[Spoiler] Hypothesis: Frisk is Chara

[Pizzarugi]

After completing a second pacifist run and discussing who Chara was in a thread encouraging people to take the genocide route, I think I may have gathered enough information to finally wager an assumption that may affect your outlook on the game as a whole. If you haven't done the pacifist ending AND at least read up details found during the genocide route, you shouldn't read any further.

WARNING: This is going to be a very long-winded discussion. I hope you can follow me on this one.

Bandage, Mummification, Burial at the Ruins

Let's get right into it by starting with the coffins found in New Home, near Asgore's throne room. You can only examine one, and it's the coffin with the player's written name etched on it. The coffin's description changes based on if you did a genocide or pacifist run.

Pacifist mentions that you only just noticed that there are mummy wraps inside, implying someone used to be in there, but not anymore.
Genocide mentions "It's as comfortable as it looks", implying you've been in there before.

You may be asking: "Okay, so what does that have to do with anything?" Do you remember what your first armor was at the start of the game? It was a bandage, with a description that state it has been used several times before. And given Papyrus's description when he calls and asks what you're currently wearing, he calls it "gross bandage", implying that it has seen a lot of use. There is no backstory on your character when the game starts that explains why you have that bandage equipped, but given its use as a healing item, you certainly weren't wearing it for protection.

Chara was originally laid to rest in a coffin after being brought back home by Asriel. It's later implied by Flowey that Toriel had taken Chara's body and buried them in the ruins. This ties together the mention of mummy wraps in the coffin during the pacifist ending, as Toriel likely ripped most of the bandages off of the body before taking them away.

Ruins

You also wake up in a patch of flowers. From a new player's perspective, the patch can be seen as the only thing that broke your fall in the ruins. When Chara was brought back to the village after he died, Asriel set their body down on a bed of flowers, before the villagers arrived to attack him. When Chara's body was taken away by Asriel as they fled the village, it was after Chara was set down on the patch of flowers. In the true lab, it's mentioned a flower's seeds are very clingy and sticky. These same flowers are the ones you see in the ruins. This means the seeds clung onto them all the way back to the underground. And the flower patch you see when you begin the game? Those might've grown from the seeds still on your corpse!

Waterfall

Now, skip ahead to the part where you're backed into a corner by Undyne at a bridge in Waterfall, where she uses her magic spears to break off the dead end you stood on, sending you plummeting into the abyss. Before you wake up at the garbage dump, you start to recollect a memory, where Asriel finds [your written name] and you wake up just before Asriel can tell you his name. Suspicious, is it not? If you really are new to the underground and are completely unrelated to the events of the past, there is no reason that YOU should be able to recollect this memory you have no relation to.

And let's not forget the part when you find yourself, once again, laying on a bed of yellow flowers. Looking back at what I wrote earlier, it could be the result of more seeds still on your body that grew into a patch while you were unconscious. The whole area is mostly covered in water, which is clearly seen when you hop off the patch and find half of your body submerged. That means the flower patch could've only grown on the remnants of the bridge that collapsed with you. Seems fast for a patch of flowers to grow, no matter how long you might have been unconscious, but in the underground world of magic, anything is possible.

Skip even further ahead where you come back to visit Undyne and become friends. When you select tea, there's a description saying it's the obvious choice. When you pick the tea, she mentions that goldenrod flower tea happens to be Asgore's favorite drink. Who else, besides Undyne, could possibly know that? Toriel could, because she was married to him at one point. The other option would be Asriel and Chara, his children. I understand it's weak evidence, but given the subtle plot twists the devs have shown to make, is it possible that tea being "the obvious choice" is because you're recollecting another memory of the past, that Asgore has made obvious how much he loves that tea around his family?

Capital

Now we're going to go back for a moment to recall the fight with Asgore during the forced neutral route. If you were being a pacifist all the way up to him, you have the option to talk. When you firmly tell him to stop fighting, this results in him lowering his attack and defense. Why? It's because he was remembering things about the past. If it's true, that you are not who you think you are, the reason Asgore's defenses lowered is because he knows he's fighting Chara, his adopted son. And somehow, you know this as well. It's revealed later, when you fight Asgore again without Flowey showing up, that he sees the same spark of hope in your eyes just like what he saw in the first human who fell.

