 |
This Article Contains Spoilers -
WARNING: This article contains major spoilers. If you do not wish to know vital information on plot / character elements in a story, you may not wish to read beyond this warning: We hold no responsibility for any negative effects these facts may have on your enjoyment of said media should you continue. That is all. |
| “ | My apologies about just now, Kris. As you know, YOU are welcome here any time. | „ |
| ~ Carol to Kris, as well as indicating her awareness of the SOUL. |
Carol Holiday is a supporting antagonist in the 2018 episodic indie RPG Deltarune.
The cold and aloof Mayor of Hometown, Carol is notably distant from her family and associates, maintaining a strict and no-nonsense personality at all times. Despite her relatively small appearance in Chapter 4, it's heavily implied that she could be in cahoots with Kris and the Knight, the main villain of the game's story.
Why isn't she heroic or villainous?[]
- While it's heavily implied that she is working with the Knight or even the Knight itself, Carol can't be classified as a villain until concrete evidence of her cooperation is found. Additionally, it's not established how much support she's actually giving it, how willing a pawn she is, and whether she knows the Knight's true intentions (whatever they are), making her morally dubious like Kris.
- While feared by Noelle, she's never shown to be explicitly abusive to her, only being demanding and strict towards her.
- She is, at most, a jerk to Susie for kicking her out of her house, and even then this is somewhat understanstandable by Susie unwittingly using her missing daughter's guitar, as well as her reputation around town.
Appearance[]
Like the rest of her family, Carol is a reindeer-like monster. She has pale skin, shoulder-length blonde hair and pointy blue antlers unlike the blunt brown ones the rest of her family possess. She also has blue eyes, nose and lips. Carol's face also appears to be rather sunken and bony. She wears a blue cardigan, black pants and a yellow pearl necklace.
Personality[]
A harsh and authoritative figure, Carol is known for her icy demeanour and strict behaviour. She's infamous for her complete lack of charisma in the workforce, with her popularity only supported by her diligence and efficiency in installing policies. This attitude has caused Noelle to fear her wrath, being unwilling to bother her at all when she's working and desperately trying to explain herself when Carol fins Susie playing the guitar, hoping to protect Susie from her mother. Rudy seems to be aware of his wife's cold disposition, mentioning that he wishes to leave the hospital soon and rejoin his family, worrying that Carol being Noelle's sole caretaker would put a stress on her mental health.
Carol also seems to be a rather secretive and distrustful person, hiding all her important documents and items at home instead of leaving them at the office. She also refuses to give the Dreemurrs, her close family friends, a copy of her house keys, which causes Noelle to get locked out of the house several times. Despite this, it appears that Carol's secrecy might be out of protectiveness, seeing as she keeps Noelle's snowflake cut-outs in her house instead of in the office, implying that she treasures them.
Despite this, there seems to be more to Carol than meets the eye, or at least evidence that she wasn't always as cold as she currently is. Asgore mentions how she can show a nicer side to people she's warmed up to, which seems to be evidenced by Carol's leniency towards his late bill payments and financial support towards him. She also seemed to be rather emotional in the past, slapping Rudy so hard he passed out after he flirted with her in college, a trait she seems to carry over when she gets enraged upon seeing Susie using Dess's guitar. Carol also appears to have some eccentricities, decorating her home in countless Christmas memorabilia and obsessively using a katana for mundane tasks, such as cutting ingredients for cooking and at times, the briefcase of one of her coworkers.
It's heavily implied that Carol is in cahoots with Kris and the Knight, seeing as their phone calls with the mysterious caller seem to have links with Carol's sudden arrival at the Holiday home, as well as her suspiciously friendly attitude towards Kris when she escorts them out of the house. Additionally, the way that "YOU" is bolded and in red in her remark implies that she's very aware Kris is possessed by the SOUL and is capable of talking to the player directly. Her call in the Weird Route, enigmatically telling Kris that Noelle's looking forward to joining them in the festival, seems to indicate that her goals may align with the player's in the Weird Route, seeing as Kris was just forced to traumatise Noelle via putting the Thorn Ring back on her finger. All this, however, remains to be seen in the future chapters thanks to the enigma surrounding Carol.
