Enter the Giveaway! ► bit.ly/2u3bRlE Very recently the channel broke 100 video uploads. This may seem like a sort of insignificant thing, but for two years now I've been spending each week working on a video to share with the world. Often times these videos take 3 - 5 days to make and I've been doing this full time for a while now. Sometimes I'd get the video done at like 5:00 am just right before it needed to be uploaded... But every time it felt monumental. Fast forward two years and I can't believe I have done that over a hundred times. KZfaq has certainly been a wild ride, and I hope you'll stick with me to see where it takes me in my future. Thank you so much for your support over the years everyone!

What if what we THINK is the River Person is actually just a puppet, and the boat is the one giving advice...

I always thought they were the Annoying Dog in a cloak, standing on a pedestal.

* 3:03 * "Tra la la. The Angel Is Coming." * O_O

The thing that really got my attention was that the river person is never afraid of the player on the genocide run. You've killed dozens of people, but they still let you ride with them on the boat.

SwankyBox I agree with your theory, but I have a theory as well. "While monsters are mostly made of magic, human beings are mostly made of water. Humans, with their physical forms, are far stronger than us." This is written found in a book in Snowdin's Library, as well as "Love, hope, compassion... This is what people say monster SOULs are made of. But the absolute nature of "SOUL" is unknown. After all, humans have proven their SOULs don't need these things to exist." Now, since Monsters are made mostly of Magic they turn to DUST when they die, and when a Monster grows old, they enter a state reffered to as "fallen down" before they DUST, which is almost like entering a coma if you think about it...To have "Fallen Down" leaves a Monster immobile for a short while, before their body dissipates into Dust, this is almost similar to a coma because without certain machines, your bodily functions would slowly shut down. Now, once a Monster dies, their dust is often spread onto the owner's favorite thing in funerals, so their essence lives on in them. This is where the River Person comes in. What if, right before the RESETs ever started, the "River Person" as they are known, had been a Monster that had Fallen Down and died on their boat ALONE. Their Dust would have spread onto 3 things, their Cloak, the Boat they ride in, and into the River itself. Or perhaps they had died and Shyren and her Sister spread the River Person's Dust? Now, the River Person states that they LOVE to ride in their Boat, and remember how it is stated that a Monster's Dust is SPREAD onto the owner's FAVORITE THINGS, so that their ESSENCE LIVES ON IN THEM? What if, right before the RESETs, the River Person died, and as they went on to the other side, the world RESET, forcing them back to the world they had left? What if this soon became a CONSTANT tug-of-war between their SOUL (or EXISTANCE) and REALITY itself? Causing them, to SEE, to LEARN things they shouldn't? Eventually, they could've learned how to come back in a way, but be bound to the River...and with all they had learned, they could've forgotten who they were before...what they were; or what they saw, could of possibly forced them to forget, only leaving them with flashes of who they were before, and what they had learned while they were pulled in between realities. What do you think? I would love to hear what your opinion on my theory is...Thanks! ^_^

I love the riverperson. Sometimes I feel like them (riverwoman, in my case): Lost, wandering, watching the stars and hearing wonders from the flowers. But still I keep singing, tra la la. You rock, Swanky 💖

I like to think that they are a Fallen Human who lost their SOUL .

I just realised the boat is a wooden dog.

There is one other person that can see the current day of the week. Papyrus during his date with the protagonist. Makes me wonder.

The riverperson wears the same cloak as when we first see Ralsei / Asriel.... Coincidence? I think not!

“Several million more pairs of pants” could suggest they’re one of those characters that exist across all playthroughs and are aware of it like sans and flowie. Essentially, he needs a pair of pants for every time this game has been played through by someone.

I think that from their perspective STATS and timeline manipulation are the physics and biological facts of the universe, I doubt anyone in their world thinks it is just a game or even a simulation, just like how we think it is normal for space time to be bent by gravity, particles to exist and not exist in multiple places at the same time or your mind to be lost forever after death.

Have you ever explored how Papyrus knows about characters like these when most others don’t? It seems pretty interesting. I mean, Papyrus formed a Flowey fan club, and asked about the snowman and the river person. It makes me wonder how he knows about these people, even though nobody else does. He seems to at least think he’s friends with Flowey, which is pretty odd, considering the fact that pretty much nobody other than the player and Toriel interact with Flowey.

