What is Soulelle?

Soulelle is the ship between the player and Noelle. I will try to explain why and how Soulelle could become canon in the Weird Route specifically, by interpreting in-game clues, themes, and other works external to Deltarune. This post assumes you know everything that happens in the game. “Soul” and “player” will be used interchangeably, as this is an anti-third-entity household.

1: Romantic undertones of the weird route

In-game Imagery

Thorn Ring: Undertones of marriage, especially with the gesture of buying the ring and being the one to put it on Noelle’s hand.

Evil and Intimidating wilting rose

Even though the rose wilting animation was replaced, it’s still a sign that Toby, for a while, considered it to be apt imagery for what was happening in this scene. From a soulelle lens, this rose reinforces the theme of “perverse marriage”.

Screen cracking animation

The observations made upon this imagery rely partially on the idea that (part of) the Angel is the player. On two occasions now, the Angel has been represented by a black screen, once in ch 4 and once in the “Another Chance” ARG. From a Soulelle lens, this animation can symbolize the player finally succeeding in piercing the veil and reaching Noelle, on the other side of the screen. It can also represent roots or thorns burrowing inside Noelle from the point where the thorn was reinserted, again reinforcing the romantic themes.

Evil-ahh red pixel

The red dot is imagery used in game to refer to Noelle after the player has put the thornring back on. It could be interpreted as the wound where the thorn has been inserted, or as a piece of the player Soul, growing inside or connected to Noelle. Since the dot seems to grow between its first optional appearance (“Think about Noelle”) and the ending, it would suggest that the player’s influence over Noelle is growing over time.

Behavior

Both the Soul and Noelle display behavior that is conducive to a budding relationship. 

• The Soul constantly pushes Noelle into uncomfortable situations to become stronger; this is something that Noelle is eventually able to accept as a good thing; first during chapter 2, interrupted by Berdly, then resumed by re-equipping the ring in chapter 4
• The Soul invades Noelle’s thoughts, something the soul can do, but doesn’t, for any other character than Noelle. This sets up the unique and intimate connection between the Soul and Noelle. Even though Noelle initially discards the events of chapter 2 as a dream, the Soul going out of its way to confirm its existence and its mind-reading abilities to Noelle allows her to resume her state of mind from chapter 2
• The player can choose to check up on Noelle in Chapter 4 using its established ability to remote-view things by “closing their eyes and imagining” the target. Noelle is able to sense this action and thanks the player
• Kris actively opposes us in multiple instances, in both routes, creating a motive for the Soul to seek out a new vessel

In-game evidence of psychic link

Proving that a psychic link exists, like the one the player currently has with Kris, helps prove the increasing level of intimacy between the Soul and Noelle and the theory that Noelle will be a vessel for the Soul in the weird route.

• Noelle is the only character so far who has noticed that they’re being watched by the soul’s remote-viewing capabilities, as evidenced by her thanking the player when this happens in chapter 4
• The buggy dialogue box after leaving Noelle’s house. It can be interpreted as the soul trying to extract a response from both Kris and Noelle, since Susie’s question was addressed to both of them, and both of them have a connection to the soul, but temporarily soft-locked due to Noelle not having heard the question and thus not being able to answer. The altered color palette and the temporary pause of the rain sound might suggest that the player’s sensory perception was slightly mixing with Noelle’s POV.
• Even though the player can occasionally read the thoughts of other characters, it is only in the weird route, with Noelle, where the soul acts much more directly on the thoughts read from Noelle.

The Prophecy

The Angel

The Angel is a being who, according to the Prophecy, will be banished, once met with its desire. As for the identity of the Angel, there is too much evidence for both the Soul and Noelle to discard either of them as the correct answer. If Noelle ends up in a happy relationship with the soul, and the player is satisfied with having been able to “get the girl” and with the game overall, then the condition for “met with its desire” has been met.

Also, a scrapped concept art for a cave in Snowdin shows a mural of a winged creature with antlers, the Delta Rune (possibly inverted) and two serpent tails battling a reptilian-looking creature.

Whole concept art

Relevant crop

Panels

The panel “Cage with human soul and parts”, which represents Kris, is similar in composition with the panel “They’ll hear the ring of heaven’s call”.

The cage

Heaven's call

The cage shows two hands in a counter-clockwise spiral, around the Soul.

The other panel shows two wings in a clockwise spiral, around a ring. 

The “Ring of Heaven’s Call” also can have multiple meanings. A phone ringing, a literal ring (Thorn Ring), and the calls associated with Spamton, who sells us the Thorn Ring.

It can be interpreted that the second panel depicts Noelle, after she has been conditioned into being our vessel. 

Monster fusion Chekov’s Gun

If the Soul and Noelle are meant to combine, to form the Angel, that could manifest as a monster soul fusion. We have never seen the power of a 1 Monster + 1 Soul fusion, as described in Undertale. A fusion between Noelle and the player soul could serve as fanservice and payoff for the setup in Undertale.

Why it is not Kriselle in the Weird Route

To put it briefly, it’s because Kris is vehemently against the player’s actions in the weird route and, even if they still love Noelle, it is ultimately the Soul’s behavior that Noelle falls for. Noelle, despite her generally kind demeanor, does enjoy the events of the ch2 weird route to an extent, as shown by scenes such as the one where she thinks about how she is taking new things for herself, defeating enemies for herself, and how she is getting stronger as a result. Noelle WANTS to get stronger, at least somewhat, and while her development is somewhat dark-tinted in the weird route, she still thanks us for it. Kris, who will no doubt continue to resist us in CH5 and beyond, is getting in the way of her becoming stronger, and so it is not unreasonable to believe that Noelle will quickly turn against them and to us. Kris has also been showing self-destructive behavior in the weird route.

