Toriel is a humanoid resembling a Nubian Goat being and the second character you meet in the popular Indie Game, Undertale. She saves you from Flowey at the very beginning of the game.
She is a kind-hearted, incredibly caring, and over-worrying woman. Fearful of what may happen to you should you undertake the journey before you. She treats you like any reasonable mother would a child. She’s also very good at making pie.
Sadly, her overbearing nature due to this worry causes friction, and to start the actual game; you must part ways with her.
How you choose to do this is entirely up to you.
Before we go on with our complete Undertale Toriel guide, let’s look at some quick facts you need to know about Toriel.
Embark on an unforgettable journey through the underground world of Undertale, where every choice you make shapes the fate of monsters and humans alike. With its charming retro graphics and innovative gameplay mechanics, immerse yourself in a tale of friendship, determination, and the power of mercy.
Quick Info On Toriel
- Character Type: Boss/NPC
- Difficulty: Easy
- First Encountered: The Ruins
- Optional: No
- Personality: Caring and worrisome.
- Skills: A good chef and wielder of fire magic
The First Dungeon
When Toriel finds you, she immediately starts by leading you into the Ruins, of which she is the caretaker. She teaches you about the game mechanics and gives subtle hints to the adventure you are in for. She does this playfully to make sure you don’t get hurt.
It works well as the tutorial for the game, even teaching you that you are capable of winning an encounter without fighting.
Terrible at hide-and-seek, she plays with you as if you were a child, and in the game, you are. She gives you a phone to keep in touch with her, which you’ll keep for the rest of the game.
She calls to ask you about your progress and make sure you’re okay. That is because while heading to her house, you will encounter some puzzles she wants you to solve. They aren’t complicated or dangerous, but they help ensure you’ll be relatively safe.
It may seem odd she would leave you to go through all this alone, but she has a good reason.
She tells you to talk your way out of any encounter. There is no need for combat. While also calling you constantly along the way to make sure you’re okay and ask you some personal questions.
She asks you what your favorite flavor is, and whatever answer you give won’t matter because she’s so nervous about making something you may not like. She just puts both flavors in.
Toriel’s heart is huge, and in some ways, it causes her to make some questionable choices.
When you finally get to the house, the impression you should get is precisely what it seems. Toriel isn’t planning on helping you find your way anywhere; she’s ready to just go ahead and raise you here herself. In a friendly, safe, peaceful environment.
If you try to leave, she won’t let you.
Killing Her With Kindness
You’ll have a nice slice of pie and nap no matter your final choice, and you’ll find there is no more game progression unless you go downstairs in the house.
Follow the long hallway to a door, and Toriel will turn you around if you haven’t rested yet. If you have, you’ll be sneaking down there, and she’ll be waiting at the end.
Asgore, King of the Underground and the Monsters, has killed and captured the souls of the last six humans that passed through The Ruins. She failed to save them, but she won’t fail you, even if that means having to force you to stay. She won’t let you go through that door.
You have no choice but to face her in battle. In battle, however, you do have the option not to hurt her.
I’ll go over the battle later in the guide. First, let’s talk about what happens if you manage to win without fighting.
Toriel cries, admitting she is wrong but telling you never to return. She tried to save you and can’t bear the thought of what fate is likely to befall you.
Keeping her alive here will mean that her participation in the story is far from over, no matter what she says here. You will be blocked from The Ruins after this fight.
If you had checked her notebook, you would have found she has a love for pretty terrible, if not amusing, ‘Dad’ jokes. Outside of The Ruins, you’ll meet Sans.
Sans and Toriel often tell jokes with each other. Sans promised Toriel not to harm any humans, which saves you here. You won’t hear too much about her after this.
True Pacifist
Having spared Toriel, she will show up as you prepare to fight with Asgore near the end of the game. She was his wife and the Queen at one point. They had a pretty significant disagreement on how to handle things.
She arrives realizing that you’ll have to take a life to leave, and the very thing she wanted to stop from happening was you ever having to kill.
Your friends will show up, and she’ll introduce herself to each of them, recognizing Sans almost immediately when they speak to one another. She explains that if you choose to stay in the Underground, you would still have a good and happy life.
Flowey won’t have any of this. He shows up to suck the souls from all of your friends. If you had befriended Undyne before this, Undyne will do her best to protect them here.
Related: Complete Undyne Undertale Guide.
After a long battle and the ability to resist Flowey’s words and not fight them, you save the soul of Asriel. Upon which, Toriel will return with the rest of your friends.
Toriel will begin to refer to you as your actual (in-game) name, “Frisk.” She stays in touch with you via text messages and even leaves up to the surface with you. She opens up her school and becomes a Teacher just as she always wanted to.
You can decide to stay with her or tell her you, “Have places to go.” If you choose to stay with her, she admits it was best that you decided to leave that day in The Ruins. She promises to take care of you, Frisk, for as long as she can. After the credits, she can be seen bringing you a slice of pie.
Neutrality
You wouldn’t be the first to kill her to get out of The Ruins, as it is hard to win the fight without attacking. You may regret it instantly, as I did when I had to so I could write all sides of Toriel’s story; you may not.