Biography[]
Background[]
Several years ago, Carol would end up meeting Rudy, who was immediately smitten by her and called her "a HOT piece of work". In response, Carol would backhand him so hard he blacked out. Despite this, the two would end up getting along and eventually get married, having two daughters December and Noelle. The Holiday family would remain close friends with their college mates the Dreemurrs, with the two families often getting together to watch holiday specials during Christmas and celebrate. As seen from Tenna's flashback, Carol is seen leaving shortly after Dess's disappearance, implying that she was deeply affected by the disappearance of her daughter, causing her to become the cold and authoritative figure she is today.
Sometime ago, Carol became Mayor of Hometown. While her complete lack of charisma made her initially unpopular, her efficiency in installing beneficial policies made her a prime candidate in the following elections, allowing her to run completely uncontested. Alphys also notes that sometime after her move to Hometown, Carol has been making regular visits to the shelter, a place largely considered unwholesome and disturbing by the town. She's also been helping Asgore with financial matters after he was fired from the police force, funding some activity that the townsfolk look down upon as well.
Deltarune[]
While not seen on-screen, Carol is mentioned several times throughout chapters 1, 2 and 3:
Chapter 1: The Beginning[]
In the Hospital, Kris can overhear Rudy recalling when he flirted with Carol, and how she reacted. At the Locked Gate, Noelle mentions that she does not want to intrude on her mother's work.
In Town Hall, Hand Receptionist apologizes to Kris, and explains that Carol is far too preoccupied with work. Politics Bear also praises Carol's productivity, yet admits she has an "icy" temperament. Politics Bear also comments that she prefers having the AC in her work office set to be at "full blast."
On Flower King's second floor, Kris can find one of Carol's papers. She tersely writes that Asgore should be selling flowers to pay his overdue rent.
Chapter 2: A Cyber's World[]
Carol is only referenced in Chapter 2 by Noelle. After Kris seals the Library's Library Fountain, they can explore Hometown.
In Town Hall, Hand Receptionist acknowledges that Kris is looking for Carol. However, they inform them that Carol is busy preparing for the upcoming festival. Alphys can muse about the police outside the station, admitting that the lack of crime is due to Carol's policies rather than them.
Chapter 3: Late Night[]
Carol only appears in a flashback by Tenna and outside of it, is not mentioned nor seen anywhere else.
Chapter 4: Prophecy[]
Carol makes her first proper appearance in the chapter when Asgore tells Susie and Noelle that she's come back early. Carol finds Susie playing Dess's guitar and is outraged, ordering Noelle to the kitchen for a scolding. Susie tries to stand up for Noelle, stating that it was her idea to play the guitar, but is told to never return or speak to Noelle again. Susie is upset, but taunts Carol with the fact she and Noelle are going on a date to the festival before leaving. When Kris arrives, she apologises to them for the conflict earlier and assures them that "YOU are always welcome here", with the "YOU" highlighted in red and in all-caps implying that this refers to the player. If Kris had turned on one of the Santa animatronics beforehand, Carol will instead ask them to turn them off as it saves batteries.
On the Weird Route, Carol doesn't appear on-screen, though she still ends up kicking Kris and Susie out of her house. At the end of the chapter, she leaves a message to Kris on their phone, letting them know that Noelle is excited to see them at the festival tomorrow.
Speculation[]
As a rather enigmatic but sinister-looking character, Carol is surrounded by speculative theories about her connections to the Knight. Here, two of the main theories about her relationship to the Knight will be discussed.
Theory 1: Carol is working with the Knight.[]
A theory with nearly universal acceptance, Carol is very heavily implied to be working with the Knight. This could explain why she chased Susie out of her house, seeing as she wanted to stop her from opening the shelter, and why she's unusually cordial to Kris. This would also explain why Carol is so busy, as she's busy helping the Knight in its schemes.
Evidence:
- During Chapter 4 when Kris rips out their SOUL, they seem to get a call from a mysterious someone (or someones, as the text switches between white and red) in the kitchen. The caller knows about the Church's Dark Fountain, telling Kris it's being opened tonight (which is something only the Knight or someone working for it would know), and that "police" (likely Undyne) is being sacrificed next week, possibly implying the caller is in fact the Knight. The caller also asks Kris to stop Susie from getting the guitar and seeing the code; aligning with both the Knight and Carol's motivations, with Carol taking the guitar from Susie and kicking her out, and the caller not wanting Susie to get her hands on the code to the shelter; with the shelter being the the place the Knight takes those it kidnaps. When Susie gets the guitar and Kris informs the caller, they say that they’ll “be right there." After this, Carol comes home early to take the guitar away from Susie. On the Weird Route, the chapter doesn't end with the caller telling Kris they "promised,” but with Carol calling Kris to tell them Noelle is looking forward to seeing them at the festival. This could imply that the callers are both Carol and the Knight talking to Kris at the same time.
