Frisk vs The Batter (Undertale vs OFF)
"If you knew hope and despair were paths to the same destination, which would you choose?” -Robert Breault
Frisk, the fallen child from Undertale.
The Batter, the apathetic purifier from OFF.
The medium of video games have offered us a near-endless library of unforgettable adventures, from portly plumbers to brave marines. However, the wide world of indie games have shown that great stories can be forged from even the most minimalistic of games, and propose challenging moral dilemmas that can have its player questioning their own actions. They can even make the player ask themselves if they’re truly in control of the game they’re playing.
These two indie icons truly represent two sides of the same coin; the indomitable human spirit and the indifferent cruelty of the universe. So when The Batter is tasked with purifying the young Frisk, will he succeed, or will Frisk use all the Determination they can muster to defeat him? Well, let’s get under way and kick off this DEATH BATTLE!
Before We Start
Given the unorthodox nature of this matchup, you might be wondering how exactly we’ll be using these characters. The Batter is fairly straightforward; he only has one game, and so we’ll be primarily using that for his research and feats.
For Frisk, however, we will be using a soft-composite. This means that Frisk will be given feats from both the Pacifist and Genocide routes of Undertale, as well as certain abilities that both versions of Frisk should be capable of using.
And to avoid further confusion, we will be referring to Frisk as they/them.
Background
Frisk
“You are filled with DETERMINATION.”
Long ago, humans and monsters lived alongside one another in harmony. However, that peace would be interrupted when war broke out between the two races, ending with the humans victorious. Gathering seven of their best magicians, they sealed the monsters under Mount Ebott with a magical barrier. In 201X, many years after the war, a human child climbed to the top of Mount Ebott and accidentally fell into a massive hole, finding themselves in the Underground, where the monsters had created their own new society right beneath humanity’s noses. This child was Frisk.
Wandering into the mysterious new world, Frisk encounters a talking flower named Flowey, who initially seemed friendly, but attempted to kill the child immediately after, being saved by a motherly goat-woman, Toriel. Guiding them through the ruins, Toriel took Frisk into her home, hoping that they would live with her as her surrogate child. However, Frisk sought to find a way out of the Underground, eventually resulting in a fight between them. It’s here that Frisk embarks on one of three journeys; one of pacifism, one of genocide, and one somewhere in the middle. Whichever path they end up taking, they leave the ruins and make their way through the Underground.
In a route where Frisk spares the monsters, they embark on a quest to escape the Underground, meeting many colorful and even friendly faces along the way, including the bored skeleton Sans, his playful brother Papyrus, the virtuous hero Undyne, and the shy scientist Alphys. However, they soon learn a dark secret in that the king of the underground, Asgore, had planned on using six human souls to break the barrier separating humans and monsters. And after a regretful confrontation with the king, Frisk finds themselves in battle with the monstrous Flowey once more. Upon his defeat, using their miraculous ability to SAVE and LOAD save files, Frisk travels to the point before their fight with Asgore, where events play out a bit differently than last time; as a result of their powerful friendships with the other monsters, Frisk’s friends come to stop Asgore’s plans, only to be confronted by Flowey once more. He uses their souls to achieve his true form; Asriel Dreemurr. But even with this new form, no matter how many times he tries, he cannot destroy Frisk’s Determination. Eventually giving up, Asriel uses the human souls to break the barrier between the humans and monsters, allowing them to coexist once again.
In a route where Frisk is far more murderous towards the monsters, they go on a quest of genocide, murdering any and every monster they can find and getting stronger and stronger, only furthered by their powerful SAVE abilities. Even the Determination of Undyne isn’t enough to stop their rampage, with only one being capable of stopping Frisk once and for all; Sans, no longer being able to sit idly by as they destroy the Underground. It proved to be Frisk’s hardest battle yet, constantly reloading every time they’re defeated over dozens of failed attempts. But eventually, they get in that one hit that they need and finish Sans off for good, making their way to Asgore to finish it once and for all. They’re assisted by Flowey, but even he is brutally struck down. Finally, Frisk is approached by Chara, a dark reflection of themselves who offers them the opportunity to destroy this world and move onto the next. Regardless of Frisk’s choice, Chara uses their nightmarish power to annihilate the universe in one fell swoop, forcing Frisk to do what they’ve always done: load their SAVE file.
Whether Frisk is a pacifist friend or a genocidal monster, they’ll stay determined above all else.
The Batter
"Escaping from your purpose is impossible."
