if you take a look at Once Upon a Time - the first place we hear Chara's theme - this B melody comes in at 0:29, which is the first time we ever see Chara in the game, when they happen to be...... climbing Mt. Ebott, the mountain no one comes home from, which Asriel strongly implies at the end of the game was also a suicide attempt! Toby Fox is very good at many things such as devastating me emotionally
Asriel's theme and the accompaniment return at 3:27 with the A part of Once Upon a Time once again acting as the piece's main melody. If the solemn B part at 2:49 was Chara introducing the plan to Asriel and and then killing themself with his assistance, then 3:27 is the two of them leaving the Barrier together and going outside. This is what the monsters are relating to you at this point of gameplay too.
At 4:42, though, something interesting happens: Asriel's theme takes over the piece, and (a variation of) Once Upon a Time becomes the accompaniment. This is the most prominent that the Memory theme is in the entire track except for the points at which it is the only thing playing. In the narrative of the piece, this is the part where Asriel asserts control over his and Chara's shared body, refuses to attack the humans, and retreats with a smile into the setting sun.
Once Upon a Time part A returns to the forefront in full prominence at 5:20 with a distraught key change - one can only imagine how Chara felt about Asriel choosing to be killed rather than doing any killing. And indeed, we only CAN imagine; Asriel never mentions how Chara reacted to his intervening, and Chara only tells us how they felt when they were revived (confused), not how they felt as they died. Undertale the track gives them voice.
These are the death throes of the Once Upon a Time melody. At 5:58 it and all the accompaniment fall silent, leaving Asriel's theme alone again at the end of the piece.
Viewed as a back-and-forth between Chara's theme and Asriel's, Undertale the track maps to the true story of their pregame relationship very closely. This is both yet ANOTHER case of spoilers being hidden in plain sight, and retroactive proof that Once Upon a Time is in fact Chara's leitmotif.
This has some fun (actually fun) implications for the OTHER place in the story where we have an interplay of Chara and Asriel's themes that maps to the narrative: the Asriel boss fight.
The really fun thing about Hopes and Dreams/SAVE the World is that they're primarily composed of Chara's theme, but they're bouncing off Your Best Friend (and Burn in Despair! is another riff on You Idiot/Your Best Nightmare), which are Flowey's themes. Now that he's absorbed all the other souls, Asriel is CAPABLE of feeling love and compassion again, but it's been so long that he doesn't really remember what it's like to feel them Right Now And In The Moment. His behavior in the boss fight is still pretty similar to his behavior as Flowey.
And this is the purpose of gently bapping him in the face with Chara's memories of their meeting and friendship: Getting him to remember and feel that love and compassion again, now that he's able to. It takes him off guard at first because it's been so long ("What's this feeling...? What's happening to me?") but everything comes rushing back pretty quickly after that ("... No... That's not JUST it. I... I... I'm doing this because I care about you, Chara! I care about you more than anybody else!").
The instant we choose to SAVE Asriel Dreemurr and start to see Chara's memories is the instant Asriel's theme finally returns as His Theme, with a subdued variation of Once Upon a Time's opening bars as the bass.
And, one last note of interest centering around Chara's theme... the B melody, the part that's associated with Chara's suicide in Undertale the track and Once Upon a Time, is missing from Hopes and Dreams/SAVE the World but is VERY prominent in Last Goodbye. So prominent, in fact, that it's one of the two parts Toby played live on his own piano.
So... the special thanks is not just Asriel's last hurrah, a goofy prank plus a final fun game with his friends; it's also Chara's. This is likely the point at which they bow out gracefully and stay behind in Mt. Ebott with Asriel instead of leaving the mountain with Frisk.
Who knows; it might even be the point where Asriel realized Chara was there after all, since as Flowey again he definitely knows (as he is talking to them!) if we load the game one more time after the ending.
SO UHHHH HEY DID YOU KNOW THAT TOBY FOX IS GOOD AT THINGS SUCH AS MUSIC, WRITING, MAKING GAMES, AND DEVASTATING ME EMOTIONALLY
Did you know that the track "Undertale" (yes, the title track, the one that plays when you first visit New Home) narratively reflects the story of Chara and Asriel's relationship?
It's true!
Toby Fox is just really really good at leitmotif, and even though dozens of people have written essays about the depth of Undertale's soundtrack and integration with the story there are STILL new things to discover.
For instance, here's underappreciated Undertale ost fact #84759836497238947: the opening of the track "Amalgam" is a distorted version of the "determined monsters" leitmotif present in "Battle Against a True Hero" and "Power of "NEO""; skipping every other note and in a different key. I didn't notice this until I listened to Yuuyu's cover of Alphys' theme from Underveil, which incorporates the lab tracks and in which this is immediately apparent.
But anyway, before I get too sidetracked: Analysis of what's going on in Undertale-the-song depends on awareness of leitmotif, because Undertale-the-song is composed of two character themes: Asriel's (Memory) and Chara's (Once Upon a Time).
