Weird Route

For the alternate route in Chapter 3, see Sword Route.

If Kris tells me to do it...
I can do things I could never do before.
Isn't it a good thing?
... I'm getting stronger.
...
As long as I... just do what they say.

Noelle, Chapter 2's Weird Route

The Weird Route is an alternate route in Deltarune that progresses over the course of multiple Chapters via Completion FILEs. It significantly alters the main story of the game, with events mainly revolving around Noelle and the relationship between Kris and the player.

Chapter 2

Main article: Weird Route/Chapter 2

The Weird Route begins in Chapter 2. The route becomes possible to pursue upon Noelle joining the party in Cyber City, and involves backtracking with her in order to freeze as many enemies as possible using her IceShock ability, and acquiring route-exclusive weapons in order to facilitate this. The game is locked onto the Weird Route after Berdly is frozen at the end of his second encounter in Cyber City, which drastically alters the final area of the Chapter and replaces the final battles with Queen with a battle of Kris alone against Spamton NEO.

Chapter 3

While the Weird Route does not progress in Chapter 3, there are minor changes as a result of completing the route in Chapter 2:

• Despite the PuppetScarf being in the inventory or equipped to a party member, Spamton does not appear upon opening the blue wardrobe in TV World's Bonus Zone. The scene continues as if neither the Dealmaker nor the PuppetScarf was obtained, and ends with the Pipis being obtainable.
• At the Cold Place, if Kris tells Ralsei that they will be going to the festival with Noelle instead of Susie, Ralsei states that it is a "bad choice" before backtracking.
• The Shadow Mantle holder remarks that a part of Kris must have "enjoyed yesterday" before the final battle of the Sword Route.
• If the player answers "Of course. Games are fun" to Susie after the Sword Route, Kris reacts negatively to Susie's comment comparing them to Berdly.

Additionally, the Original Game, which is accessible regardless of the route taken in Chapter 2, features direct references to the Weird Route; many of these seem to hint at to how to pursue the route.

• In the Ice Palace, HERO_SWORD recruits the White Cloak, who resembles a pixelated version of Noelle's Dark World appearance. Internally, she is known as obj_board_enemy_deer, solidifying her connection to Noelle.
  • White Cloak's ice magic is used to freeze enemies in the Ice Palace (including a blue bird) into hexagonal blocks of ice that resemble the one that Berdly is frozen in during the Chapter 2 Weird Route.
• The Ice Palace contains a room with the text "THE FORBIDDEN PATH BEGAN WITH ICE MAGIC", alluding to how the Weird Route must be initiated beforehand in Chapter 2, and the importance of Noelle's powers to the route.
• The alleyway that leads to the manhole dungeon is reminiscent of the alleyway in Cyber City that Kris traverses after Berdly is frozen in Chapter 2. Both alleyways are dark, have the same shape, and lead to manholes.

Chapter 4

Main article: Weird Route/Chapter 4

The Weird Route continues in Chapter 4. It can only be continued by starting with completion data from Chapter 2.

Most major changes in this Chapter center around the events in the Light World, when Kris and Susie visit Noelle's House. During this visit, Noelle asks to speak to Kris privately, whereupon she tries to talk about the events of Chapter 2 with them. If the route is continued, this conversation culminates in the player directing Kris to force a thorn into Noelle's hand. After this, the Weird Route is once again impossible to abort, with some changes in dialogue and the Chapter's ending.

Name

This route does not have an official name. The name "Weird Route" is used in the names of several objects and variables in-game, such as the object gml_Object_obj_weirdroute_manipulator, and is also alluded to by Susie in route-exclusive dialogue. Deltarune developer Fred Wood consistently refers to the route as the "Weird Route".

Several different names are used for the route:

• "Snowgrave Route" is a popular name in the community, and is derived from a spell Noelle casts in Chapter 2's Weird Route. However, this name has become less used with the release of Chapters 3 and 4, often referring solely to the events of Chapter 2 during the Weird Route.
• Likewise, "Aルート" seems to be a popular name in the Japanese community, meaning "Alternate Route".
• "Side B" is used in the internal labels of certain objects, such as gml_Object_obj_ch2_scene_sideb_noelleroom, and scripts such as gml_GlobalScript_scr_sideb_get_phase.
• The route is referred to as "THE FORBIDDEN PATH" during the Sword Route.

Genocide Route similarities

The Weird Route shares several similarities with Undertale's Genocide Route, and could be seen as a successor to the concept.