Long ago, a sickly child named Hugo was born into an unstable relationship. The father and mother eventually got divorced, with the father taking custody of the child. Hugo grew to dislike his father, despite his care, due to the boy seeing him as simplistic and dull. Then, a reality-breaking catastrophe happened that destroyed the universe, brought time to a standstill, and shattered Earth into several pieces while the fabric of space and time turned into nothingness. Fortunately, Hugo and the room which he had been in, were still existing. Once he exited his room, he found three other survivors - Dedan, Japhet, and Epoch who he then united together. Then he created two people based on his parents: his mother The Queen, and his father - The Batter.
At first, it was peaceful and perfect, but then after a few unfortunate events the Queen in her frustration created the specters, phantoms, and ghosts that she believed would instill order into her kingdom. They however only amplified the problems by attacking anyone they could. By this time, however, the Batter became aware of the introduction of phantoms in the Zones. To him, this was crossing the line from being ideologically wrong to becoming outright impure and passing the moral event horizon. The Queen's kingdom had become a place of absolute corruption and evil that must be resolved by any means necessary - and so he took on the aid of the mysterious Puppeteer to purify the Zones and spread the nothingness he knew to what was left of Earth.
The Batter met the Judge, who failed to recognize the threat the Batter posed and aided him along the way. He also encountered a mad merchant who believed they are all just in a video game, who in his insane nihilism recognized The Batter's mission for what it truly is and still helped him all the same. Along the way, the Batter encountered and was joined by Add-Ons that represented his ideals - namely Alpha, Omega, and Epsilon, representing the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; this bolstered the Batter in his holy quest.
And so the Batter went and purified all the Zones (the pieces that were once Earth, but shattered due to the catastrophe), and killed Dedan, Japhet, and Epoch. After that, he teleported to the Room where he confronted the Queen about her mistakes and killed her. He then entered the True Room where he found Hugo, weaker than ever. The Batter attacked his creator, while the boy couldn't do anything but shrink defensively and after that, the True Room became purified, giving way to the lever that would destroy the world.
However, then the Judge arrived and tried to persuade the Puppeteer to join his side in order to stop the Batter from achieving complete purification. But sadly, the Puppeteer chose to help the Batter with his goal, even after all of this, and after violently killing the Judge, they managed to pull the lever, wiping the universe from existence again, leaving the nothingness as there is, finally, peace.
Equipment
Frisk
Weapons
What quest to fight monsters would be complete without weapons? Throughout their adventure, Frisk can buy and find many different weapons that increase the amount of damage they can deal in fights.
Stick: Its bark is worse than its bite. A starting weapon that gives Frisk 0 ATK.
Toy Knife: Made of plastic. A rarity nowadays. Gives Frisk +3 ATK.
Tough Glove: A worn pink leather glove. For five-fingered folk. Gives Frisk +5 ATK.
Ballet Shoes: These used shoes make you feel incredibly dangerous. Gives Frisk +7 ATK.
Torn Notebook: Contains illegible scrawls. Gives Frisk +2 ATK, but increases inventory space by 6 while equipped.
Burnt Pan: Damage is rather consistent. Gives Frisk +10 ATK and consumable items heal four more HP while equipped.
Empty Gun: An antique revolver. It has no ammo. Must be used precisely, or damage will be low. Gives Frisk +12 ATK.
Worn Dagger: Perfect for cutting plants and vines. Gives Frisk +15 ATK. Replaces the Real Knife in the True Pacifist and Neutral Route.
Real Knife: Here we are! Gives Frisk +99 ATK. Replaces the Worn Dagger in the Genocide Route.
Punch Card: Use to make punching attacks stronger in one battle. A one-time use item.
Armor
Similarly, Frisk can find armor to defend themselves from oncoming attacks, even if they don’t want to fight.
Bandage: It has already been used several times. A starting armor that gives Frisk 0 DEF.
Faded Ribbon: If you're cuter, monsters won't hit you as hard. Gives Frisk +3 DEF.
Manly Bandana: It has seen some wear. It has abs drawn on it. Gives Frisk +7 DEF.
Old Tutu: Finally, a protective piece of armor. Gives Frisk +10 DEF.
Cloudy Glasses: Glasses marred with wear. Gives Frisk +5 DEF, but increases inventory space by 9 when equipped.
Temmie Armor: The things you can do with a college education! Gives Frisk +20 DEF, increases ATK and INV, and recovers HP every other turn when equipped.
Stained Apron: Gives Frisk +11 DEF, and heals 1 HP every other turn.
Cowboy Hat: This battle-worn hat makes you want to grow a beard. Gives Frisk +12 DEF and increases ATK by 5.
Heart Locket: It says "Best Friends Forever." Gives Frisk +15 DEF. Replaces The Locket in the True Pacifist Route and Neutral Route.
The Locket: You can feel it beating. Gives Frisk +99 DEF. Replaces the Heart Locket in the Genocide Route.