You will get this message from her, and it will be the last thing she does in-game.
“You are stronger than I thought. Listen to me, small one…if you go beyond this door, keep walking as far as you can. Eventually, you will reach an exit. ASGORE… Do not let ASGORE take your soul. His plan cannot be allowed to succeed. …… Be good, won’t you? My child.”
Soak in the feels.
Genocide
If you’ve managed to go down a Genocide Route, she will exclaim how she should have been protecting them from you, not the other way around.
That is entirely true in this instance. That is, again, the last Toriel will play a part in your story.
The Boss Battle
What about that actual fight, though? We’ve got all the info you need to “survive” it, one way or the other.
Toriel uses fire magic to assault you within the Bullet Board. You’ll have to avoid this as with a previous encounter. There are four different types of attacks that will come your way.
Paw Sweep:
Her paw appears at the top-left corner of the Board and sweeps in an arc to the top-right, leaving a trail of fireballs. When it does reach the other side, the looming fireballs will launch towards your SOUL, bouncing off of the walls for a set number of seconds.
As the fight goes on, this attack gets more challenging, and a second paw will join in. It starts at the bottom-right corner moving to the bottom-left. This attack ends immediately if your SOUL touches either paw. If you are having trouble with the fireballs, go ahead and throw the round by charging into the paw. The fireballs will do three damage per hit, and the paw will do four damage once.
Fire Waves:
In this attack, streams of fireballs fall from the top of the Bullet Board, crisscrossing in a double-helix pattern until piling up at the bottom. The streams have holes in the middle of them to dodge through. Most importantly, there are two safe spots in both top corners. Much like before, the attack will get harder as the fight goes on.
The Bullet Board becomes shorter, and fireballs will hover at the sides. During the more difficult form of this attack, the safe corner spots can still be used but are smaller and harder to get to. Each hit you take this time does four damage.
Fire Helix:
Thick streams of fireballs come at you in this one, they are too thick to dodge through, but they do not sweep back and forth. That means if you are careful, you can keep your SOUL safe by trying to stay between the streams. This attack also does four damage per hit.
Faltering:
This isn’t an attack, honestly. It’s like, Toriel is starting to feel guilt about what she’s doing. Fireballs fall from the top of the Bullet Board but deliberately move away from your SOUL. That makes it nigh impossible to take damage from this attack. If your HP is two or less, Toriel will always use this attack; she won’t kill you.
Toriel will end her other attacks immediately if she reduces your HP to 2. She will only use the last “attack” after you’ve tried sparing her for the 11th time, regardless of your health. After your 12th spare attempt, she stops attacking entirely.
Even if you usually can’t die from it because she wouldn’t ever kill you, those fireballs are intimidating. Also, if you lose four HP when you are at only four, that could be problematic.
Combat Strategy
You can purposely get your HP down to two, so you can start sparing her.
After she stops attacking altogether, she will die in one hit if you attack her.
To get the pacifist route, you need to choose the Spare option during the Toriel fight 25 times exactly. She will quit trying to stop you and let you leave.
You can flee from this fight, in which she will respond as any mom who has successfully threatened a spanking and then not had to give it, “That’s right, go upstairs.”
A Froggit you encounter in The Ruins tells you how to do not just this fight, but some future boss battles. “You may have to spare someone repeatedly even if the text color hasn’t changed.”
Toriel’s Backstory
So, there are some heavier spoilers here. First and foremost, feel free to skip ahead to Tips or the FAQ near the end of the guide.
Toriel’s full name was once Toriel Dreemur. Her Ex-husband is Asgore Dreemur, the King. The reason they split up is nothing short of a tragic tale.
They had a son named Asriel, who they raised happily together for a while. The Underground was a peaceful and kind place during this time. Then suddenly, a human child, Chara, fell into The Ruins, such as you did. It was Asriel, Toriel and Asgore’s son, who helped Chara.
Many years ago, the monsters had been sealed underground by seven human magicians. They didn’t have the best view of people, but this child, Chara, made the future seem bright. The child was kind and brought a lot of happiness to the Underground, making it seem like perhaps all humans weren’t evil or just generally being joyful.
Asgore and Toriel raised Chara as their own. Chara and Asriel became like true siblings, and life was good. Diets were a little different, sadly, and Chara became ill. Unable to save her, the poor girl passed away.
Asriel, in mourning, brought her up to a village on the surface where she had fallen from. Not to return her to her world but to bury her in Golden Flowers. It was his way of showing love for his dead sister.
Upon seeing Asriel with the dead body of Chara, the villagers assumed him a monster who had killed her. They didn’t hesitate or listen to a word of Asriel and attacked. Asriel barely made it back to the Royal Garden in the Undeground, collapsing in front of his father with Chara still in hand, turning into dust.
Asgore went mad with rage. Swearing revenge on humans. Toriel took the opposite route, and thus the divide began.
Asgore seeks seven human souls to gain the power to destroy those above ground. Toriel tries to save the poor humans that fall into the Underground from the same fatal end her children met.
