Party

(How did Kris end up being the leader...?)

Noelle when Kris attempts to backtrack in the ball-toss stalls room of Chapter 2

The party, also known by many other names, is the group of main characters who explore the Dark Worlds in Deltarune. In Chapter 1, this team is initially referred to as "DELTA WARRIORS" to coincide with the prophecy, though the team gets renamed in Card Kingdom.

In encounters, the SOUL receives damage on the party's behalf, though it is unseen by most members. Additionally, party members may temporarily leave the team, which is also reflected in the POWER stats menu.

Members

The main members of the party are:

• Kris
• Susie
• Ralsei

Temporary party members are:

• Lancer, in Chapter 1, where he follows the party for a short segment at the end of the Forest. Susie also carries him on her back for a section of Chapter 2, and in one screen of Castle Town in Chapter 4.
• Noelle, in Chapter 2 and Chapter 4. In Chapter 2, she, similar to the main members, has her own menus, Rings specific to her character and is fully controllable during encounters. In Chapter 4, she is only in the party for a short Light World segment.
• Berdly, in Chapter 2, optionally and only for a single room after giving him the gift in the ball-toss stalls.
• Starwalker, in Chapter 2, optionally in the ball-toss stalls room, if he was previously found in the Forest. Like Berdly, he immediately stops following the party after leaving the room.
• Thrash Machine, in Chapter 2, who like Noelle, has its own menus and is also fully controllable in the fight against GIGA Queen.
• The Old Man, in Chapter 4, where he follows the party in the overworld, and only performs ACTs from Kris's menu during fights.

Naming

Lancer asking if the party has an official name, as Lancer plays

The group is named during Chapter 1, while the party is crossing the Great Board. The team name transfers via Completion FILE.

Lancer realizes that the party does not have a team name, and has everyone except for Kris place a piece of paper in a bucket. Lancer tells Kris to choose from one of the three papers: A neatly folded piece of paper, a crumpled piece of paper, and a paper labelled with "LANCER".

Taking the neatly folded piece of paper selects Ralsei's name, "The Legendary Heroes: The Herald of Fun and Friendship". Susie complains that the name is too long, and suggests "The Fun Gang" as a shortened version.

Taking the crumpled paper selects Susie's name, "The $!$? Squad", which has Lancer comment that he does not think he is allowed to say it due to it containing a "tier-two curse word". Accordingly, when referring to the team in later dialogue, he tends to avoid using the exact name, instead saying "The (Censored) Squad" or "(name I'm not allowed to say)".

Taking the paper labelled with "LANCER" reveals that the inside of the paper also says "LANCER". Upon calling the team this, Lancer realizes that it does not work due to it sounding like he is referring to himself, and instead begins calling the party "The Lancer Fan Club".

If the team name goes undefined for any reason, most likely due to SAVE file editing, dialogue that would use the team name defaults to calling them the "Guys". In this situation, the first Great Board SAVE Point will read "The power of failing to name your team shines within you."

When Susie splits off from the team to join Lancer, the two refer to themselves as the "DARK" version of the chosen team name. If the team name is undefined, they default to calling themselves the "DARK Fun Gang".

In Chapter 4, Susie briefly mentions the team name in the Dark Sanctuary after Ralsei arrives and heals Kris. If the SAVE file does not have Chapter 1 completion data, she just calls the group "Gang" by default.

Functionality

Kris

Kris's battle menu portrait

Kris is the leader, tactician, and puzzle solver of the party. They also keep and use the items in their inventory and storage, and equip the weapons or armor to other party members. When in an encounter, Kris's options must be set first before anyone else. Party members perceive commands issued by the player as spoken directly by Kris, though Noelle comments on Kris's voice sounding different. In some situations, Susie, and to a lesser extent Noelle, can refuse issued commands. Versus Hammer of Justice, Susie asks for Kris's guidance when it is only her in-battle.

Susie

Susie's battle menu portrait

Susie does not follow Kris for the majority of Chapter 1, either leaving due to impatience or from being disinterested in the prophecy. After Ralsei reasons with her at the Delta Rune door, Susie temporarily joins the party in the Field. However, Susie does not listen and continues to FIGHT. Upon Ralsei's criticism, Susie temporarily teams up with Lancer, before properly joining the party for real in Card Castle. This causes Susie to perform most selected options.

Despite this, Susie occasionally leaves the party to pursue her own interests, sometimes taking Ralsei with her. In Hometown during Chapter 2 and 4, Susie joins Kris when they are exploring, though she avoids specific places and characters.

Ralsei

Ralsei's battle menu portrait

Ralsei first joins the party in Castle Town after a synopsis of the prophecy has been told. He follows Kris for the majority of the time and is eager to listen to their commands, but will rarely follow Susie as well. From Chapter 2 onward, Ralsei generally does not join the party immediately upon entering the Dark Worlds, though he usually catches up with Kris and Susie in the introductory areas. The 2nd Sanctuary is an exception, where he arrives to conclude the encounter versus Sound of Justice. He immediately rejoins the party in Castle Town.

Starting in Chapter 2 onward, during scenes where Kris, Susie, and Ralsei reunite, they strike a team pose.

Noelle

Noelle's battle menu portrait

Noelle first joins the party in Cyber City to hide from Queen and Berdly. However, Noelle is only active in encounters and selectable in menus when it is only her and Kris in the party, simply following along otherwise. When Noelle leaves the party, any equipment she was given becomes unavailable. If she was equipped with the Jevilstail, it can be recovered at the Cliffs in Castle Town. In Hometown during Chapter 4, Noelle temporarily joins Kris and Susie as part of the "study group" when they visit Noelle's House.

Gallery

• 
  The party taking a group photo during the Shuttah fight
• 
  The party quickly sneaking in TV World
• 
  The party wearing various costumes at the end of Tenna's boss fight
• 
  Ralsei glomping Kris and Susie in a group hug
• 
  The party holding close together in the 3rd Sanctuary
• 
  The party pushing through the Knight's blades in the 3rd Sanctuary
• 
  The party wearing mismatched outfits from the Halloween 2023 Newsletter
• 
  Lancer joining the party for the first time
• 
  Candy "joining" the party as a gag
• 
  The party at Cyber City's ball-toss stalls
• 
  The party at the green geyser in the Island Board
• 
  Artwork of the party with a floating controller by Temmie Chang

Trivia

• In a post made by Toby Fox showing concept art of the main characters dating back to 2014 or 2015, he mentioned that the file in question was called "THE FUN GANG". This concept art included a drawing of Noelle, and was posted in 2018, before Chapter 2 revealed Noelle to be a major character.
• In the original SURVEY_PROGRAM release of Chapter 1, the first instance of Susie's name suggestion was formatted as "The $!$? Squad", but other instances were formatted as "The $!?  Squad", which was internally "The $!?# Squad", failing to render the "#" symbol. With the release of Chapter 2, affected instances of the name were consistently altered to "The $!$? Squad".
• Page 7 of Ralsei's unused Manual has Lancer's silhouette describing the party as the "Delta Warriors".