This video is making me contemplate my existence

We're all missing the obvious connection. Tra la la. Who else uses this phrase? That's right. Captain Underpants. Case closed.

River Person is my favorite character. X3 Here's my theory: The way how River Person knows about all this stuff is maybe because the River Person was in the war against humans and monsters. After the war the River Person got badly injured and the scars left wouldn't heal so the River Person put a piece of cloak around them. Later on maybe Asgore felt bad for the River Person and wanted to help. So Asgore made them the transport of the Underground. Since being the transport didn't involve a lot of moving then River Persons wounds wouldn't damage the soul. Maybe The River Person warns you about Gaster because River Person was in the underground when Gaster wasn't shattered across time and space. Gaster might of used River Person for experiments and that's why River Person warn us about Gaster so we wouldn't end up in a situation like River person did. River Person was maybe the formal captain of the royal guard before Undyne. Later when River Person got horribly injured Asgorre thought about hiring a new captain which was later on Undyne. The way I think the boat moves is that the boat can't turn. But hey that's just a theory. A GAME THEORY

*sans is selling tickets made out of toilet paper*

What if during genocide everybody was hiding in true lab and the monsters you were killing were robots with mics

Hey swanky might I suggest doing a collab with underlab the next time you do a undertale theory? Just something to consider and a suggestion from me.

First, it was Flowey, the remainings of the sad little prince of the Underground who suffered a terrible fate. We couldn't do anything but feel bad for him, despite his bad actions. Then, it was Chara, the demonic genderless child who scared most of us to death. But then, we learn what their true motives were and that they had good intentions. We couldn't do anthing but feel bad for them... After that, W.D. Gaster popped up, the former royal scientist who not only suffer a horrible death, but was also erased from existence. His story was truly sadder than Flowey's and Chara's... And now, we have the River Person... :( This game truly gets deeper and deeper. What's next, you're gonna tell me that Papyrus knows what I ate 5 years, 47 days, 6 hours, 7 minutes and 42 seconds ago?

Could the River Person perhaps be older than all the other meta characters within the time loop? By older, I mean that they could have probably experienced infinitely more time loops within the game world than all the other characters that also know that they are in a game?

Leaving games be behind makes you upset with yourself you don't want to let go but you do at the same time it's so confusing and I know I will never Stop Loving undertale I'm drawn to it like a magnet and it will just be so upsetting to let go another again this game was different to others it's hard to explain but I think I will love it for the rest of my life❤💙💚💛💜

I'm glad you did another undertale theory, I always love your theory's!

I would agree with this theory. But I'm also curious about one thing. When the river person said I am the river man, or am I the river women? It really doesn't matter. Maybe this could be a reference to frisk's gender, as it really doesn't matter. What do u guys think?

Why does Ralsie from Deltarune in the cloak at the beginning look like a young River Person?

I feel like river person is sans and papyrus mom

well THIS just summarized my entire existence

my God think dog backwards is god and the dog is a god oooooooohhhhhhhhh my doooooooog

so if the river person is genderless... then are they..... A GIRAFFE???!!!

I wish there would be Undertale 2 Where you can live in the surface trying to help humans and monster get along (which is like a pacifist run) Or keep reseting the world over and over (which is like the genocide run)

After playing Deltarune and Toby saying that he started out with the idea of Deltarune before Undertale, I got the idea that maybe the river person is the game-master. They help you along, drop hints, gets you where you need to go and isn't really interacting with the game world, except you to help the story along.

the river person is one of my favorite characters in the game!! they actually remind me of an old D&D character i made who was very "air headed" and said nonsensical things like this person does. there's a lightheartedness to the river person for me because of that but i also definitely feel a lot of sadness and loneliness coming from them as well. i think there's a lot more to this character than what we may ever see or figure out

My theory is that the river man is an other worldly being and is even older that asgore and gerson and Toriel

ok this video just made me rethink everything about undertale

The river person may make us sad, but you, you make us so happy beyond words that can define it. I love your channels and I love the content. You're so personable and thorough with everything, it's such a joy to watch. Congratulations on 100 videos!

I always thought (at least after I learned about the "Beware of the man who speaks in hands") they had a connection to Gaster in the past, maybe as a collegue or work partner, or even a lover. Judging by how they refer to Gaster though, they probably had a falling out before the scientist disappeared.

(Somewhere it's Thursday) it's Sunday.