If you were trying to be genocidal during the forced neutral route, you can kill Flowey at the very end. What does he say? "I knew you had it in you!" Before "dying", leaving the flower soulless. It can be assumed that you, as a legit newcomer, were being goaded by Flowey into following his philosophy of 'kill or be killed'. At the same time, it can also be assumed that Flowey knew you are Chara, and killing him only proves that you've never changed.

Skip back to the pacifist final battle against Omega Asriel. During the whole battle, he talked about how much he loved you as a sibling, that he thought you were the most interesting person he's ever known. He explained that he was destroying the universe itself, space and time, all of it, for you. He didn't want you to leave again, he wanted this moment to last forever. Near the end, he pleaded for you to just let him win, so he can be happy to have you again. Asriel was spoon feeding every single detail about you without you knowing it!

Pacifist/Genocide

So, who are you? If you really are Chara, who is Frisk?

It's simple: Frisk is Chara! The time spent merged with Asriel's soul may have given Chara empathy and compassion for all living things, to regret their desire to destroy the villagers when they tried to deliver their body to the bed of flowers. When you found yourself in the ruins again, you donned a new name, created a new identity to become friends with all monsters and prove that humans aren't all evil and can try to correct their mistakes. You wanted to become a better sibling to Asriel. You became Frisk, Chara reborn!

Okay, so that covers the pacifist explanation. What about genocide?

I want to start by saying I never did the genocide route. This is based only from reading up on details about it in wikis and guides as well as gathering info from other forumers who played it.

It's believed that the real Chara possessed you, taking you over and doing their will. The reality of it is this: Chara didn't possess your character, because your character is Chara. After having gained incredible LV, Chara has become powerful to the point that you can no longer control them. With your guidance through the genocide route, they understood why they had been reincarnated: Power. Your desire to destroy anything that dares cross your path has given Chara a new purpose.

And who was there to try and reason with you? To hope that maybe there is some shred of humanity left in you? To stop you from becoming a remorseless "demon"? Sans. He fought you in the hopes that maybe if there was some remaining shred of kindness you still had for the world, you would heed to it and let him stop you from making the greatest mistake of your life. He hoped to snap you out of your madness before it consumes you in its entirety.

But it wasn't enough. Chara gained the last remaining power they needed and finally assumed full control.

Resurrection (and "angel" souls)

Finally, what I'm sure all of you are waiting for: If the player really is Chara, how did they come back to life? I don't have very much evidence on this part and can only make assumptions based on something Evil Chara mentions after a second genocide run. After a second genocide run, Evil Chara says that they're a demon that only arrives when people call their name. While you can disregard it as Chara being self-absorbed, it does explain why you wake up in the ruins. Remember the name you wrote at the start of the game? It isn't your name, it is Chara's. And it is this name Flowey used to call them back. Chara heard Flowey and, out of love for their sibling, they returned. For good or for bad, Chara was called back to life by Flowey.

A recent conversation with a forum user has shed some new light on what allowed Chara to return. The following is mostly speculation from what little evidence is present in the game.

Humans and monsters are extremely different from one another. Monsters are creatures whose body and soul are completely magical, their lives are dictated by love and kindness for others as explained in the library. This makes monsters weaker in physical capability and persistence, as their souls perish instantly or after a few moments if they're boss monsters. Humans, however, are creatures of physical (water-based) composition which gives them much greater determination and strength. Unlike monsters, humans aren't driven by any sense of empathy or compassion, allowing them to make good or bad choices. Their souls also persist forever, most likely caused by their much greater determination, making them much stronger than monsters overall.

So what happens if you combine the magical love and compassion of monsters with the physical determination and strength of humans?

When a monster's soul is combined with a human's, the merged result transcends to a higher state that is far greater than either one that made it. I call it an "angel" soul in memory of the delta rune. Angel souls share the same traits of both monsters and humans, a heightened sense of compassion and love, increased power and free will, a hybridization of physical and magical.

This brings into consideration how Asriel now had the power to destroy the humans in the village when he carried Chara's body there. It also explains how you/Frisk/Chara and Flowey both have the ability to control timelines through saving and resetting, because it's a power that only angel souls can wield! The same can be said for evil Chara during the genocide run, the power to erase entire worlds and steal souls was obtained through the combined power of human and monster souls that you still possess even after death.