Consumables
Frisk can find and buy many items in the Underground that can restore their health.
Bandage: It has already been used several times. Becomes a consumable once a different armor piece is equipped. Heals 10 HP.
Monster Candy: Has a distinct, non-licorice flavor. Heals 10 HP.
Spider Donut: A donut made with Spider Cider in the batter. Heals 12 HP.
Spider Cider: Made with whole spiders, not just the juice. Heals 24 HP.
Butterscotch Pie: Butterscotch-cinnamon pie, one slice. Heals all HP.
Snail Pie: Heals some HP. An acquired taste. Heals HP up to one less than Frisk’s current max HP.
Snowman Piece: Please take this to the ends of the earth. Heals 45 HP.
Nice Cream: Instead of a joke, the wrapper says something nice. Heals 15 HP.
Bisicle: It’s a two-pronged popsicle, so you can eat it twice. Heals 11 HP.
Unisicle: It’s a SINGLE-pronged popsicle. Wait, that’s just normal… Heals 11 HP.
Cinnamon Bunny: A cinnamon roll in the shape of a bunny. Heals 22 HP.
Astronaut Food: For feeding a pet astronaut. Heals 21 HP.
Crab Apple: An aquatic fruit that resembles a crustacean. Heals 18 HP.
Sea Tea: Made from glowing marsh water. Heals 10 Hp and increases speed for one battle.
Abandoned Quiche: A psychologically damaged spinach egg pie. Heals 34 HP.
Temmie Flakes: It’s just torn up pieces of colored construction paper. Heals 2 HP.
Dog Salad: Recovers HP. (Hit Poodles) Heals 2, 10, 30 or all HP randomly.
Instant Noodles: Comes with everything you need for a quick meal! Heals 4 HP in battle and 15 HP in the overworld.
Hot Dog…?: The “meat” is made of something called a “water sausage.” Heals 20 HP.
Hot Cat: Like a hot dog, but with little cat ears on the end. Heals 21 HP.
Junk Food: Food that was probably once thrown away.
Hush Puppy: This wonderful spell will stop a dog from casting magic. Heals 65 HP.
Starfait: A sweet treat made of sparkling stars. Heals 14 HP.
Glamburger: A hamburger made of edible glitter and sequins. Heals 27 HP.
Legendary Hero: Sandwich shaped like a sword. Heals 40 HP and increases ATK when eaten.
Steak in the Shape of Mettaton’s Face: Huge steak in the shape of Mettaton's face. You don't feel like it's made of real meat… Heals 60 HP.
Popato Chisps: Regular old potato chisps. Heals 13 HP.
Bad Memory: ?????. Reduces HP by one.
Puppydough Icecream: Made by young pups. Heals 28 HP.
Pumpkin Rings: A small pumpkin cooked like onion rings. Heals 8 HP.
Croquet Roll: Fried dough traditionally served with a mallet. Heals 15 HP.
Ghost Fruit: If eaten, it will never pass to the other side. Heals 16 HP.
- Stoic Onion: Even eating it raw, the tears just won’t come. Heals 5 HP.
The Batter
Bat
What would Batter be without his trusty bat? The perfect weapon for purifying specters. It also comes in different flavors:
Harold Bat: Possesses 90 hit probability, 0 critical bonus, and grants +5 attack.
Masashi Bat: Possesses 90 hit probability, 0 critical bonus, and grants +9 attack.
Emmanuel Bat: Possesses 90 hit probability, 0 critical bonus, and grants +12 attack.
Michael Bat: Possesses 95 hit probability, 0 critical bonus, and grants a +15 attack.
Yoshihiro Bat: Possesses 90 hit probability, 0 critical bonus, and grants a +20 attack.
Lewis Bat: Possesses 90 hit probability, 0 critical bonus, and grants a +26 attack.
Katsuhiro Bat: Possesses 90 hit probability, 9 critical bonus, and grants a +32 attack. It also adds the Plastic attribute to the attacks.
Ashley Bat: Possesses 100 hit probability, 100 critical bonus, and a +21(2x) attack. It hits twice when attacking, ignores enemy evasion, and has the Metal, Meat, and Special attributes to attacks.
Baseballs
While we never actually see it in game (considering OFF’s gameplay doesn’t even show anyone’s attack methods) official artwork suggests that Batter can offensively utilize baseballs for long ranged attacks.
Add-Ons
While exploring all the different Zones, Batter can come across 3 add-ons in the form of floating rings that fight alongside him: Alpha, Omega, and Epsilon. Each one has different Competences that can help him in various ways.