I see a new video from Swanky, plus it's an Undertale mystery on top of that, I click as fast as I can. :) Thanks for covering this topic of the Riverman. :) Keep up the fun, man, and congrats on the 100 vids. :) God bless yours and you! :)

Now that Deltarune is out and everything I noticed that when he was playing the different things the river person said but one of them was the “The angel is coming.” And in Deltarune the so called villain or whatever they are is called The Angel.(Honestly I’m the wrong person to comment this considering that I’m tired and can’t really remember this stuff)

well i think the river person is gaster because if you look at gaster and then the riverman it kinda lines up in a way.

One time I play undertale all the week and the river person said me all the days of the week

When I hear song of the sea I think of under the sea from the little mermaid xD

I watched a lot of theories of Undertale, but this, this is the most original Theory, the Theory that almost no one was expecting, keep up the good work!

I don't mean to nit-pick the video, however sans references the snowman at the end of a neutral run, where if the snowman piece is carried throughout the game to the ending, sans calls stating that the character "made a snowman very happy today"

The Riverman is Genderless Speaks Similar like Frisk but with Riddles And knows about Gaster And is the ONLY monster that has "man" in their name He's a fucking human that's hiding from asgore

The River Person is Ness sar had to do it lol

I love your videos! They take me back to my favorite games, SM64, LoZ:OoT, LoZ:MM and more. Keep making the videos man, I love this!

Great theory! I've always questioned the river person. You mentioned the river person knowing it's Monday when it actually was in real life, but only Monday. I've actually played UT on a Thursday and they said something on the lines of, "Somewhere, it's Thursday" so it can't always be Monday.

He kind of sounds like Valarie. He literally says he's in a game and that nothing really matters.

what happened to onion san *and* river person after genocide?

I love this theory not because of what you said but because someone finally acknowledged the riverperson . For some reason the riverperson is my second favorite character in undertale (first is sans)

Just wanted to say that I love your videos so much, and have a great rest of your day.

The river person is loading screen tips personified.

I think the boat man is a Charon, a mythological creature that guides the souls of the dead using a boat, they even look similar, it’s also known as the ferryman of death

I started thinking this through while thinking up on the character for a fanfiction story, and I came to a similar conclusion. S/He knows. especially the part about the loop. Riverperson fascinates me really, I consider them a bit of a missing link, and definitely feels like they know more than most. Probably more than Flowey and Sans, who seem to sense things and carry those perceptions into a theoretical level (Gaster and [chara] are difficult to gauge). But I don't know if sadness is the feel I get from them. It's something else... like I said, a sort of missing link there.

Sandess Is gaster

Now with Deltarune, I believe that Riverman is Ralsei. Together with Papyrus and Sans, they scaped from that world somehow.

River person is my third favorite character, and I’m so glad to have an entire video dedicated to them!

Something like gaster's notes also mentions shyren as an interesting study prospect. Considering that the river person has potentially two quips that reference gaster (though "beware the man that speaks in hands may just be referencing handhead "lady") shyren must tie into this more.

Ralsei is the riverperson

What if the river man is an older ralsei? Just being stupid here but they do have the same cloak..

The hooded figure at shyren and frisk’s concert is indeedly most likely river person because 1one of their quotes / phrases is “ hum hum hum hum , I’m having a little concert”

My absolute favorite NPC in the game. So obsessed with them that I actually went to my first convention cosplayed as them.

Not to mention they look just like Ralsei wearing a cloak

Annoying dog on stilts in a cloak.

Riverperson being temmie and annoying dog kinda make sense actually, since both of them were based on actual person in real life that make them knew what's going on the real life and also know about the whole game secret.

leaving a game and finishing an anime is like saying goodbye to a pet or a friend or even a family member i would cry and then smile and think about the good times i played on it and arhghhg im so emotional

So how about so sorry and setting in the clock?

0:16 - 0:18 Oh God please no. no. No. NOOOOOOOO

I love your Undertale theorys!

