Carol

My apologies about just now, Kris.
As you know, YOU are welcome here any time.

Carol to Kris, Chapter 4

Carol Holiday (JP: キャロル・ホリデー) is a Lightner in Deltarune. She is the mayor of Hometown, the mother of Noelle and Dess, and the wife of Rudy. Despite being mentioned as early as Chapter 1, she makes her first appearance in Chapter 4, where she abruptly returns to Noelle's House.

Profile

Appearance

Carol resembles a reindeer with pale beige-gray fur. She has light blonde hair and darker beige freckles. She has short blue, pointy antlers, blue eyes, a blue nose and either blue lips or blue lipstick. Her work clothes are a pearl necklace, blue blazer, black trousers, a black shirt, and black hooves. Her facial features in particular seem to be evocative of the Grinch from certain film adaptations of Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas!.

Personality

Carol has a stern demeanor and is firm in her words. She appears to be distant from her family; Noelle is intimidated by her domineering nature, and Rudy worries about his daughter's well-being with Carol as the only parental figure around, indicating that he believes her rigidity may negatively impact Noelle's mental health.

Carol owns a collection of red heart-shaped pillows and katanas. She is protective of her belongings, and prefers to keep everything important at home. This extends to refusing to give the Dreemurr family an extra key for the Holiday residence, despite Noelle occasionally getting locked out of it. Said protectiveness is likely an act of larger preservation, as she once refused to take Noelle's snowflake cutouts at work and subsequently bronzed them, likely not wanting harm to befall them in a less curated environment. There are indications of Carol occasionally being hostile, as she has once destroyed a briefcase with a katana.

As the mayor, Carol is efficient and diligent, though she is not charismatic. According to Asgore, however, she shows a nicer side once she has warmed up to someone. She displays a surprisingly hospitable attitude towards Kris, in stark contrast to her hostility towards Susie.

Etymology

Like her daughters and husband, Carol's name and some of her characteristics are references to various aspects of Christmas, including her last name Holiday. Reindeer are often associated with Christmas (through Santa's reindeer). Her first name, "Carol", is a play on the practice of Christmas caroling.

Main story

History

Years prior to the events of Deltarune, the first time Carol met Rudy, he immediately told her she was "a HOT piece of work", and she slapped him so hard he blacked out. At some point, she married him and they eventually had two daughters, Dess and Noelle. Carol and her family became friends with the Dreemurrs, and often visited the Dreemurr residence to watch the seasonal specials together.

At an unspecified time, Carol became the mayor of Hometown. Due to her diligent efforts, there is no crime in Hometown, and she runs unopposed in elections. Sometime after Alphys moved into Hometown, Carol has been occasionally visiting the shelter.

Chapter 1

Carol is only alluded to during Chapter 1.

In the hospital, Kris can overhear Rudy recalling the time he flirted with Carol, and her subsequent reaction. At the locked gate, Noelle mentions that she does not want to intrude on her mother's work.

In Town Hall, Hand Receptionist apologizes to Kris, and explains that Carol is far too preoccupied with work. Politics Bear also praises Carol's productivity, yet admits she has an "icy" temperament. Politics Bear also comments that she prefers having the AC in her work office set to be at "full blast".

On Flower King's second floor, Kris can find a paper from Carol. She tersely writes that Asgore should be selling flowers to pay his overdue rent.

Chapter 2

Carol is only referenced in Chapter 2.

In Town Hall, Hand Receptionist acknowledges that Kris is looking for Carol. However, they inform them that Carol is busy preparing for the upcoming festival.

Alphys can muse about the police near the Police Station, admitting that the lack of crime is due to Carol's efforts rather than them.

Chapter 3

Before the battle with Tenna, a flashback scene occurs with the Holiday and Dreemurr families watching TV together at the Dreemurr residence. Eventually, they disappear one-by-one from the TV, with Carol being the second to do so, directly after Dess.

Chapter 4

Carol confiscating Dess's guitar from Susie

Carol comes home from work early to see Susie playing Dess's guitar to Noelle. She approaches Susie, confiscates the guitar, inspects it, then orders Noelle to go to the kitchen. When Susie protests, Carol insists Susie should leave and not talk to Noelle, and becomes speechless from Susie's outburst.