The "Another Chance" ARG

This ARG has brought strong hints that Noelle not only remains affected by the Soul’s actions going into Chapter 5, but also that she is happy about it and that she is sincerely smiling for the first time in a long time as a result of the soul’s actions.

https://preview.redd.it/xzkq7tx9325h1.png?width=2048&format=png&auto=webp&s=192b661a85aa90290eaf13860aa5f4ba2fad9fa2

• “She felt it like a countdown” - possible psychic link between player and Noelle, like what the player has with Kris
• “You” made her smile - the email is not from Gaster, it’s from Toby, so it cannot be vaguely addressing Kris+soul but rather just the player; The player has made Noelle smile
• “It is [applicable]” - the emails definitely refer to the weird route
• “It was the first time she smiled since she was a child/in her life” - idk what to make of the apparent contradiction, but what is clear is that Noelle has been putting up a facade of happiness for a long time and her smile caused by the player was genuine
• “It wasn’t her smile anymore” / “That’s where you’re wrong” - her smile is genuine; it belongs to her and wasn’t forced by the Soul
• “Aww” - a response you get from both Susie and Asriel; this response definitely does not suggest Suselle for the Weird route

Deltarune and how we interact with fiction

Examples in the normal route

One of Deltarune’s themes is the ways in which we interact with fiction. Dark Worlds have a symbolic connection with escapism, and Toby has said multiple times that different people can have different interpretations of something with no one being wrong. In Deltarune, this point is driven home in Chapter 4 by Gerson, who talks about reinterpreting literary works and even rewriting them altogether. That aside, the Dark Worlds have all served to cause some kind of character development in everyone involved, showcasing that fiction can affect us in the real world, despite being just fiction. Ralsei’s arc seems to be about learning that even if he isn’t “real”, he still matters and can be more important than just a distraction for his friends.

Fictophilia

With the previous point in mind, the Weird Route could be representative of another way we interact with fiction: fictophilia. Falling in love with a fictional character. In this case, the premise of the weird route would be “What if the character knew the reader/player was in love with them?” and the answer is the events of the Weird Route. The fictophilia possibly goes both ways, if Noelle’s perspective of the player is just a “voice in her head”.

Skies Forever Blue

This song was composed by Toby Fox. Its lyrics refer to a video game character falling in love with the player, which is, in essence, what is happening to Noelle, in a twisted way.

Also some of the sounds from Skies Forever Blue were later used in the Chapter 3 Zelda-like sections. The sound effect in SFB was in turn taken from the game Link’s Awakening. The Wind Fish Theory goes over the parallels between Marin from Link’s Awakening and Noelle. This section analyzes Skies Forever Blue.

Music video summary

The game’s “token girl” sings of her love for the player. We know it’s about the player and not an in-game character due to the overwhelming presence of meta-aware lines. In the first run of the game, the girl doesn’t have the courage to confess, defeating herself with the realization that she “isn’t real” compared to the player. In the second loop, many years later, with the game cartridge on the brink of losing its save file battery, she becomes much more proactive, breaking the script, having fun with the player and finally confessing at the end.

A full analysis of the lyrics is in the linked document, as I cannot properly annotate the lyrics here on reddit.

Brief analysis of Noelle

Noelle copes with her repressed emotions through escapism and compliance, not unlike the other Lightners, and not unlike us players. In the Dark World, she initially treats it as a “dream,” allowing her to act braver without facing real-world consequences. This escapist fantasy helps her avoid processing her grief, family pressures, or insecurities. She also copes by seeking approval, often aligning with perceived authority figures like Queen or, in the Weird Route, the Soul. Her compliance is initially a defense mechanism to avoid conflict or rejection, as seen when she reluctantly follows the Soul’s commands to use Snowgrave, despite her fear and moral qualms. Additionally, her fixation on “scary” things that make her feel safe (e.g., horror games, her admiration for Susie’s boldness) would put the Soul as the ideal source of safety and fear. Eventually, she finds safety in the Soul, due to the Soul having made her stronger, both in battle and character.

Circumstantial evidence

https://preview.redd.it/k34jrmfv325h1.png?width=1511&format=png&auto=webp&s=4e22c4538df27440fa58c56f2d6225df7a78bd73

This is evidence that Noelle was meant to be a part of the Prophecy if Susie didn’t show up, but due to the wording of this particular dialog box, it can be interpreted as foreshadowing for the SOUL becoming partners with Noelle.

https://preview.redd.it/4hvc3y6x325h1.png?width=536&format=png&auto=webp&s=e0fa4d2a5a5d652a2fac31903c9dc95efb01e475

This is more “poetry” relevant to the weird route, thanks to the thorns and rose connecting to the thorn ring and rose animation respectively. In its original context, it refers to how the spiky demeanor of a tsundere can hide love and good intentions. This can be extended to the weird route where our manipulative and physically hurtful actions have Noelle’s wellbeing and love (and LOVE) for her behind them.

Conclusion

https://preview.redd.it/m0y2iqtz325h1.png?width=1119&format=png&auto=webp&s=466952aa701e4a01fb0197a195fe8593073f8665

Here is the full doc