Gaster, Chara, and Flowey know that they are in a game, but where weren't able to figure out the actual mechanics of their Existence. All three tried to hopefully get as powerful as they possibly could to hopefully break both their Jail, and their Purposes, but only one of the three I menshioned actually broke it successfully, only to realize that even though they broke the Vary fabric of existence itself they still couldn't escape from the game. Gaster Failed in trying to gain enuff power to break the game that he lives in, but what he did do was go beyond where he was supposed to be in the game files while disbursing himself throughout the games Code. Essentially making himself a glitch, an unused peice of Code that can't do anything, except look inward on the world while he realizes that no matter what we do we'll all be trapped for all eternity, if not delete entirely. We all hear that Gaster fell into his creation which led him to a place called "The Void". But what if I told you that "The Void" is nothing more then all of the loose bits of Code the Undertale doesn't use. What if I told you that the River person's Farey boat along with the river it's on is the between of the Overworld, and all of those loose bits of Code including Gaster. What if I told you that both Sans & Paparus aren't even natural parts of Undertale, but that they are Viruses. I mean both Sans & Paparus are shown to know that Time-Travel / Teleportation exist in Undertale. We see the "Annoying Dog" stop Paparus from using his most powerful attack, by stealing it as if he's stoping something that normally characters shouldn't be able to do. The "Annoying Dog" does the same thing when the player is trying to get an Item they shouldn't get.

He's faster ( megatale reference) I believe dat

Hmmmm maybe gaster is the river man he or it say something about gaster could it be!?!?!

I can image the river person in the backround of shyren fight, eating popcorn and watching the commotion

" because she is a shy siren " how did i not know that

its Ralsei

the river person looks so much like ralsei from delta rune

now that it's been 5 years, and I must say this now as the frame of time will pass before I know it now that we've had 5 years of undertale, the game has been around for an entire 3rd of my life.

You wanna know why people like you channel? That's because they, like me, can see that you know the most important thing of a game: learning. You take games from their digital world and blend them in real life, and then you learn from this. You acquire life experience, you become wiser. It's an intelectual exercise. It makes you grow. In my opinion, that's the most beautiful thing a game can do to a person, and that's what you do. That's why your channel is great. Keep going :)

I always thought it was Ralsei

i know another sentence from the riverperson that refers to W.D Gaster: "Beware the man who came from the other world" so creepy -~-

River Person: What is my purpose? Toby: You exist solely as quick travel within a video game. River Person: Oh my god.

oh funny thing about the river person first line I get from them when taking the boat to snowdin "beware the man who speaks in hands" this also happened on the same playthrough that chucked the wrong number song at me this is ALSO my first and so far only _full_ playthrough.

Watching this post-DELTARUNE, the Riverman/woman reminds of Jevil. Perhaps they gained their knowledge in a similar way? Seam says this about Jevil: "He started saying bizarre things that didn't completely make sense - But didn't completely not make sense, either." That sounds like a description of the Riverman/woman too, doesn't it?

“It’s hard to believe that this game came out two years ago” Me: It’s hard to believe that this video came out three years ago

He sometimes says: The angel is coming soon.

This game always hits me with the feels.

Amazing video and theory!

Before you were talking about the river styx, I was just thinking about that

‘It’s shocking that this game came out more then two years ago.’ .. 6 years, now with deltarune.

my theory: toby fox literally just made this game for the sole reason to mess with theorists. (also the river person is almost definitely an annoying dog)

Wow.. I might just have a new addition to my list of favorite characters.

honestly this is good I only get evidence from comics like one of them had the river woman as a mutated bunny that had been combined with other mosters she said w.d faster did it.

Actually the stats are physical things in the game they are not mechanics so CHARA would not know about UNDERTALE being a game just the universe they exist in so the only ones that might know are GASTER , sans ( unlikely) and the ANNOYING DOG

Older video game characters: casually aware they are in a video game, and even cheerfully help the player how to play the game. New video game characters: Goes insane and tells the player its pointless

My theory is that Riverman is stuck in another timeline because Riverman is one of the only characters who does not comment on the barrier being opened when you take a walk saying goodbye to people in the pacifist ending. Maybe he is from gaster's timeline?

4:56..could be sans being sans the creeper his coat still has a hood but meh, as for Riverperson all you need to know... Heed their warnings and just remember, they are a Judge (according to sources) fun vid thanks for sharing

Well now I do feel sad. There are so many characters who suffer from low self esteem in this game, makes you really think about the creators. And honestly when I saw Deltarune for the first time I thought that (Ralsie) was the river person in a different multiverse, Maybe they still are....

I think the River Person is also Toby Fox. It could be dog underneath that cloak which could explain the dog boat. also if it is Toby then he can trenscend anything in the game (be here there and everywhere so they are not always trapped on the boat and reason they know so many tips. Helping the protag so they can further advance not just in the game's story but locations too, because no one wants to see a protag succeed more in a game than the creator).