• Both routes are initiated by choosing exclusively aggressive/violent options in battle, which causes major changes in dialogue, story, and encounters. Furthermore, the player must go out of their way to trigger and remain on the route; playing the game normally while responding aggressively to ordinary encounters is not enough to trigger either route.
• In both routes, some of the game's background music is slowed down and/or distorted, and overworld puzzles are disabled. Optional areas are blocked off, forcing each game's respective protagonist along a more linear path.
• The bosses in both routes are considerably more difficult — on the Genocide Route, the protagonist faces off against Undyne the Undying and Sans, while Chapter 2's Weird Route has Kris fight Spamton NEO solo.
• Both routes require the player to defeat every enemy in an area, and feature indicators of the number of enemies remaining. On the Weird Route, the indicator is Cyber City's dog dumpster. On the Genocide Route, the indicator is the locations' SAVE Points.
• Both routes use the text "... but nobody came." It is a prominent phrase on the Genocide Route, usually displayed after all monsters in an area have been killed. On the Weird Route, it appears during the final phase of the battle with Spamton NEO, when Kris attempts to call for Ralsei and Susie.

Spamton Sweepstakes teasers

The Spamton Sweepstakes' Silence ending added the /chapter1, /chapter2, /chapter3, /chapter4, and /chapter5 pages to the Deltarune website. These pages appear to hint at the relevance of the Weird Route to each chapter.

• The Chapter 1 page says "Not applicable", since Chapter 1 does not have any Weird Route content.
• The Chapter 2 page says "Applicable", since Chapter 2 has the beginning of the Weird Route.
• The Chapter 3 page says "Not applicable", but contains the text "But..." rendered off the right side of the screen so that it is not visible. This is likely a reference to the fact that, while the Weird Route has little effect on Chapter 3, the Sword Route is present.
• The Chapter 4 page has a red dot that slowly fades in over time. As part of the Spamton Sweepstakes, a puzzle involving this page leads to the subpage /chapter4/thankyou, containing the text "Thank you." This may be a reference to a scene in the Chapter 4 Weird Route where the player can choose to think about Noelle, causing a red pixel to appear on-screen, while "Thank you..." is slowly typed out with Noelle's voicebyte.
• The Chapter 5 page contains the numbers 1 to 5 at different sizes. These numbers may represent the relevance of the Weird Route to each Chapter.
  • 1 is rendered at 8px but invisible. This is likely referencing the minor differences when acting violently in Chapter 1 and the lack of anything related to the Weird Route.
  • 2 is rendered at 72px, and contains a link to d, the track that plays before the fight with Berdly on the Weird Route. The number's size is likely referencing the large differences on the Weird Route in Chapter 2.
  • 3 is rendered at 72px but nearly invisible, and contains a link to ma, the sound effect that plays after defeating the Shadow Mantle holder on the Sword Route. The number's size is likely referencing the substantial amount of content on the Sword Route, while the near invisibility is referencing the route's distinction from the Weird Route.
  • 4 is rendered at 16px, and contains a link to the /chapter4 page. The number's size is likely referencing the smaller relevance of the Weird Route in Chapter 4 relative to Chapter 2.
  • 5 is rendered at 36px, and contains a link to h, an acoustic version of the first few notes of A Town Called Hometown. The number's size may hint that the impact of the Weird Route in Chapter 5 will be greater than Chapter 4 but lesser than Chapter 2.

Trivia

• The Weird Route will likely affect Chapter 5, as at the end of Chapter 4's Weird Route, Carol tells Kris over the phone that Noelle is "really looking forward" to seeing them at the upcoming festival.
• As of Chapter 4, the only enemies that the party cannot encounter on the Weird Route are Swatchlings, which completely disappear from Queen's Mansion.
• On the Weird Route, there are several indications that the player and Kris are separate entities, and that the former's pursuit of the route is upsetting to the latter:
  • If Kris is DOWNed during the fight with Berdly, Noelle remarks that she can still hear their voice, and describes the voice that has been coming from Kris as different from what they usually sound like; this hints that the voice may not be Kris's.
  • Susie and Ralsei notice Kris seems off and possibly hurt after the battle with Berdly, which could indicate they are distraught.
  • When calling for help from Susie and Ralsei during the fight with Spamton NEO, the narration states "Kris" is performing the action. When calling for Noelle, the narration refers to "You", which could be the player in the second person.
  • When in Noelle's room in Chapter 4, one of the dialogue prompts has the options "Proceed" and "Please don't". Choosing the latter aborts the route, with Noelle noting that Kris did not say anything. This may imply that Kris is begging the player via dialogue options to not continue the Weird Route.