- Carol is unusually affable to Kris and says "YOU" in red text and all uppercases, indicating that she's referring to the SOUL. As Kris's caller mentions the SOUL is needed for their plans, it's likely that this is how Carol is aware of the SOUL and why she's being so affable.
- Additionally, Carol's huge collection of heart-shaped pillows (which Noelle refers to as "heart-shaped objects" in a similar manner to Spamton) implies that she may have known about the SOUL (and was obsessed with it) before the player even entered the game. This makes it possible that she's the one who sabotaged the Goner Maker to acquire the SOUL to possess Kris, allowing her to carry out the Knight's plan.
- Alphys mentions Carol making frequent trips to the shelter, the Knight's lair. This could indicate that she regularly meets up with them to discuss their plans.
- Additionally, Carol, as Mayor of Hometown, possesses the codes necessary to open the shelter, which could be how the Knight is able to use it as she let them.
- Two other popular candidates for the true identity of the Knight are Rudy and Dess, Carol's husband and missing daughter respectively. If this is true, Carol would certainly be in a position to assist them as they are family, even more with Dess as she is her long-lost daughter.
- It's mentioned that in addition to helping him pay the bills, Carol funds some activity of Asgore's that everybody looks down on. Seeing as Asgore possesses a Black Shard, a fragment of the Knight's weapon, it's heavily implied that he has a connection to them, possibly being a helper of theirs. If Carol was a fellow helper of the Knight, this would explain why she's not only lenient with Asgore's late payments, but also giving him additional funding.
- A problem with the latter theory is that if Carol was the Knight, she would be unable to rush over to the Church to create a Dark Fountain in the time it took for Susie and Kris to leave her house. However, if Carol was simply one of their pawns, she would be able to simply function as a distraction, allowing the real Knight to open the Fountains.
Problems:
- Carol still comes home early even though the call between Kris and the caller doesn't happen on the Weird Route, implying that she was going to come home early whether Kris called or n
- Counterpoint: Susie notes that Carol was still "SUPER pissed" when she arrived and saw Susie using her guitar, heavily implying that Kris made a call off-screen.
- If the Knight isn't any of Carol's family members/friends, it makes little sense that she'd be helping them, especially since the Knight appears to be trying to bring forth the Roaring, wiping out both the Lightners and Darkners.
- Counterpoint: With the reveal of the Knight's physical appearance, it appears that their design is meant to suggest that the Knight is a member of the Holiday family, making their true identity one of a complete stranger rather unlikely.
- Second counterpoint: The Knight's end goal might not actually be the Roaring, as not only do they seemingly restrain themself from opening too many Dark Fountains at once (which would let them trigger the Roaring near-instantly), but their weapon appears to be perfectly geared towards killing Titans thanks to dealing bonus damage to them. Thus, if this is the case Carol would be more incentivised to work with them.
Theory 2: Carol is the Knight[]
A step up from the previous theory, Carol's enigmatic background and suspicious demeanour makes her one of the most popular candidates for the Knight's true identity, second only to her daughter Dess. It's believed that she may be opening Dark Worlds to find Dess after she disappeared, causing her to constantly be busy and unavailable.
Evidence[]
- Thanks to the nature of this theory, all of the evidence for the first theory can apply to this one.
- Chapters 3 and 4 imply that either she is the Knight, due to their sprite featuring antlers, or knows something about them. The Knight holding back against Kris in the fight also contributes to this, with Carol seemingly being more friendly with Kris compared to any other character in her debut chapter. Additionally, she is mentioned to collect heart-shaped throw pillows which are referred to as "red heart-shaped objects.” This is nearly the exact same turn of phrase Spamton has used to refer to the SOUL, indicating that she is aware of its existence.
- Considering that Kris is helping the Knight achieve their goals and the implication they have made a "promise" to the latter, this would give a reason for them to follow the Knight's orders and explain why they feel forced to carry out its plans - Carol is using said promise as leverage to keep them in line.
