One of the biggest current mysteries inDeltaruneis the identity of the Roaring Knight. They’re currently the game’s biggest antagonist, being responsible for opening up dark fountains and creating the dark worlds Kris and Susie explore throughout the chapters. Despite their large role in the series, players still have no idea who—or even what—they are.
This article contains spoilers for Chapters 1-4 of Deltarune.Ever since the knight was first mentioned by characters like King, Seam, and Jevil in Chapter One, this question has been the subject of continual debate. However, I think the latest installments have provided enough evidence to prove that one character in particular must be the knight, andI’m very confident that I know who Deltarune’s Roaring Knight is going to be.
The Roaring Knight Is Likely A Member Of The Holiday Family
The Knight’s Appearance Looks A Lot Like The Deer Monsters
The most defining physical feature of the Knight is their deer-like horns,which are very reminiscent of those belonging to the holiday family. The locations of all the Dark World entrances in the light world are also places the Holiday family once frequented. In the Knight’s screaming sprite, their head also appears to be vaguely deer-shaped, which implies that they are at least some kind of deer-themed monster. There’s a slim possibility that their true identity is Noelle, which could theoretically be possible if enough plot threads were pulled, though I doubt Toby Fox would take that route.
There are some compelling arguments for the Knight being Carol, but for a character that was only really just introduced, I think the clues are way too obvious for her not to be a red herring. She’s already been established as an antagonist, and she owns a katana, which seems quite similar to the weapon wielded by the Knight. However,you’re able to chip the Knight’s sword if you’re able to “beat” them, but there’s no mention of Carol’s sword being damagedif you check it after.
An interesting idea that I don’t see much discussion of, put forward by Reddit userLow_Ad9548, is thatRudy could be the Knight.I do find it intriguing that he can he seen talking to Toriel of all people in the church, given how Chapter 3 ended with the Knight seemingly trying to prevent her from leaving the Dark World. Perhaps the Knight’s twisted appearance is somehow linked to his illness - we know Berdly will be hospitalized as well if injured inChapter Two’s Dark World,so we may have a similar root cause for Rudy’s affliction.
In a flashback inChapter 3 ofDeltarune, Kris can be implied to be wearing a horned headband, but there’s a lot less evidence to suggest the Knight may be linked to them.
This leaves December, or “Dess” Holiday, Noelle’s sister.We haven’t properly seen her yet, but judging from what has been said about her and how protective Carol is of the contents of her room, it’s safe to assume something unfortunate happened to her. It’s unclear whether she is deceased or just missing, as the other Holidays seem quite reluctant to mention her. She was one of Asriel’s friends, so assuming they’re the same age, she could just be at college. However, it feels odd that this is never actually specified, especially given how uncomfortable her name makes people.
This May Be Setting Up A Plot Point For Future Chapters
I don’t think Gerson’s inclusion in the chapter where players go head-to-head with the knight was a coincidence.We know that Gerson is deceased. However, in the same way that Lancer is simply a playing card in the light world, a dark fountain being created near Gerson’s ashes seems to have granted him temporary life again in the dark world, or at least some imitation of it. If Dess is missing in action, some form of her may be living on in the dark worlds.
Even if Dess isn’t the knight, then it’s a red herring that has been thoroughly planned out. A Reddit post bythrowawayoogaloorga2shows that the “Lost Girl” and “Nightmare Knight” tracks appear to be derived from the same leitmotif.
Sincethe Knight needs to be able to travel around the Light World to create the different dark fountains,it would make sense if they didn’t actually originate from the Dark World. Usually, Lightners take a very similar form to their light world selves when they enter a dark world, with only a change in outfit or color scheme, but we don’t see anything particularly akin to the Knight. Perhaps Dess got corrupted somehow, causing her to take on an altered form and mind.
She seems to have been pretty adventurous, soshe may have once explored the Dark Worlds in a similar way to Susie and Kris.It’s unclear how exactly Dess would’ve ended up in this state, but I wonder if it could be a manifestation of her spirit. The Knight is never seen in the Light World but can somehow travel between Dark Worlds, so although it may sound outlandish, my personal theory is that they don’t have a regular body in the Light World. Maybe Dess ran into trouble that caused this to happen when she was between worlds.
More Clues Point To Dess Holiday Being The Roaring Knight
Lots Of Small Details Probably Amount To Something
There are a lot of other little clues scattered around that have me sold on the idea that Dess is the Knight. Recently discovered unused dialogue, posted by Reddit userEpicHill47,seems to follow someone trapped in darkness—probably Dess, stuck in a Dark World. Though we can’t consider this to be very substantial evidence, as the lines can’t be accessed in-game,it wouldn’t be unlike Toby Fox to hide clues in the game files.
One tiny detail that definitely wasn’t meant to go unnoticed is that both Dess and the Knight are left-handed.There’s a huge focus on the shot where Carol places her right hand upon Kris’ shoulder,and we can see that Dess’s computer mouse is on her left side. The Knight always holds their weapon in their left hand, as highlighted in a Reddit post from4tomguy, so it seems probable that they are Dess rather than Carol.
Since objects warp in the dark world, like Kris’ pencil becoming their sword, it seems odd that Carol’s katana would stay as such. However, at the start of the battle with the Knight, the shape of the sword looks a lot like a bat rather than a traditional katana, and conveniently,Dess is consistently described as wielding a bat.InChapter Two ofDeltarune, Noelle recalls the time Dess used a bat to whack Kris for lying, and she is also said to be holding a bat in one of Noelle’s cycling screensavers. Notably, it’s a cracked one.
With so many details supporting the same conclusion, I’m convinced that Dess Holiday is the Roaring Knight. All the evidence seems to point to her, and I refuse to believe she doesn’t at least have some relation to the knight. While Toby Fox and the rest of his teamdevelop Chapter Five,I’m looking forward to seeing how he’ll confirm or deny this theory in the future story ofDeltarune.