We should also explain some of OFF's terminology first, just so there's no confusion:
Blinded status effect: Target's accuracy is reduced
Furious status effect : Target attacks at random, ignoring command inputs
Madness status effect : Target attacks itself and other party members
Muted status effect: Target is unable to use CP
Palsied status effect : Target is unable to attack and battle meter refill is paused
Poisoned status effect : Target takes repeated amounts of 50 damage each until death, even outside of battle
Asleep status effect: Target attacks much more sporadically, leaving itself open to further damage
Hasty status effect: Target's battle meter fills quicker
Alpha
Saturated String: Deals 50 Damage (5 CP)
Expected Bracket: Deals 40 Damage and inflicts the poison status effect (7 CP)
Converted String: Deals 120 Damage (10 CP)
Requisite Bracket: Deals 40 Damage and inflicts the blind status effect (7 CP)
Long String: Deals 250 Damage (18 CP)
Open Bracket: Deals 50 Damage and inflicts the mute status effect (9 CP)
Complete String: Deals 500 Damage (40 CP)
Impossible Bracket: Deals 50 Damage and inflicts the palsy status effect (9 CP)
Omega
Inverse Perspective: Cures the blind and mute status effects and has 90% Accuracy (10 CP)
Optimized Blur: Deals 70 Damage (5 CP)
Overdone Perspective: Cures the poison and sleep status effects and has 90% Accuracy (10 CP)
Photographic Blur: Deals 80 Damage and ignores enemy Defense (10 CP)
Frontal Perspective: Cures the fury, madness, and palsy status effects and has 90% Accuracy (15 CP)
Gaussian Blur: Deals 50 Damage and decreases the enemy’s CP instead of damaging them (15 CP)
Multiple Perspective: Deals 100 Damage and can revive or heal team members (80 CP)
Radial Blur: Deals 30 Damage and decreases the enemy’s defense instead of damaging the (15 CP)
Epsilon
Classic Drama: Deals 10 Damage and increases attacks instead of damaging (25 CP)
Surrealist Tragedy: Deals 35 Damage and hits all enemies (15 CP)
Baroque Drama: Deals 10 Damage and increases defense instead of damaging (25 CP)
Abstract Tragedy: Deals 80 Damage and hits all enemies (26 CP)
Experienced Drama: Deals 10 Damage and increases Espirit instead of damaging (25 CP)
Cubist Tragedy: Deals 190 Damage and hits all enemies (42 CP)
Unrevokable Drama: Deals 10 damage and increases Agility instead of damaging (25 CP)
Fauvestic Tragedy: Deals 310 Damage and hits all enemies (80 CP)
Symbols
The offensive equipment for the add-ons. Note that we won't cover just about every symbol The Batter possesses, only including the strongest and the ones that possess special effects. These include:
Choleric Symbol: This Symbol has a 90% hit probability, a +7 attack and it adds the Special Attribute to attacks.
Loyal Symbol: This Symbol has a 90% hit probability, a +11 attack and it adds the Special Attribute to attacks.
Solid Symbol: This Symbol has a 90% hit probability, a +13 attack, and it adds the Special Attribute to attacks.
Fast Symbol: This Symbol has a 90% hit probability, a +18 attack, and it adds the Special Attribute to attacks.
Boastful Symbol: This Symbol has a 90% hit probability, a +27 attack, and it adds the Special Attribute to attacks.
Hidden Symbol: This Symbol has a 95% hit probability, a +16 attack, and it adds the Metal Attribute to attacks.
Mysterious Symbol: This attribute has a 95% hit probability, a +30 attack, and it adds the Metal Attribute to attacks.
Perfect Symbol: This Symbol has a 95% hit probability, a +40 attack, and it adds the Smoke and Plastic Attributes to attacks.
Defensive Equipment
A fight isn’t all about strength as sometimes the result of one can even depend on how powerful the respective combatant's defenses are. Luckily, the Batter came prepared. Here is a list of all of his defensive equipment:
Aura of Justice: Grants +3 defense.
Aura of Fear: Grants a +3 defense.
Aura of Perception: Grants +4 defense.
Aura of Greatness: Aura with +10 defense.
Aura of Clairvoyance: Aura with +18 defense.
Aura of Tenacity: Aura with +25 defense.
Aura of Lunacy: Aura with +41 defense.
Aura of Power: Aura with +59 defense.
Nicolas Tunic: Grants +4 defense.
David Tunic: Grants +6 defense.
Min-Woo Tunic: Grants +8 defense.
Canepa Tunic: Grants +12 defense.
Taiyou Tunic: Grants +16 defense.
Neil Tunic: Grants +22 defense. This Tunic also grants increased evasion.
Radius Epidermis: Grants +4 defense.
Ulna Epidermis: Grants +6 defense.
