Sound of Justice
The Sound of Justice,[2][3] also referred to internally as the Old Man Statue and referred to in-game as ???, is a miniboss in Chapter 4 of Deltarune. It is a statue of the Old Man that Susie accidentally brought to life when she created the 2nd Sanctuary Fountain.
Unlike most Darkners, it is mindlessly hostile and attacks without provocation. It engages in an encounter with Susie after she mistakes it for the Old Man. Versus the Sound of Justice, the Darkness effect is active and restricts TP gain.
The Sound of Justice is an effigy of the Old Man, specifically his Hammer of Justice form. It wields a large hammer, bears a long plume of hair, and wears thick armor. Unlike him, the Sound of Justice also wears a helmet with vertical slits. The Sound of Justice is constructed from a brown material, likely either wood or brown rock.
When illuminated by Susie during the boss fight, it appears to wear a barred visor.
The Sound of Justice is defined by a complete lack of personality, being a mindless and hostile entity that attacks with no regard nor warning. The Sound of Justice does not speak or communicate, and it does not show reaction to attempts of communication such as from Susie, but it often laughs a laugh identical to Gerson's, albeit distorted, showing no sentience nor mercy.
In Chapter 4, the party is able to gain access to the space behind the fireplace in the Old Man's Study by solving a puzzle. While in the Dark Sanctuary, the room contains two statues resembling the Hammer of Justice. The right statue disappears after defeating Jackenstein, with Jackenstein inhabiting the area it resided.
In the 2nd Sanctuary created by Susie making a Fountain, there are no statues in either the Study or the space behind the fireplace. The room behind the fireplace is elongated compared to its Dark Sanctuary counterpart, and it gets darker as Susie and Kris follow the Sound of Justice through it, mistakenly believing the statue to be the Old Man. When the room turns completely dark, Susie asks Kris multiple questions about sounds she can hear, configuring the accessibility settings for the upcoming fight. After a while, Susie and Kris get separated, and Kris closes their eyes to think about what is happening to Susie now, as they have previously done with Ralsei. Susie wanders around, looking for the Sound of Justice, and then it emits a large green soundwave to indicate its presence. When she starts asking it questions, it does not respond and instead reveals through producing more soundwaves that it is approaching, and enters a battle with her.
After four turns, Kris enters the fight to defend Susie. During the battle, Susie eventually realizes that talking is not resolving the conflict, and starts assuming her Fountain somehow changed the Old Man. In an attempt to remind her opponent of her, she uses her healing magic, but is shocked when the spell's light illuminates Sound of Justice's face. Ralsei then ends the fight by destroying the statue, explaining that Susie's Fountain did not resurrect the Old Man, and that Sound of Justice was merely a statue brought to life. Susie then confronts Ralsei for not warning her of this earlier, as Imminent Death plays. After they resolve the problem and Ralsei promises to be more honest, they leave.
Upon returning to the Old Man's Study, the left statue is present while the right statue is missing, matching the state of the Dark Sanctuary before the 2nd Sanctuary's creation.
- The SOUL turns green and arrows fly at the bullet board from the left, right, or top. A flash of light appears on the side of the screen the arrow is approaching from before it appears, accompanied by a voice stating the direction. As the battle progresses, the flashes of light stop appearing and the arrows become impossible to see until they are about to hit the SOUL, forcing the player to use the audio cues to block them.
- The voice that states the direction comes from the direction specified, if the system the game is played on supports directional audio.
- If the player has died 4 times, tells Susie they cannot hear the sound, or gives Susie the wrong direction that the sound is coming from, the visual cues remain for the entire battle. This helps with accessibility and those who do not have directional audio.
- An arrows attack like above, except after the last arrow hits, the SOUL turns red and a white rectangle indicates an area of the bullet board. After a split second, the Sound of Justice appears as a white silhouette and attacks the bullet board with its hammer, damaging the SOUL if it is in the previously indicated area.
- The SOUL turns red and white indicators followed by hammer attacks are used in quick succession in different areas of the bullet board, targeting either the left, middle or right at random.
The attacks occur in sequence. The arrows correspond to the direction they come from.
- Attack 1: ⬅️-⬅️-⬅️; ➡️-➡️-➡️
- Attack 2: ⬅️-➡️-⬅️; ➡️-⬅️-➡️
- Attack 3: ⬅️-⬅️➡️⬅️; ⬅️⬅️-➡️➡️
- Attack 4: ⬅️-➡️⬅️➡️; ➡️⬅️-⬅️➡️; ⬆️-⬆️
- Attack 5: ⬅️⬆️➡️⬆️; ⬅️⬆️➡️⬆️; ➡️⬆️➡️⬅️
- Attack 6: ➡️⬆️⬆️➡️; ⬅️➡️➡️⬅️; ⬅️⬆️⬆️➡️
- The arrows reach the SOUL much quicker than Turn 5, giving the player less time to react.
- Attack 7: 16 arrows randomly coming from the left, right, or top. Each arrow reaches the SOUL after the voice indicates the direction, which gets progressively faster. Afterwards, the voice states "Left" twice before the SOUL turns red and the Sound of Justice attacks once.