It's quite possible evil Chara was correct when they said they're a "demon" who arrives when others call their name. They believe themself to be a demon because of the power given to them by the "angel" soul, but was driven to do evil deeds with it. You are Chara, thus you can return when someone calls your name, allowing you to become the angel prophesized by the delta rune!

[Kain]

It makes sense, here's may abridged interpretations of Chara and Frisk.

The way I see, Frisk is dead. When you start the game you're on a battle for dominance for the body so to speak, if you're peaceful you regain control as Frisk and leave or stay, it doesn't matter. If you're a murderer you slowly lose your mind and get possessed by Chara. There are a lot of hints about it the most obvious is how the Flower thinks you're Chara if you are evil, then as you perform more evil deeds you start to remember more and more of Chara's past, eventually you become him, the other hint about it is how when you find the coffin the player says, "It's as Comfortable as it looks" at that moment you're fully possessed.

Eventually at the end of the game you become so much like Chara that he is revived and then kills you since both your wishes at first were of complete enthropy.

If you force another reset after the genocide Chara concedes, because you're showing signs of regaining control, you might not have more determination than him but you are showing that you were evil because you wanted. Eventually he asks for your soul, but it was always his in the first place, he just gets it back.

When you destroy the world again he gets scared, because you're proven to be worse than him, he doesn't even ask for his soul again, because he already lost for your determination.

Now, I never did the peaceful playthough, all that I know is from what I read and I certainly don't know what the "tainted" peaceful run is about. But I'll try again.

Now, the body in the coffin part is more complicated. If I"m not mistaken during the Neutral game The Players says that it's empty, on the genocide it's not clear you just say it's confortable. Now on the pacifist, which I didn't play you say there is a bandaged corpse there. So I really don't know what to make of it.

For me The Player is Frisks body and both Frisk and Chara's personality are battling for control of it and the Soul to see who has more determination. In the end though the player wins since you can still force more and more timelines.

[Tenor Sounds]

I agree with pretty much everything you said, but with the stipulation that I believe that the player, as in the person behind the computer, has a role to play outside of controlling the "body" of Chara/Frisk. Flowey mentions (twice, I believe?) that Chara has a stolen/borrowed soul, and I believe that it is actually the player's soul. Or at least, its representation in the game.

Chara says that they are a demon that comes whenever their name is called, and the game opens with Chara/Frisk in the flower patch immediately after you name "The Fallen Child" and the name heads towards the screen. By "calling" the Fallen Child's name, you revived them. They even say in the end of the genocide route that it wasn't their determination, but the player's. By naming them and using our own determination to SAVE/LOAD, we basically created the circumstances of the game proper. We filled Chara/Frisk's body with our soul and determination, and our actions are what allows Chara to be born again as "Frisk" or to realize their true nature and turn on us.

[Pizzarugi]

Originally posted by Tenor Sounds:

I agree with pretty much everything you said, but with the stipulation that I believe that the player, as in the person behind the computer, has a role to play outside of controlling the "body" of Chara/Frisk. Flowey mentions (twice, I believe?) that Chara has a stolen/borrowed soul, and I believe that it is actually the player's soul. Or at least, it's representation in the game.

Chara says that they are a demon that comes whenever their name is called, and the game opens with Chara/Frisk in the flower patch immediately after you name "The Fallen Child" and the name heads towards the screen. By "calling" the Fallen Child's name, you revived them. They even say in the end of the genocide route that it wasn't their determination, but the player's. By naming them and using our own determination to SAVE/LOAD, we basically created the circumstances of the game proper. We filled Chara/Frisk's body with our soul and determination, and our actions are what allows Chara to be born again as "Frisk" or to realize their true nature and turn on us.

Originally posted by Tenor Sounds:

By "calling" the Fallen Child's name, you revived them.

Wow, I never even considered that as the reason for you waking up in the coffin. That just further strengthens my hypothesis that you are the Fallen Child.

The other question remains: How did Chara get this "stolen/borrowed soul"? If it's true that you and Chara are sharing the same body, how did you get involved?

[Tenor Sounds]

Originally posted by T Fur 2 Pizzarugi:

Wow, I never even considered that as the reason for you waking up in the coffin. That just further strengthens my hypothesis that you are the Fallen Child.