Humerus Epidermis: Grants +9 defense.
Tibia Epidermis: Grants +11 defense.
Fibula Epidermis: Grants +17 defense.
Femur Epidermis: Grants +21 defense. It can also prevent critical hits.
Color of Wrath: Grants +2 defense.
Color of Pain: Grants +3 defense.
Color of Sadness: Grants +5 defense.
Color of Hatred: Grants +10 defense.
Color of Force: Grants +18 defense.
Color of Defeat: Grants +29 defense.
Color of Neglect: Grants +32 defense.
The Eight Color: Grants +50 defense.
Days
No, it’s not what you think. A day in the world of OFF is not really an actual day, but rather equipment with special effects. Each day grants a specific boost, which are:
Monday: Prevents any critical hit being inflicted on the Batter.
Tuesday: Halves CP consumption.
Wednesday: Prevents terrain damage.
Thursday: Grants 30% resistance to the Furious and Madness conditions.
Friday: Grants 50% resistance to the Muted condition.
Saturday: Prevents the Poison condition.
Secret Day: Prevents the Poison, Blindness, and Muted conditions.
Items
An item is an object that can be equipped, be used for recovery and improving stats in the world of OFF. They can be combat-appropriate, revive dead, cure poisons and conditions, recover HP, and more.
Luck Ticket: Recovers 100 HP
Fortune Ticket: Recovers 1000 HP
Silver Flesh: Restores 50 CP
Golden Flesh: Restores 100 CP
Joker: Revives and restores 25% Max HP
Moloch’s Meat: Cures the Poison condition
Belial’s Meat: Cures all conditions
Abaddon’s Meat: Fully restores the party’s HP and CP, as well as all status conditions. Unusable during combat
Inspiration: Deals 75 base damage to a single enemy, increases with attack and esprit
Expiration: Deals 400 base damage to a single enemy, increases with attack and esprit
Eye: Analyzes the enemies’ characteristics
Abilities
Frisk
Determination
The source of Frisk’s power and abilities. The user is empowered by the feeling of, as you’d imagine, determination, allowing them to strengthen their capabilities and use new abilities. Determination is naturally possessed by humans and can store as much of it as they want, with monsters being unable to maintain high amounts of it for very long.
ACT/Determination Abilities
With high amounts of Determination, Frisk can perform a variety of different abilities.
Hope: Frisk holds onto their hope for the future, significantly raising their DEF.
Dream: Through sheer willpower and determination, Frisk's dreams become a reality, fully healing them of all damage and negative effects.
Heat Up: Frisk heats up the battlefield to be incredibly hot even in the context of Hotland, which is already so hot that even its outskirts are capable of instantly melting a styrofoam cup full of water. This move can stack if used multiple times.
Cool Down: Frisk blows onto the opponent with a breeze so cold that it instantly erases all of the aforementioned effects of Heat Up no matter how many times it has been stacked.
Flex: Frisk flexes their arms, making their physical attacks stronger for the remainder of the fight. This move can be stacked up to 3 times.
Clear Mind: Increases their DEF by 1; if they are inflicted with a status condition such as dizziness or confusion, it increases their DEF by 2 instead and removes the condition.
Sing: Frisk sings the song that Shyren taught them, making the target sleepy the first turn it’s used, and making the target fall asleep on the second. The target will wake up when attacked, but damage dealt by Frisk will be doubled.
Stare: Frisk glares, weakening the target’s power. If used twice, the target will be incapacitated.
Draw: Frisk draws something, which then comes to life.
Mercy: Under certain circumstances, Frisk can choose to give their opponent mercy, sparing them of a fight with neither having to die.
SOUL
The SOUL is the very essence of one's being, whether they are a human or a monster. Human souls are stronger than a monster’s, however, and have the ability to persist even after the death of its physical body due to Determination.
SAVE
When particularly determined, Frisk can "SAVE" the current moment in time. This essentially creates a point in time that Frisk can go back to by using LOAD, either on command or upon Frisk’s SOUL being shattered in battle. Frisk can do this however many times they want after death, but it should be noted that those with the same or higher amounts of Determination can overwrite the file, thus preventing Frisk from loading the file again.
The Batter
Competences
The Batter possesses a multitude of competences of his own. Mainly consists of healing and high-damage elemental attacks.
