Fandom Still Characterizes Chara As A Stabby, Mean, Out-of-control Child Even In Life...

Fandom still characterizes Chara as a stabby, mean, out-of-control child even in life...

...but the fact is, Chara made monsters lose their fear of humans after thousands of years.

What kind of child could do that?

What kind of child could give the Underground hope it didn't have for millennia?

When Chara fell into the Underground, monsters still lived in the Ruins.

Monsters were so afraid of humans that they lived on the far side of the cavern from the barrier.

That's why Asriel has a chair and room in the Ruins.

That's why there's concept art of Chara and Asriel playing in the leaves under the tree in the Ruins.

Chara fell in the Ruins while monsters still lived there, too afraid of humans to venture closer to the barrier.

That's why Asriel heard them call for help.

And why one of their flower drawings is in Asriel's room.

Asgore was convinced there was no hope of leaving, since humans would kill them anyway.

...until one human child changed his mind.

There's a missing history book between these two passages:

The reason monsters stopped fearing the other side of the Underground was Chara.

This book is book 4:

The reason Asgore changed his mind about humans being remorseless killers is because of Chara.

During their life, monsters saw Chara as a beacon of hope and a part of the royal family.

Asgore in particular adored Chara and put his hopes into them.

If Chara were violent or mean, the Underground wouldn't have lost their fear of humans.

The Underground saw Chara as a playful, loving, hopeful child.

And to some extent, they were.

Chara wanted things to work out, too.

But I think they suffered some severe imposter syndrome, likely due to their hatred of humanity.

Hatred that would, naturally, include Chara themself.

I think after nearly killing their adoptive father, Chara decided humans were all evil and the only way they could be redeemed...

...was to shatter the barrier at the cost of their own life.

Chara lost hope. But the Dreemurrs still remember the person they were.

Asgore and Toriel remember their glass-filling habit fondly.

Asgore and Toriel take care of Chara's flowers.

And Asriel, who knew them best, and now understands they weren't really the greatest person in the world...

...still spends his last moments as himself at their grave.

He still fills the water in the glass the same way they did.

At the end of Pacifist, he talks to Chara and assures them everyone will be okay.

I think that says a lot about the kind of person Chara was when they were alive.

Chara was not the Underground's demon.