The Insanity of the Deltarune Woody Theory

   

     As a quick disclaimer before you read this blog post, I am warning you that this is a peek into the absolute insanity that is the Deltarune community. While I am deeply invested in this community and the discourse within it, I need to clarify that I am of somewhat alright mental stability. 

     Before reading this blog post (which is nonsensical enough as is), I recommend reading my other Deltarune blog post to have some context for the discussion of the theory below. Otherwise, this might just read like the ramblings of a lunatic.

    As I mentioned towards the end of my post surrounding the discourse about the prospective Deltarune Chapter 3 secret boss, while there are varying interpretations and ideas for what the next installment's secret boss might be, I personally have a favorite theoretical boss. This is because of an appreciation for the concept itself, a respect for the in-depth analysis of Deltarune that led to this idea, and generally enjoying the insanity behind the theory.

    According to the theory, the next secret boss will be Woody from Toy Story (or at least a very similar character, due to copyright).

    If you're a remotely sane person, your gut instinct might be to say, "what the fuck??" And to be frank with you, I don't even blame you. Originally, I was just as flabbergasted by this outlandish theory. But once I heard the reasoning behind it, I'm convinced this is the case (and spoiler alert, there has only been more evidence suggesting this theory to be valid since it was conceived).

    Alright, starting from the beginning, this crack theory was first developed by Youtuber SpookyDood in this video. Around 2 years ago there was an official Deltarune event, the Spamton Sweepstakes, which was a way of auctioning off several official items from the developers of Deltarune for charity. However, beyond simply being a fun community event to raise money for a good cause, it also served the purpose of teasing some new Chapter 3 content to keep the community excited (since there hadn't been any new Deltarune content for a year).

    One of the bits of Chapter 3 content that was teased were these cowboy outfits for Kris and Susie, alluding to some sort of cowboy/western segment in the game. However, in one of the seasonal newsletters that the Deltarune team puts out, Toby Fox specifically said that "this segment is in danger of being cancelled" and that "that's just how cowboy shows go, I guess..."

    This odd wording caught the attention of many members of the Deltarune community, since "cancelled" feels more in-theme with the TV dark world setting, and less like a real-world way of saying that a segment of the game was getting cut. Therefore, it was theorized that this was some sort of fake-out by Toby and that it was actually a reference to a potential plot point in Chapter 3.

    What if in Chapter 3's dark world, the secret boss is the main character of a cancelled western TV show? As mentioned in my previous blog post discussing motifs in secret boss identities, this would be a fantastic way to tie into the "discarded/forgotten" theme, since a cancelled TV show would 100% qualify as a discarded project! However, this isn't the end of the theory- it's just the entrance into the rabbit hole.

Example of Spamton's Speech Quirk

    Another motif repeated throughout secret bosses that I didn't mention in my other post is speech quirks. For lack of a better term, these speech quirks function as some sort of abnormality in the way that these characters communicate or speak, for example, chapter 1's Jevil frequently repeats words, and chapter 2's Spamton speaks in a disjointed dialect with advertisement phrases interrupting his speech.  So the community started thinking: what western TV show character might have some sort of unique speech pattern? Then it clicks: Woody from Toy Story uses a voice-box with a pull string that uses a certain library of phrases. What if the secret boss had a similar voice box with limited speech options, utilizing the same range of voice lines to mean different things through context and tone?

    Through this potential voice-box theory we can make the connection to the other main secret boss motif: a connection to the themes of freedom. Sure, the idea of having a ragdoll like Woody be a secret boss would make sense, since ragdolls can't move or hold themselves up on their own due to the material they're made of. But if we push past the surface level observation, the idea of freedom (or lack thereof) would fit in very well with a character that only has a certain selection of phrases to communicate, since a limit on one's speech is a limit on one's freedom to express themselves. But even more interestingly, this would also be a fantastic parallel to the main character, Kris. Since the player is controlling Kris' actions, they don't have any power of self-expression. This includes choosing dialogue options for Kris, effectively meaning that the player controls what Kris says, rather than Kris themselves. If the secret boss had a similar situation of limited speech expression, it would make for a great reflection of the protagonist's personal struggle, and an overall good addition to the freedom motif present throughout the game.

    The final nail in the coffin for me was the discovery of Friend Inside Me. Apparently, Toby Fox had been posting almost nonstop about an old joke song he made years ago, which was a silly ominous edit of the main Toy Story theme, "You've Got A Friend In Me". In the 26 second meme, he just edited the song to say "Friend Inside Me" as a stupid joke. But in the context of the Woody Theory, it might just allude to a little more than expected. If, in theory, Woody was the secret boss of the next chapter, then the phrase "friend inside me" may be a reference to the fact that there is another being inside of him (the voice box?) that is controlling him, just like how Kris has the player's soul "inside" them. And if this seems like complete random bullshit, then how else would one explain the coincidences of all the western-themed teasers mentioned by the Deltarune team's promotional material for Chapter 3, and why would Toby Fox be nonstop posting about Toy Story??

    At the end of the day I know this is utter insanity to anyone else reading this post. But you know what? I'm pretty confident that this theory has some sound reasoning to it, and if it ends up being way off, then it will stand as a hilarious example of what happens to a community when there's no content for over three years. Please don't think I'm crazy for writing 1200 words about Woody and Deltarune.....