Wide Angle: The Batter analyzes an enemy’s characteristics, providing information regarding an opponent’s combat prowess (2 CP)
Save First Base: Heals an ally for a low amount of health (5 CP)
Run with Courage: Deals metal damage (5 CP)
Furious Homerun: Deals low basic damage (7 CP)
Save Second Base: Heals an ally for a moderate amount of health (15 CP)
Run with Grace: Deals plastic damage (7 CP)
Special Homerun: Deals mediocre basic damage (15 CP)
Save Third Base: Heals an ally for a high amount of health (40 CP)
Run with Dementia: Deals smoke damage (10 CP)
Magic Homerun: Deals very high basic damage (30 CP)
Save Fourth Base: Revives and heals an ally (80 CP)
Run with Belief: Deals meat damage (15 CP)
Save Secret Base: Heals the entire party (50 CP)
Ultimate Homerun: Deals tremendous basic damage (25 CP)
Purification
The Batter's titular finishing move. It erases all living matter from existence. It can erase Elsens, Specters, Guardians, even Hugo, the creator himself isn't safe from this. (It also should be noted that a Guardian is the source of energy for a certain Zone) The Batter is the only person noted to survive these purifications. Plus, once a zone is purified, it will lose all color and multiple objects will go missing, all living things in that zone will also become purified by proxy, save The Batter and certain characters like The Judge and Sugar. Oh, and speaking of save…
Save and Load
According to The Judge, The Batter (more specifically, The Player) has the ability to save his progress using cubes that send him to the nothingness. The Room in OFF utilizes the manipulation of save files as well, requiring The Player to explore The Room with 3 different save files.
Bodily Manipulation
Again never seen in gameplay due to the nature of OFF, but a lot of official art shows Batter to be able to extend his arms by a good amount. Though him actually having this ability is unknown and could possibly also just be instances of how others see him.
Feats
Frisk
Overall
As a Pacifist, freed the monsters from the Underground
In Genocide, killed every monster in the Underground
Traversed through the Ruins, Snowdin, Waterfall, Hotland and New Home
Survived Mettaton’s deadly game show
Befriended many monsters that were initially trying to kill them
Defeated Papyrus, Sans, Undyne, Mettaton, Asgore and Flowey
Strength
Comparable to Ice Wolf, who can routinely throw large ice blocks (64,383 joules)
Should be superior to Flowey’s flower form, who used his vines to move an elevator from True Lab to New Home (67.6 megajoules)
Defeated Mettaton, who’s initial robot form busts down a wall (99.6 megajoules)
Using Frisk’s body, Chara destroyed the universe and recreated it Debatable
Speed
Comparable to Undyne, who can run from her house to Snowdin in seconds (98.84 m/s)
Dodged lighting from Vulkin (Mach 168) Debatable
Dodged Asriel’s Hyper Goner, a big flurry of light beams (1.7c) Debatable
Can increase their speed with Sea Tea, which doubles their speed, and can stack it up to four times
Durability
Comparable to Chara, who survived falling into the Underground (albeit they were dazed and injured)
Can take hits from Undyne (and in her Undying form)
Can survive hits from Asriel Dreemurr and his hypergoner.
Can come back after death with SAVE as long as their SOUL is intact in some way
The Batter
Overall
Got chosen by the Judge to purify the world
Killed every specter he could get his hands on
Purified Zone 1, 2, 3, and The Room
Killed the Guardians of the Zones, the Queen, Hugo, and The Judge
Turned the entire world 'OFF'
Finished his mission
Strength
Can fight and defeat gigantic whales
Should be comparable to the Zone Guardians who:
Zone 1's creation: 9.4173e+41 Joules.
Zone 2's creation: 1.0045e+42 Joules
Zone 3's creation: 1.2094e+42 Joules
Should be comparable to the Queen, who:
Created the Sun (1.7876e+47 Joules)
Created the Room which contains multiple pocket dimensions.
Speed
Kept up with the Zone Guardians, the Queen and Sugar
Climbed a massive chimney in seconds.
Can navigate through and perfectly control his movement in the Nothingness, where everything travels at the speed of light
Flew to the Sun (361.598c)
Durability
Can take a variety of hits, physical, elemental, magical, and even conceptual, from varying impures
Tanked blows from Dedan, Japhet, Enoch, Sugar, the Queen, and the Judge
Went through the entire game without significant rest
Is not slowed down at all by injury
Seemingly does not feel pain
Weaknesses
Frisk
Despite their natural combat and puzzle-solving skills, Frisk is still a normal kid, which means they aren't the brightest or level-headed of the bunch. They can also be outplayed by a more experienced foe, such as when Frisk was outsmarted/betrayed by both Chara and Flowey in two separate routes. (In the end of the genocide and true pacifist routes, respectively)
The Batter
Despite his wide array of abilities and equipment, The Batter does not come without a few faults. He relies on having sufficient amounts of competence points to perform his more useful abilities, which is limited. The Batter does possess items to restore his competence points, but even that is eventually prone to running out. Should The Batter’s connection be severed from The Player, would result in the loss of saving and loading.