The other question remains: How did Chara get this "stolen/borrowed soul"? If it's true that you and Chara are sharing the same body, how did you get involved?

Actually, I believe that there is a bit of lore somewhere, can't remember where specifically, that says Toriel took Chara's body and buried it in the patch of flowers in the ruins. So I don't think they woke up directly from the coffin. It still works either way though, I think.

As for how we the player got involved...I dunno. We happened upon this world, under the context that were are playing a "game", and maybe that's enough for a world full of magic, where time and space seem sort of...fluffy, and inconsequential. Flowey even says in the True Pacifist ending that this is a GAME between him and Chara/Us that he never wants to end.

[RangedSpider]

Nah, the Temmie is Chara. You can tell because when you don't sell something to her that she really wants she threatens you with "You will regret this" which is strange since Temmie always uses incorrect grammar.

This comment is nothing but nonsense.

[Kain]

Indeed.

[Pizzarugi]

Originally posted by Fusion:

I don't believe Asreil and Chara share Flowey. Not one bit. This is largely hinted at in a Genocide playthrough. And his reason for being evil? The same reason you do a genocide run.
MORBID CURIOSITY.

I explained later in my OP that I am sure that what you said is true. Chara cannot share Flowey with Asriel, if you're actually playing Chara.

Because of this, I came up with another reason: Chara's determination was injected with Asriel into Flowey. Chara was sociopathic, his determination would've reflected that, so giving it to Flowey tainted him into becoming evil. That's why Asriel had to apologize to the player during the pacifist ending that it wasn't really him back when he was Flowey. He's apologizing, because that's not typically how he acts.

[Kain]

Damn, I need to finish my Pacifist playthrough, I have no clue what you guys are talking about.

[Tenor Sounds]

Originally posted by T Fur 2 Pizzarugi:

Originally posted by Fusion:

I don't believe Asreil and Chara share Flowey. Not one bit. This is largely hinted at in a Genocide playthrough. And his reason for being evil? The same reason you do a genocide run.
MORBID CURIOSITY.

I explained later in my OP that I am sure that what you said is true. Chara cannot share Flowey with Asriel, if you're actually playing Chara.

Because of this, I came up with another reason: Chara's determination was injected with Asriel into Flowey. Chara was sociopathic, his determination would've reflected that, so giving it to Flowey tainted him into becoming evil. That's why Asriel had to apologize to the player during the pacifist ending that it wasn't really him back when he was Flowey. He's apologizing, because that's not typically how he acts.

Asriel's behavior as Flowey could simply be explained by his soul being gone, or at least only enough of it existing to give him his memories and nothing else such as the ability to feel compassion. A nice person, robbed of their ability to feel compassion, is by definition probably not going to even be considered the same person they were before. In the genocide route, Flowey even says that he didn't just start killing everyone right away, he saved everyone again and again, made friends, helped them with their problems, but even if he was amused for a time he could not feel compassion anymore so it was all empty. That's when curiosity got to him, and he started killing. The ability to kill without consequence and with no sense of compassion could easily turn anyone into a monster.

I mean, it's still totally possible that some of Chara's determination tainted him, but I don't really think it's something that needs a hidden explanation; what we see on the face of it does a pretty good job of it already.

[Pizzarugi]

Originally posted by Fusion:

Originally posted by T Fur 2 Pizzarugi:

I explained later in my OP that I am sure that what you said is true. Chara cannot share Flowey with Asriel, if you're actually playing Chara.

Because of this, I came up with another reason: Chara's determination was injected with Asriel into Flowey. Chara was sociopathic, his determination would've reflected that, so giving it to Flowey tainted him into becoming evil. That's why Asriel had to apologize to the player during the pacifist ending that it wasn't really him back when he was Flowey. He's apologizing, because that's not typically how he acts.

Ohhhh.
Wait, what?
Wait....
One of those human souls.. in the canisters.
One of them was Chara's.
Alphys took a sample from those souls.
A sample of determination.
Oh my god

Exactly!

There's nothing that proves Dr. Alphys' true lab even existed while Chara and Asriel were actually alive. Through staying merged with Chara's soul after Asriel died from the villagers attacking him, Asgore was able to preserve him using Chara's human soul which cannot die.