- Attack 8: The Sound of Justice attacks 9 times in different areas of the bullet board.
- Attack 9 (final): 16 arrows randomly coming from the left, right, or top; though the attacks are much faster than attack 7. Afterwards, the SOUL turns red and the Sound of Justice attacks three times.
The battle ends automatically after a fixed number of turns. If Susie is downed before Kris appears, the fight will immediately progress to when they appear. If Kris dies during this fight, then all attacks where the SOUL is red are skipped. The only way to speed up the fight from there is to use Susie's OKHeal or BetterHeal (if the Hammer of Justice was defeated), which immediately ends the battle.
This battle takes place in Darkness, reducing TP gain from normal means.
- Blocking a projectile with the green SOUL grants 0.5% TP; if the button to change the direction was pressed (regardless of if the shield was already in that direction or not) right before collision, it grants 1% TP instead.
- Unlike other fights that occur in darkness, there is no replacement method to gain TP faster. If ending the fight early by using heal is desired, using a TensionGem is recommended.
- Setting Kris to DEFEND every turn and obtaining 1% TP from every projectile makes it possible to obtain a total of 84% TP on turn 8, which makes it possible to end the battle using Susie's OKHeal/BetterHeal without using any Tension items.
The Sound of Justice cannot be attacked. After Kris joins the battle, Susie ignores all of the player's commands in this fight, except for using ITEMs. Additionally, if the FIGHT option is selected on Susie, it will be grayed out starting on the next turn. Attacking the Sound of Justice as Kris always results in a miss.
Since the fight is primarily about surviving, it is best to use high-defense armor before the fight (if possible), and keep defending to reduce damage until the battle ends.
The Sound of Justice does not speak. Thus, Susie is the primary speaker during this battle.
- Damn, the hell am I gonna find a way back...?
- Maybe if I just...
- Try and listen what's around me...?
- ... Old... man?
- Old man, that's you, right...?
- Old man, hey! We've been looking for you!
- There's like... this door code, and...
- I thought you might know the...
- ... Hey... old man...
- Are you... okay?
- [Turn 1]
- Old man... what... what are you doing?
- Why are you... Attacking me?
- You aren't... Trying to teach me something, are you?
- [Turn 2]
- H... Hey, what's the big idea!?
- It's me, Susie! I'm your...
- I'm your friend, right!?
- [Turn 3]
- I wrote your letter for you, don't you...
- Don't you recognize me...?
- Hey, say something... Say something already!
- COME ON, SAY SOMETHING, ALREADY!!!
- [Turn 4]
- I... I'm telling you...
- I don't want to hurt you, so... just...
- [Turn 5; Kris joins the battle]
- Kris!? Kris, hey!!!
- Kris, there's something wrong...
- There's something wrong with the old man...
- We have to... figure out how to get through to him...
- Kris... why... Why doesn't he recognize me?
- We have to stop him... before anyone gets hurt.
- [Turn 6]
- I knew I... I screwed up.
- I screwed up making this Dark World.
- Trying to... See him again. Even though he's already...
- [Turn 7]
- Old man, listen! I... I screwed up! I know! But I...
- We can bring you to our Castle Town!
- If we bring you there, you'll be... You'll be all better!
- [Turn 8]
- So we don't have to hurt you...
- And you... don't have to hurt us!
- [Turn 9]
- ... If...
- If Ralsei shows up, he can use Pacify, right, Kris!?
- All we have to do... is wait for the old man... to get tired...
- [End of turn 9, or if Susie uses OKHeal/BetterHeal]
- Screw it! Old man...
- If it's really you, I know...
- I know something you've gotta recognize!
- Heheh... see this?!
- You didn't forget my green sparkles, did you!?
- Wh... What the hell...
- What happened to his...
- [Attacking as Kris]
- K-Kris!? Kris, what the hell are you doing?!
- Th... That's the old man!
- [Attacking as Kris any subsequent times]
- (You try to attack...)
- (... But Susie stood in your way!)
- [Attacking as Susie]
- You want me to... huh!?
- What the hell? I'm not doing that!
- [Ralsei] Susie...
- [Ralsei] That wasn't the old man.
- [Susie] H... huh?
- [Ralsei] One of the statues in his shape from his study...
- [Ralsei] It must have begun moving when you made this Dark World.
- [Susie] A... a statue...? Then... the old man...?
- [Ralsei] He's... not in this world, sadly.
- [Ralsei] Darkners patterned after the memory of a loved one...
- [Ralsei] Tend to only appear in very specific darknesses.
- [Ralsei] ... even if we tried to bring him to Castle Town, he...
- [Susie] THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SOMETHING EARLIER!?
- [Ralsei] H... huh?
- [Susie] First the roaring thing, then you not being real...
- [Susie] And now THIS!? What's wrong with you!?
- [Susie] If you KNOW something, why don't you just--
- [Susie] TELL us!
- [Ralsei] I
- [Ralsei] I'm
- [Ralsei] I'm sorry, I
- [Ralsei] I know so many things, I
- [Ralsei] I know so many things I, don't know. When to say them.