Overall
Frisk
“Despite everything, it’s still you.”
Advantages
Stronger and more durable with Universal Undertale
Immense determination allows Frisk to refuse death
More unique weapons
Has Papyrus as a friend
Disadvantages
Weaker with lower ends
Slower regardless of whether or not FTL is bought
Sea Teas would not be able to close this gap
Has no way to affect Batter’s Save File
Would not be able to come back from a Purification
Would likely not be able to pacify Batter with Mercy
The Batter
“From now on, there will be no more darkness.”
Advantages
Stronger with lower ends
Faster regardless of whether or not FTL is bought
Purification would erase Frisk’s SOUL, thus not allowing them to reload their save
He's ballin
Disadvantages
Weaker with Universal Undertale
Basic weaponry in comparison
Would likely be unable to put Frisk down if they are imbued with immense determination
Does not have Papyrus as a friend
Verdicts
Quick heads-up from ya boys
For this blog, unlike the last one, we’ll be doing a G1-style verdict and making one big verdict rather than individual ones. We will still be doing the classic verdict style for future ones, but to save on time, we will be doing this in order to get the blog out as soon as we can.
Stats
Starting off with stats, this might be the biggest point of contention when it comes to this matchup; specifically with Frisk. The Batter is simple to pin down in terms of stats. Being able to defeat the Zone Guardians as well as take hits from them would place him in the Star level ranges of power, as these characters not only created the Zones you traverse through throughout Off, but act as engines for said areas as explained by Enoch in Zone 3. Again, these are characters that Batter can hurt and can survive hits from, so he should reasonably scale to them. As for speed, he should be within that lightspeed range due to flying to the sun in a short timeframe and being able to traverse The Nothingness, where everything moves at the speed of light, and he can be seen perfectly navigating it.
Frisk, on the other hand, is much more up-in-the-air as to where their stats lie. There are a few clear-cut feats, such as Ice Wolf throwing large ice blocks, Papyrus’s Special Attack and Mettaton’s wall bust, which despite its name, would place Frisk at Small Building levels of strength. But all this becomes pretty irrelevant when we bring in Chara destroying the universe of Undertale, which is its own can of worms that we might as well open up. So, dear reader, let’s answer the question: Is Frisk Universal? Well… yes and no.
During their fight with Asriel, Frisk can take multiple hits from him, as well as just barely survive his Hyper Goner attack with a miniscule amount of HP, said attack being one which threatened an entire timeline. This should solidly place Frisk at universal durability, and maybe even multiversal depending on your view on how big a single timeline actually is in Undertale with resets, fun values and whatnot. However, the issue is trying to apply this to Frisk’s physical striking strength, as Frisk is not once able to actually hurt Asriel, whether it’d be through Asriel just dodging everything or Frisk being incapable of hurting him one way or another. There is no proof of Frisk being capable of harming Asriel in that run. Another piece of evidence that some point to for this level of power is Chara, and how they end up “possessing” or using Frisk’s body/power to destroy the game, which should be a feat equivalent to destroying Undertale’s cosmology. The issue with this, is we never really get a hard confirmation that this was the case outside of a few vague clues, and while it is a fairly popular fan theory that has some evidence, at the end of the day, that’s all it is: a theory and not something the game explicitly tells us. When Chara explains that their power wasn’t their own, it’s more likely that they were referring to the fact that Frisk’s power was the thing that woke them up from death. While the feat in question would make Chara themselves Universal, it’s hard to argue that Frisk would scale in any way, since we never see the two fight or show any kind of scaling chain that would connect the two.
As for speed, Frisk is again, a bit trickier. They should have clear-cut feats of being able to dodge sound-based attacks, but things get a bit muddier when we bring in lightning-timing. See, considering that monsters in Undertale use magic, it’s questionable whether or not Vulkin’s lightning would be comparable to actual cloud-to-ground lightning. Then we get to light-timing, which, ironically enough, is a bit easier to argue for in retrospect. Hyper Goner is a big AOE attack that illuminates everything around it, and after the fight, a character known as Napstablook references seeing a big flash of light outside of his house. While there is contention on whether or not Napstablook’s feat of shutting their blinds before the light reached them is legit or not, the fact that they called it a flash of light at all should be enough to consider it a light-based attack that Frisk can move in tandem with.
Despite all this for Frisk, however, it isn’t enough to save them from being blitzed by The Batter with his MFTL speed. Still, with their Universal durability, it’s an interesting case where Batter isn’t strong enough to take them down, but neither is Frisk. So, all that’s left for us to do is move onto their abilities and see if they can help decide a winner.