This gives Dr. Alphys all the time she needs to eventually learn how to transfer Asriel's soul into Flowey, injected with some of Chara's twisted determination!

[Pizzarugi]

Originally posted by Tenor Sounds:

Asriel's behavior as Flowey could simply be explained by his soul being gone, or at least only enough of it existing to give him his memories and nothing else such as the ability to feel compassion. A nice person, robbed of their ability to feel compassion, is by definition probably not going to even be considered the same person they were before. In the genocide route, Flowey even says that he didn't just start killing everyone right away, he saved everyone again and again, made friends, helped them with their problems, but even if he was amused for a time he could not feel compassion anymore so it was all empty. That's when curiosity got to him, and he started killing. The ability to kill without consequence and with no sense of compassion could easily turn anyone into a monster.

I mean, it's still totally possible that some of Chara's determination tainted him, but I don't really think it's something that needs a hidden explanation; what we see on the face of it does a pretty good job of it already.

That's why I'm not convinced. Asriel has shown to be incredibly noble and strong as he fought Chara's urge to destroy the villagers after being merged with him, then forced him to return to the ruins and die. Asriel, alone, simply cannot be enough to become a ruthless killer just out of curiosity. He must have gotten some kind of influence that tainted his outlook on life. Chara's determination, which is already evil, would've provided a strong help pushing Asriel/Flowey off the deep end.

And consider that Flowey mentions he has the power to change time, but he can't so long as you, Chara, are still alive. It's possible that power to save and reset is caused by having strong determination, the sheer will of commanding space and time to do your bidding. Monsters are proven to not have anywhere near enough determination to have that power, not even Undyne. Asriel/Flowey would've needed human determination in order to achieve this.

[Tenor Sounds]

Originally posted by T Fur 2 Pizzarugi:

That's why I'm not convinced. Asriel has shown to be incredibly noble and strong as he fought Chara's urge to destroy the villagers after being merged with him, then forced him to return to the ruins and die. Asriel, alone, simply cannot be enough to become a ruthless killer just out of curiosity. He must have gotten some kind of influence that tainted his outlook on life. Chara's determination, which is already evil, would've provided a strong help pushing Asriel/Flowey off the deep end.

And consider that Flowey mentions he has the power to change time, but he can't so long as you, Chara, are still alive. It's possible that power to save and reset is caused by having strong determination, the sheer will of commanding space and time to do your bidding. Monsters are proven to not have anywhere near enough determination to have that power, not even Undyne. Asriel/Flowey would've needed human determination in order to achieve this.

The whole "he's too noble, he would never do that" thing is conjecture, really. Asriel still had his soul when he resisted Chara if you recall. By taking away his soul, he wasn't Asriel anymore, not really.

And you're right in that Alphys injected Flowey with determination, and that determination was collected from the human souls. And there's nothing to say that Flowey's nature wasn't caused in part by Chara's determination. Like I said though, it just doesn't seem like something that needs that explanation attached to it.

If anything, there's a not-insignificant chance that Chara wasn't even one of the souls that Alphys extracted the determination from, considering that Toriel took Chara's body shortly after they died from the coffin and buried it. It's also possible that Chara's soul passed on after he and Asriel died at the hands of the human villagers, as Chara/Frisk needs a borrowed/stolen soul to begin with.

[Tenor Sounds]

Originally posted by Fusion:

Just because Toriel took Chara's body does not mean she took his soul.

True, that's as much of a conjecture as the idea that Chara's determination somehow corrupted Asriel. It was mostly an afterthought. But I do wonder where Chara's soul actually went. If I'm right and the player's soul is the one we use in the game, then where did Chara's soul go? If the red heart soul is Chara's then it would be with their body which actually lends credence to my idea that it was not used in Alphys experiments.

[Surreal]

I found out if you name the fallen child Chara the game will say "The true name." before you confirm. I would restart my game file and play through with that name but I'm frightened of what will happen.

[Pizzarugi]

Originally posted by Asriel:

I found out if you name the fallen child Chara the game will say "The true name." before you confirm. I would restart my game file and play through with that name but I'm frightened of what will happen.

It's considered the debug/default name if you somehow managed to make it to the first room without picking a name. The developers have encouraged that you pick your own name.

However, it does make the pacifist run sound a lot less confusing during the battle against Asriel.