The Call to Adventure

The hero begins in a situation of normality from which some information is received that acts as a call to head off into the unknown.

Frisk falls and lands in the Ruins inside Mount Ebott.

Refusal of the Call

Often when the call is given, the future hero first refuses to heed it. This may be from a sense of duty or obligation, fear, insecurity, a sense of inadequacy, or any of a range of reasons that work to hold the person in his or her current circumstances.

Frisk meets Flowey, who pretends to be kind initially, but then attempts to kill Frisk, gloating about the fact that it’s “kill or be killed” in this world. They are incapable of defending themself. A moment of despair ensues as death approaches.

Supernatural Aid

Once the hero has committed to the quest, consciously or unconsciously, his guide and magical helper appears or becomes known. More often than not, this supernatural mentor will present the hero with one or more talismans or artifacts that will aid him later in his quest.

Toriel kills Flowey at the last moment, and offers to guide Frisk. She takes them in as a foster mother, and teaches them how to deal with monster encounters—by befriending them—and shows them how to solve puzzles. She also give them the mobile phone, an important item in their quest.

Crossing the Threshold

This is the point where the person actually crosses into the field of adventure, leaving the known limits of his or her world and venturing into an unknown and dangerous realm where the rules and limits are not known.

After entering Toriel’s home, Frisk attempts to leave the Ruins via an underground passageway, but Toriel insists on keeping them inside the ruins, where it is safe.

Belly of the Whale

The belly of the whale represents the final separation from the hero’s known world and self. By entering this stage, the person shows willingness to undergo a metamorphosis.

Frisk faces Toriel, wherein they are challenged to take on the person who taught them how to navigate this world. They convince her to let them leave the Ruins. She is moved by their determination and lets them go. The belly of the whale manifests as a long underground passageway, at the end of which lies the decisive fight. Frisk passes through a gate into the outside world.

Initiation

The Road of Trials

The road of trials is a series of tests that the person must undergo to begin the transformation. Often the person fails one or more of these tests, which often occur in threes.

Frisk is stalked by various servants of the king, all tasked to capture them. They encounter various puzzles and must solve them to proceed. They also encounter increasingly powerful (and bizarre) monsters, whom they handle in the same way–by befriending them–and in so doing learns that every single monster has the capacity for kindness.

The Meeting with the Goddess

This is the point when the person experiences a love that has the power and significance of the all-powerful, all encompassing, unconditional love that a fortunate infant may experience with his or her mother. This is a very important step in the process and is often represented by the person finding the other person that he or she loves most completely.

Frisk meets various characters—some of them former enemies—with whom they establish friendships. This game doesn’t concern itself overly with romance; it is friendship that is the world-saving force in this story.

Woman as Temptress

In this step, the hero faces those temptations, often of a physical or pleasurable nature, that may lead him or her to abandon or stray from his or her quest, which does not necessarily have to be represented by a woman. Woman is a metaphor for the physical or material temptations of life, since the hero-knight was often tempted by lust from his spiritual journey.

Frisk enters the True Laboratory, where they learn the story of King Asgore and his son Asriel, and the horrifying things that were done in the name of breaking the barrier between the Underground and the human world. They may begin to doubt the rightness of their quest.

Atonement with the Father

In this step the person must confront and be initiated by whatever holds the ultimate power in his or her life. In many myths and stories this is the father, or a father figure who has life and death power. This is the center point of the journey. All the previous steps have been moving into this place, all that follow will move out from it. Although this step is most frequently symbolized by an encounter with a male entity, it does not have to be a male; just someone or thing with incredible power.

A moment before what seems like the end of the journey, Flowey appears, furious at the friendship and camaraderie being displayed by the people around him. He then reveals himself to be the king’s son, Asriel, and absorbs the souls of every single creature in the world to become a powerful and homogeneous collective of souls: the God of Hyperdeath. A terrifying, world-rending battle ensues.

Apotheosis

When someone dies a physical death, or dies to the self to live in spirit, he or she moves beyond the pairs of opposites to a state of divine knowledge, love, compassion and bliss. A more mundane way of looking at this step is that it is a period of rest, peace and fulfillment before the hero begins the return.

In the middle of the battle, Frisk remembers what they learned during the adventure. They call out to the souls within Asriel, and help each one regain their memories through the bonds of friendship that they once shared.

Then they reach out to Asriel himself, whom they discover also has a soul. In speaking to him, they help him come to terms with the grief that led to his seizure of power.

The Ultimate Boon

The ultimate boon is the achievement of the goal of the quest. It is what the person went on the journey to get. All the previous steps serve to prepare and purify the person for this step, since in many myths the boon is something transcendent like the elixir of life itself, or a plant that supplies immortality, or the holy grail.

Asriel breaks the barrier. The monsters, as well as Frisk, are free to leave the Underground and return to the surface world.

Return

Refusal of the Return

Having found bliss and enlightenment in the other world, the hero may not want to return to the ordinary world to bestow the boon onto his fellow man.

Frisk lingers in the Underground for a long period more (perhaps out of a sense of attachment), reuniting with the friends they made during the journey. None of the monsters leave the Underground before then.

The Crossing of the Return Threshold

The trick in returning is to retain the wisdom gained on the quest, to integrate that wisdom into a human life, and then maybe figure out how to share the wisdom with the rest of the world.

Frisk speaks to Asriel, now waiting to become a flower again. They reconcile with each other. Asriel asks that they leave him behind. All is resolved within this world and Frisk is untethered to return. Frisk goes back to the Barrier, and returns to the surface together with the friends they made.

Master of Two Worlds

This step is usually represented by a transcendental hero like Jesus or Gautama Buddha. For a human hero, it may mean achieving a balance between the material and spiritual. The person has become comfortable and competent in both the inner and outer worlds.

They discuss their future plans for life in the surface world, and Frisk accepts the proposal that they be the ambassador of the monsters to humans.

Freedom to Live

Mastery leads to freedom from the fear of death, which in turn is the freedom to live.[citation needed] This is sometimes referred to as living in the moment, neither anticipating the future nor regretting the past.

End credits sequence: Characters doing what they dreamt of doing.