Onionsan

Onionsan (JP: オニオンさん) is a minor character in Undertale, appearing in Waterfall.

Profile

Appearance

Onionsan is a large aquatic monster that lives in Waterfall. They make faces that look animesque and have a rounded upper body that resembles an onion. They also follow the protagonist throughout their room to keep up a conversation.

Personality

In conversations with the protagonist, Onionsan tries to maintain a happy and hopeful attitude despite lamenting the cramped living conditions of their living space. They seem to be very lonely, as shown by their desperation to engage the protagonist in conversation.

Main story

Neutral Route

Onionsan appears in the horizontal room preceding Shyren's room. While walking through the room, Onionsan's tentacles rise up from the water. Onionsan themself eventually rises up from the water and greets the protagonist, following them throughout the rest of the room.

Onionsan claims that Waterfall is their "Big Favorite", although they express concern about the water getting very shallow as of late. They explain that all their friends moved to a crowded aquarium in New Home, saying that they cannot join them because the aquarium is full. Onionsan claims that Undyne will fix everything and that someday they will get out and live in the ocean.

When walking through their area a second time, Onionsan tells the protagonist that they are starting a band called the "Red Hot Chibi Peppers" (a reference to Red Hot Chili Peppers) despite not knowing how to sing or play instruments. Onionsan asks the protagonist whether they think the band will become famous. If the protagonist chooses "No", Onionsan descends into the water, not surfacing again, even if the protagonist re-enters the room. If the protagonist says "Yeah", Onionsan continues to follow the protagonist throughout the room as usual.

True Pacifist Route

Going back to Onionsan during the True Pacifist Route epilogue triggers a little extra dialogue, Onionsan stating that if word got to them that the surface was open to monsters, they would be the first to tell Frisk. Going a second time would have them say "It's gotta be any day now!"

In the True Pacifist ending credits, Onionsan can be seen happily lounging in the water on the beach.

Outside of Undertale

In Deltarune, Onionsan can be given the name "Onion", and appears as a recurring NPC that can be found near Hometown's lake.

Gallery

Onionsan's tarot card as "Eight of Swords"

Trivia

Phoning Papyrus makes him say "ONION?" and phoning him again makes him say "HUM HUM HUM..." This is a reference to the game development studio Onion Games,^[1] which is led by Yoshiro Kimura, a friend of Toby Fox's whom Fox states has created games that inspired Undertale, such as moon: Remix RPG Adventure.^[2]

References

↑ "If the player calls Papyrus’ cell phone twice while in Onionsan’s room, Papyrus will say in English:
HUM HUM HUM...
In his translation notes, Toby explained that this is an indirect gameplay hint and a reference to the game development studio Onion Games. More specifically, it’s a reference to what Onion Games’ avatar often says in English-language messages online." — Clyde Mandelin, Legends of Localization Book 3: UNDERTALE, pg. 163
↑ There is only a Japanese version of "Moon", so I can't completely get into it until my Japanese improves and the English version comes out. I was impressed by the concept of the game itself. [translated] — 『UNDERTALE』トビー・フォックス×『東方』ZUN×Onion Games木村祥朗鼎談 (Okumura, Kisco, October 19, 2018.) Denfaminicogamer.

[1] "If the player calls Papyrus’ cell phone twice while in Onionsan’s room, Papyrus will say in English:
HUM HUM HUM...
In his translation notes, Toby explained that this is an indirect gameplay hint and a reference to the game development studio Onion Games. More specifically, it’s a reference to what Onion Games’ avatar often says in English-language messages online." — Clyde Mandelin, Legends of Localization Book 3: UNDERTALE, pg. 163

[2] There is only a Japanese version of "Moon", so I can't completely get into it until my Japanese improves and the English version comes out. I was impressed by the concept of the game itself. [translated] — 『UNDERTALE』トビー・フォックス×『東方』ZUN×Onion Games木村祥朗鼎談 (Okumura, Kisco, October 19, 2018.) Denfaminicogamer.

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