- Furthermore, the sword hanging in the Holiday family home, which Noelle refers to as her mother's katana, strongly resemblance the weapon the Knight is seen wielding. There is a second, black katana in Carol and Rudy's bedroom, like the Knight's weapon itself. This katana is what Asgore is facing when saying "this black shard,” implying there could be a connection between the shard and the katana.
- The flavour text during the Knight’s fight indicates that cold winds are blowing strongly in its presence. Similarly, Carol gives off an unnatural icy aura when she puts her hand on Kris’s shoulder.
- As the town mayor overseeing everything in Hometown, she would naturally have access to the police code and church code, even excluding how she already explicitly has the pine tree code.
- Carol is evidently still grieving for her daughter, keeping Dess's room completely unchanged and becoming enraged when she sees Susie using her guitar. Thus, seeing as Lightners such as Gerson can be revived in the Dark World, it's possible that she's opening Dark Worlds in hopes of resurrecting Dess.
- Alphys notes that there's no crime in Hometown, and the police only gets into the mayor's way more than anything. This would explain why Undyne is supposed to be sacrificed, as she was likely a liability for Carol due to being a cop and her high sense of justice.
- An unused sprite for Carol depicts her with a dark smear on her face. As the Knight often appears to be somewhat fluid and drippy, this could've been intended for Carol transforming out of her Knight disguise, leaving a bit of a stain on her face.
- Counterpoint: As this sprite is unused, it's likely that it was intended not to be canon and probably won't be used again in the future, implying that this is simply a red herring and shouldn't be taken into account.
Problems[]
- The counterpoints mentioned previously can also apply to this theory.
- While not an impossible feat to achieve, especially since she's implied to be very athletic, it would still be extremely difficult for Carol to quickly carry Undyne, who is capable of lifting cars and accidentally breaking a desk, across the town all the way to the shelter, though it is possible Undyne was momentarily dazed when dragged out of the dark world.
- Counterpoint: The Black Shard, which is a chipped fragment of the Knight's weapon, doesn't change its properties between the Light World and the Dark World, making it possible that the Knight's armor retains its formidable power as well. The Wet Nosed Bandits' remark on their attacker could imply that simply having shadows is enough for the Knight to retain their strength in the Light World.
- When Carol gets home and kicks out Susie, Kris and Susie go to the church right after and the Knight is already there. Since Carol has just arrived home, it seems unlikely that she would have had the time to make it to the church before Kris and Susie without outright teleporting or a secret pathway we're not aware of.
- Carol does not have the overly-thin waist that the Knight has, nor would she be able to open her ribcage.
- Counterpoint: It is entirely possible she takes on a drastically different form in the Dark World.
- The Knight always strikes with their Black Knife using only one hand. Meanwhile, Carol wouldn't use this weapon in a similar manner, since she is skilled in using a katana and proper technique for fighting with a weapon like this, requires holding it in both hands.
- The Knight's sadistic and cocky personality, with it taunting Susie throughout the Dark Sanctuaries and optionally killing Jackenstein for no reason than pure sadism, does not fit Carol's stern no-nonsense personality, having been previously stated to lack any charisma and having only been elected as mayor due to her competence and effectiveness.
- Her suspicious actions don't automatically mean she is the Knight, as she can be working with or controlling them, invalidating this theory but validating the former.
- It would be really hard for Carol to walk around town unnoticed, while also wielding a massive katana.
- Counterpoint: We're point-blank told by an NPC at the town hall that Carol slashed their briefcase with a katana, so her wielding katanas is clearly a fact of life everyone in Hometown knows and doesn't bat an eye at.
Trivia[]
- Carol's facial features seem to be based off of the Grinch's appearance in his 2000 movie incarnation, as seen from her raised cheekbones, pointier face and accentuated wrinkles, differing from the rest of her family and most other characters her age.
- As the Grinch is a Christmas character who attempts to steal all the Christmas joy in his eponymous story, this was likely intentional to display Carol as significantly more cold-hearted than the rest of her family.
- While Carol is currently placed on this wiki, it's very likely that she will be moved to the Villains Wiki if it is confirmed she is providing significant support to the Knight out of her own volition in the following chapter, or even the Knight themself.
- While she never appears on-screen or is mentioned directly, Carol is heavily implied to exist in the Undertale universe alongside Noelle and Dess. However, she is a widower in this universe as Rudy dies of his illness before the family go to the surface, though Asgore remains close friends with the Holiday family.
[]
 / Neutrals
| ||
|
Undertale (Canon) Snowdin
Deltarune Fanon | ||