Arsenal and Abilities
In terms of a standard fight, with the way their respective save file systems work, neither would be able to kill one another, funny enough. In a weird way, stats both don’t matter and do matter somewhat, as you’ll see later on. If either successfully kills the other, they can just reload a save and start over with newfound knowledge of how their opponent actually fights. In terms of stuff like equipment and consumable items, it’s not a very big factor; Batter may or may not have durability negation with Photographic Blur, considering it ignores the target’s Defense stat, but even if he gets it off, it’s just another death that Frisk can come back from. And even if Frisk can stack Sea Teas up to 4 times, it’s not going to do anything when the speed gap is that big. Considering both have a wide variety of healing options as well as stat-boosting consumables and equipment, it’s fair to call it even in this regard. However, this brings up an aspect of Frisk that makes the whole thing lean in the opposite favor; their SOUL. See, when Frisk’s HP reaches zero, the animation shows their soul shattering, meaning that it needs to be intact in some way or another for Frisk to load to the previous save point. We even see this during the Asriel fight, where the soul breaks in half, but reattaches itself due to Frisk having high determination. However, The Batter’s Purification is essentially existence erasure, being able to erase all matter around it: Specters, Guardians, and even Hugo. With this, Frisk’s SOUL would be completely erased, and thus would not be able to load back into the fight like they always do.
While Purification is mostly a last-resort move, as it’s the move Batter does when he beats a Zone’s boss, Frisk doesn’t really have any way to counteract Batter’s own save file system, and given the fact that Batter is aware of save files himself and how some characters in Undertale like Papyrus are at least somewhat aware of the resets Frisk can do, he would quickly deduce what’s going on and realize that he needs to use it. You might also be thinking; couldn’t Frisk just overwrite Batter’s save file like Flowey did? Well, not only can Batter just… save over it again and regain ownership, but the methods in which these two systems work in Undertale and OFF are a bit different. The file system in Undertale works because of Frisk’s Determination, and was able to overwrite Flowey’s because the amount they had was greater. OFF doesn’t work on such a system, and even if we equalized the verses and gave Batter Determination, again, there’s not much stopping Batter from just overwriting it again and even doing it to Frisk, since he’s much faster.
One last thing to note in this section is an aspect we’ve yet to mention in regards to The Batter. Within OFF, the player playing the game is a canonical aspect tied to the events of the game. They essentially act as the controller of Batter’s actions, and characters such as the Judge, Zacharie, and even Batter themselves will note their existence. The Player can even choose to side against The Batter in The Room, so there is proof that they can betray him. Why does this matter, you ask? Well, one could argue that the Player can be convinced to turn against the Batter in their fight against Frisk just as they did with The Judge, and therefore would not be able to come back from death with their save file, as it’s the player who loads the save to begin with. However, there’s hardly any reason as to why the Player would do this, especially since the ending where they side with the Batter and fight Judge is considered the Official Ending as opposed to betraying him. It just feels like a pure hypothetical to suggest that the Player would turn against the Batter, especially since Frisk not only has no way to communicate to the Player, but wouldn’t even be aware of their presence to begin with.
In the end, while the fight would theoretically never be able to properly finish at first, The Batter’s method of permanently killing with Purification would help him end the fight once he realizes there’s no other option, as Frisk is simply too weak to even hurt Batter in the first place.
Conclusion
This fight turned out to be quite the interesting conundrum, with steep edges and an initially unknowable victor, but on closer inspection, The Batter simply had everything he needed in order to put Frisk down for good. For stats, Frisk’s attacking strength paled in comparison to their durability, being such a big gap that the two stats can’t really be compared. Meanwhile, The Batter can both dish out and take hits from Star and Solar System level threats, as well as move at speeds far faster than Frisk can keep up with, making it an interesting case of the blitz-ee being tough enough to take the blitzer’s hits, but not being able to capitalize on it.
And although the fight would drag on for a significantly long amount of time, The Batter would eventually use their Purification methods to prevent Frisk from reloading their SAVE file, as their Soul would not be intact and thus cannot load to a previous point like they always do. And finally, Frisk has no way to interact with the Player to even try and convince them to turn on the Batter, and even if they do, it won’t help much against the blitz and dura-neg combo with Photographic Blur.
Unfortunately for Frisk, while they were able to outmatch Batter in toughness, and would provide for a unique adversary given their shared use of save files, they just aren’t going to be able to keep up with Batter’s superior speed and methods of permanently ending the fight.
Just going OFF of that, there’ll be no mercy when The Batter hits a home run in this battle.
Results
Team Frisk (0): But nobody came.
Team Batter (4): Robert Lee, Ashuto, Dazz, Mozza
Team Goku (2): LandonTalksALot, JustADude
Cool.
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