When Kris nears the door, Carol approaches them from behind and puts a hand on their shoulder. With a small smile, Carol apologizes and states that "YOU are welcome here any time."

If Kris instead activates the Santa figure before going to the front door, Carol instead asks them to turn off the Santa figure.

Weird Route

On the Weird Route, Carol forces everyone out of her house off-screen, presumably whilst Kris is kicking the SOUL around. At the end of the Chapter, she leaves a message to Kris on their Cell Phone, informing them that Noelle is excited to see them at the festival tomorrow.

Chapter 5

Carol does not directly appear during the festival, but the party can talk to Rudy about her while he's setting up lights at the town hall. He informs them that Carol is currently busy "investigating south of the town" but that she will be at the festival later to announce the Festival King and Queen. Later on, while the party are hanging out at the beach, Noelle receives two calls from Carol. The first she hangs up immediately after telling Carol that she is hanging out with Susie, but recieves a second while Susie is getting ice cream where Carol informs her that Rudy has had an accident, and she quickly leaves before Susie gets back.

Relationships

Rudy

For Rudy's perspective, see Rudy § Carol.

Rudy is Carol's husband. Despite their contrasting personalities, they got married and had two daughters together. Rudy and Carol's parenting styles differ heavily, and Rudy feels the need to balance out her stringency. In a conversation between Toriel and Rudy overheard at the church, Toriel refers to Carol as Rudy's wife, but he corrects her, simply calling her Carol.

Noelle

For Noelle's perspective, see Noelle § Carol.

Noelle is Carol's youngest daughter. Although Noelle deeply respects her mother, she is also quite nervous around her, likely due to her strictness and cold attitude. Noelle often talks to Rudy, who worries about her due to Carol's aforementioned traits. Noelle's passivity as a person may be caused or exacerbated by Carol's harsh demeanor and bluntness, as Noelle seems to be especially despondent and quiet around her.

Dess

Dess is Carol's eldest daughter. It is implied that Carol cares deeply about Dess, and in her own cold-hearted way, misses her greatly. This can be seen in Chapter 4 when she kicks Susie out of the Holiday residence for unknowingly playing Dess's guitar, clearly viewing the item in a sacred, special light. Dess's room also seems to be untouched, despite Dess being implied to have disappeared years prior, which would align with Carol's mentioned insistence on preserving important things.

Asgore

For Asgore's perspective, see Asgore § Carol.

Asgore is a colleague of Carol's, and is renting the Flower King building from her. The note found on the building's second floor in Chapter 1 implies that she is strict but gives him leeway with his rent, as she has not taken action on Asgore's housing situation despite him missing the payment multiple times.

Asgore is seen working as a cleaner at the Holiday residence in Chapter 4. Despite the previous threat of eviction, the two seem cordial and fairly close, as Asgore tries to tell Kris and Susie that Carol is "lovely once you get to know her" shortly after Carol expels everyone from her house, and he mentions that she is funding his shop in exchange for his cleaning services.

Susie

Carol is not very fond of Susie. When she spots Susie playing Dess's guitar, she takes the guitar away from her and harshly tells her to leave and to never talk to Noelle again.

Kris

Carol tells Kris that they are welcome any time

Carol is shown to respect Kris to an extent; when they leave the Holiday residence, she tells them that they are always welcome there. If Kris turns on the Santa decoration near the front door, she will instead tell them to turn it off because it "saves batteries".

On the Weird Route, Carol calls Kris during the ending of Chapter 4. She asks Kris if they are going to the upcoming festival, and notes that Noelle is "really looking forward" to seeing them again. This shows that Carol holds Kris in a high enough regard to permit her daughter to spend time with them, unlike with Susie.

Outside of Deltarune

Spamton Sweepstakes

Though Carol is not the sole focus of any page added to deltarune.com during the Spamton Sweepstakes, she is alluded to on some pages from Noelle's blog.

On the page /icepalace_glaceir/, Noelle describes how, during an incident where she was frightened of something in a game, she would try to stop herself from crying too loudly out of fear that her mother would hear her and turn off the game.

On the page /rain/, which was added alongside the Silence links on May 8, 2025, Noelle writes about a day where Carol cancelled school due to the heavy rain, apparently only so that Noelle would not have to walk in it.

Gallery

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  An unused dialogue portrait of Carol with a dark smear on her face