- [Ralsei] I don't want... to say them. To... worry... you two.
- [Ralsei] So I end up... I end up not saying... anything.
- [Susie] What do you mean... You know so many things?
- [Ralsei] About the "rules" of this world. About the prophecy.
- [Ralsei] About... what the prophecy... says will happen.
- [Ralsei] I didn't ask to know, but I do.
- [Ralsei] I... I'm sorry if it creeps you out!
- [Ralsei] I'm sorry if I... don't tell you everything.
- [Ralsei] It's just... sometimes, knowing things...
- [Ralsei] It hurts.
- [Ralsei] And if anyone's going to hurt...
- [Ralsei] Let it... just be me, okay?
- [Susie] ...
- [Ralsei] Oops, I... I'm sorry, haha, I... I...
- [Susie] Ralsei...
- [Ralsei stops crying to look at Susie]
- [Susie] Is that... why you've been acting... so weird today?
- [Susie] Why you keep...
- [Ralsei] ... I... I've just been trying to stay ahead of you two.
- [Ralsei] So you don't have to see it. So you won't...
- [Ralsei] Because it would...
- [Susie] See... see what?
- [Ralsei] The ending... of the prophecy.
- [Susie] What, that... Last Prophecy thing...?
- [Ralsei] Susie, you... y-you didn't...
- [Susie] No, I mean, we almost did, but--
- [Ralsei] Please. Please let me go ahead from now on. Please.
- [Ralsei] I'll do every area. I'll do all the work.
- [Ralsei] The next time, too.
- [Ralsei] You two can just hang out and... have fun!
- [Ralsei] I could do all the puzzles, I could...
- [Susie] Hey... look. It's okay, man.
- [Susie] That Last Prophecy thing... I don't need to see it.
- [Susie] So... if it helps, whenever you gotta...
- [Susie] You can go ahead alone.
- [Susie] But everything else?
- [Susie] We're doing it together. As a team.
- [Susie] And NOTHING'S gonna change that.
- [Susie] NOTHING!
- [Susie] Whether you like it or not, toothpaste boy!
- [Ralsei] Susie...!
- [Susie] Uhh, first noogie to make someone cry?
- [Ralsei] H-hahaha! Sorry!
- [Ralsei] I'm just... glad you're friends with me.
- [Ralsei] ...
- [Ralsei] I'll be more honest, Susie. I promise.
- [Ralsei] Even if it means... sounding... weird.
- [Susie] ... Ralsei?
- [Susie and Ralsei look at each other and smile]
- [Susie] You couldn't get any weirder if you tried.
- [Ralsei] You too, Susie!
- [Susie] ... uh, thanks.
- [Susie] ... well, let's get out of here, Kris.
- Darkness constricts you... TP Gain reduced! [Encounter]
- The air crackles with sound. [Neutral]
- (You talked... but nothing happened.) [Talk]
The Sound of Justice as seen in the Old Man's Study
The Sound of Justice illuminated by Susie's healing spell
Unused sprite of the Sound of Justice illuminated with its helmet appearing as normal
The Sound of Justice being destroyed by Ralsei
Unused sprite of the Sound of Justice without its helmet
Sound of Justice attacking Susie
Ditto, comparison to the Hammer of Justice
- The questions Susie asks about sound and direction prior to the fight serve to determine through character dialogue whether the player can interpret directional sound cues. If the player answers incorrectly, the visual cues will remain throughout the fight.
- There is an unused sound cue of the word "down” in the game files, implying arrows may have been planned at one point to also appear from the bottom in addition to coming from above and the sides.
- If Rude Buster is somehow used in this fight, damage will be dealt, and if the statue is defeated in this way, the statue will appear to flee but will still get destroyed by Ralsei anyway.
- This also happens when the fight ends through unintended means, where the statue will get destroyed by Ralsei when it happens.
- The neutral quote that appears in the in-battle text references a line from Jevil, Spamton NEO, and the Hammer of Justice (though the Hammer of Justice uses a variant of the line), being "The air crackles with sound." This retroactively hints at the Old Man being the Shadow Crystal boss of the Chapter due to the line's association with them, should the player not have done the Magic Axe side-quest.
- In the game files, this encounter's theme consists of nine shorter tracks instead of the usual one, and change depending on the current turn. They were combined into a singular track for the OST, Ripple.
| Game edition | Version tag | Changes |
|---|---|---|
| Deltarune Chapter 4 | v1.04 | Fixed an error where Susie's turn would be skipped if she used an item versus Sound of Justice. |
| v1.05
Steam Beta Branch |
The hitbox for the Sound of Justice's downward hammer swing attack now better aligns with the area shown by the preceding flash.[note 1] |
- ↑ This change also applies to the Hammer of Justice's version of the attack.
- ↑
It must have begun moving when you made this Dark World.
— Ralsei, Chapter 4 - ↑ Internally referred to as
sound_of_justice. - ↑ gml_Object_obj_sound_of_justice_enemy_Create_0 script, Chapter 4