This is easiest to appreciate if you listen along, so either get out your copy of the ost or pull it up on Toby's bandcamp page.
0:00, the beginning of the piece, sets off with Asriel's theme alone.
At 0:37 the A part of Chara's theme comes in, and the two melodies "meet", with Chara's theme taking the forefront and Asriel's as counterpoint. For a while these two themes are alone with each other, striking a tentative harmony.
At 1:34 the accompaniment comes in, creating a warm atmosphere around the two character leitmotifs. It's worth noting that these three sections of Undertale are the ones that play when you first enter Asgore's house and the monsters tell you about how Asriel found Chara and Chara was fostered in the Dreemurr household: This is pretty clearly depicted in the musical backdrop to the story.
2:49 switches to the B part of Once Upon a Time on flute, and Asriel's theme is silent. This is the part of the piece that starts when you go down the stairs onto the ramparts, and the monsters tell you of how Chara suddenly became sick and died. You find out later that Chara's death was a suicide, and interestingly enough, if you take a look at Once Upon a Time - the first place we hear Chara's theme - this B melody comes in at 0:29, which is the first time we ever see Chara in the game, when they happen to be...... climbing Mt. Ebott, the mountain no one comes home from, which Asriel strongly implies at the end of the game was also a suicide attempt! Toby Fox is very good at many things such as devastating me emotionally
Asriel's theme and the accompaniment return at 3:27 with the A part of Once Upon a Time once again acting as the piece's main melody. If the solemn B part at 2:49 was Chara introducing the plan to Asriel and and then killing themself with his assistance, then 3:27 is the two of them leaving the Barrier together and going outside. This is what the monsters are relating to you at this point of gameplay too.
At 4:42, though, something interesting happens: Asriel's theme takes over the piece, and (a variation of) Once Upon a Time becomes the accompaniment. This is the most prominent that the Memory theme is in the entire track except for the points at which it is the only thing playing. In the narrative of the piece, this is the part where Asriel asserts control over his and Chara's shared body, refuses to attack the humans, and retreats with a smile into the setting sun.
Once Upon a Time part A returns to the forefront in full prominence at 5:20 with a distraught key change - one can only imagine how Chara felt about Asriel choosing to be killed rather than doing any killing. And indeed, we only CAN imagine; Asriel never mentions how Chara reacted to his intervening, and Chara only tells us how they felt when they were revived (confused), not how they felt as they died. Undertale the track gives them voice.
These are the death throes of the Once Upon a Time melody. At 5:58 it and all the accompaniment fall silent, leaving Asriel's theme alone again at the end of the piece.
Viewed as a back-and-forth between Chara's theme and Asriel's, Undertale the track maps to the true story of their pregame relationship very closely. This is both yet ANOTHER case of spoilers being hidden in plain sight, and retroactive proof that Once Upon a Time is in fact Chara's leitmotif.
This has some fun (actually fun) implications for the OTHER place in the story where we have an interplay of Chara and Asriel's themes that maps to the narrative: the Asriel boss fight.
The really fun thing about Hopes and Dreams/SAVE the World is that they're primarily composed of Chara's theme, but they're bouncing off Your Best Friend (and Burn in Despair! is another riff on You Idiot/Your Best Nightmare), which are Flowey's themes. Now that he's absorbed all the other souls, Asriel is CAPABLE of feeling love and compassion again, but it's been so long that he doesn't really remember what it's like to feel them Right Now And In The Moment. His behavior in the boss fight is still pretty similar to his behavior as Flowey.
And this is the purpose of gently bapping him in the face with Chara's memories of their meeting and friendship: Getting him to remember and feel that love and compassion again, now that he's able to. It takes him off guard at first because it's been so long ("What's this feeling...? What's happening to me?") but everything comes rushing back pretty quickly after that ("... No... That's not JUST it. I... I... I'm doing this because I care about you, Chara! I care about you more than anybody else!").
The instant we choose to SAVE Asriel Dreemurr and start to see Chara's memories is the instant Asriel's theme finally returns as His Theme, with a subdued variation of Once Upon a Time's opening bars as the bass.
And, one last note of interest centering around Chara's theme... the B melody, the part that's associated with Chara's suicide in Undertale the track and Once Upon a Time, is missing from Hopes and Dreams/SAVE the World but is VERY prominent in Last Goodbye. So prominent, in fact, that it's one of the two parts Toby played live on his own piano.
So... the special thanks is not just Asriel's last hurrah, a goofy prank plus a final fun game with his friends; it's also Chara's. This is likely the point at which they bow out gracefully and stay behind in Mt. Ebott with Asriel instead of leaving the mountain with Frisk.
Who knows; it might even be the point where Asriel realized Chara was there after all, since as Flowey again he definitely knows (as he is talking to them!) if we load the game one more time after the ending.
SO UHHHH HEY DID YOU KNOW THAT TOBY FOX IS GOOD AT THINGS SUCH AS MUSIC, WRITING, MAKING GAMES, AND DEVASTATING ME EMOTIONALLY