She has failed each time, and you are the only one that can give her a happy ending.
The Endings if Toriel is Spared
Toriel has a few different endings if you spare her. Here’s what they are and how to see them if you desire to or are curious about which route you ended up taking. In these endings, Toriel returns to the throne.
Family Ending(Flawed Pacifist)
This ending occurs if you have befriended Undyne and Papyrus, killed no monsters, but defeated Asgore.
Toriel rallies the Underground not to give in to despair at the loss of their King and assumes the throne. Sans tells you to never give up despite having had to take the life of Asgore.
Papyrus becomes Captain of the Royal Guard, which turns out to be something just to make him feel good. The Royal Guard is truly disbanded under Toriel’s rule.
A couple of different things will happen with Undyne; there’s more detail on that here. The call ends with Sans telling you the phone is running out of battery, and everyone says goodbye.
Here’s a complete guide of everything you need to know about Papyrus in Undertale.
Betrayed Undyne (Neutral)
This ending occurs if you spared Papyrus and Undyne but did not befriend Undyne. It can also happen if you befriended Undyne but killed more than ten monsters afterward.
Most of this will be the same at first, except Papyrus didn’t get the honorary title of Captain of the Royal Guard and is unsure what to do with his life. He talks about how bad Undyne has it with her job and having lost her house. The next thing that occurs will differ depending on what you choose with Undyne. But, nothing new happens with Toriel.
Exiled Queen (Neutral)
If you have killed ten or more monsters and Papyrus, Toriel will not be able to maintain the throne after you defeat Asgore. Instead, Undyne will rise in rebellion, becoming the new Queen and swear to seek vengeance on the Human world.
If you have killed ten or more monsters AND Undyne and Papyrus are also dead. The rebellion will still happen, but only to take Toriel off the throne because she defends you and no one else does. She’ll retire back to The Ruins in shame, avoiding any kind of war. The Underground goes on in Anarchy.
The only light for Toriel in either of these endings is that Sans joins her as a roommate.
That is all for the Toriel section of the incredibly deep Role-Playing Game, Undertale.
Any Tips?
- It’s almost impossible to lose the fight with Toriel, so my main tip is don’t use any items.
- Call Toriel when you can. You can unlock some funny text if you ‘flirt’ with her.
- Read every book and wall sign you find in the game. The lore isn’t overly long and helps build the world and set the game’s mood.
- There is a Faded Ribbon in the One Switch Puzzle game in The Ruins.
- Make sure to spend whatever money you can get on the Spider Donuts or Cider.
- A Toy Knife is available in The Ruins found by exploring one of the paths before entering Toriel’s Home.
- Make sure to get the Butterscotch Pie in Toriel’s Home before leaving as well.
- Oh, never attack the ghost in the Ruins. You’ll lose experience. You can’t kill ghosts, silly.
FAQs
Question: Is Toriel your mother?
Answer: No, but she does kind of end up being your adopted mother if you choose the True Pacifist Route.
Question: Do Toriel and Asgore get back together?
Answer: No, Toriel doesn’t forgive him even in the True Pacifist Route. However, he seems to make a little progress into at least being friendly with her again near the end of the credit sequence.
Question: Can I go back to The Ruins?
Answer: No, once you finish the Toriel fight, The Ruins are closed off. Make sure to get everything you can before leaving.
Question: Does Toriel’s dialogue change when I reload?
Answer: It can, yes. The game has an internal save over your own actual save. Reloading does not reset this. So, Toriel has some faint memory of seeing you before if you’ve killed her in a previous run. Pretty creepy and incredible game design.
Question: Can I save Toriel and kill everyone else?
Answer: Yes, you can do pretty much anything you want in this game. It all has consequences, though.
Question: What kind of monster is Toriel?
Answer: Toriel is a goat-like monster with an anthropomorphic body. Somewhat similar to mythological creatures like the Minotaur, but gentler and with a sweet tooth.
Question: Is Toriel based on Toby Fox’s mother?
Answer: Yes, he did state that.
Question: Is Toriel Asgore’s clone?
Answer: No, Papyrus is silly, and that’s just how he recognizes different genders of the same species.
Ultimately
Toriel is the mother character many games may be lacking. Games in which children are oddly allowed or even encouraged to freely roam about on adventurous journeys in dangerous environments(looking at you Pokemon).
The reasons Toriel has for stopping you from leaving are kind of rational. Sometimes, you may have to spank an overly stubborn child so they don’t wander over a ledge, and you know, die. Toriel’s fear that you will either be destroyed by or become like those that destroy is understandable. Yet, it is not genuine kindness to stop someone from facing the world.
Often genuine kindness requires us to face dangers and be part of the world no matter the risk. So, go and teach the teacher something. Ultimately, Toriel isn’t in the game to help you.
You’re in the game to help her.
Embark on an unforgettable journey through the underground world of Undertale, where every choice you make shapes the fate of monsters and humans alike. With its charming retro graphics and innovative gameplay mechanics, immerse yourself in a tale of friendship, determination, and the power of mercy.
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