I think Ralsei is the manifestation of what Kris wanted to be. A brother to Asriel. This fits well with the horn headband since Kris got it because they kept asking when their horns would come in.

I honestly agree with this. You can see that ralsei has horns, except that they're red

Ralsei is the piece of chalk Susie ate at the beginning of the game.

Ralsei is the Heart Locket. We see that Kris has the knife, that implies Kris has the locket. The locket contains a promise: "Best Friends Forever", the real life version of the locket has a music box, and Ralsei sings. Ralsei has a heart shaped hole in the middle of his cloak, like the inside of the locket. The real life version of the locket has the Delta Rune on it, and Ralsei is obsessed with the Delta Rune prophecy, knowing it has a meaning other than the angel's power. Ralsei's scarf also mirrors the chain of the necklace that holds the locket. Surviving in all the dark worlds fits with Ralsei being something 'native' to Kris, if the Dark Worlds are all created by Kris. Ralsei represents the bond Kris had with Asriel, as embodied by the monster Kris wanted to be.

ralsei is actually the cell phone that kris always has. think about it. asriel is in college, kris could call asriel,ralsei is an anagram of asriel,and the cell phone is always on kris's person.

Whatever Ralsei is, he is almost certainly not just some random object. In chapter 2 he manages to get over to the library on his own, so whatever his lightworld form is, it can still move.

He is one of those little green tree air fresheners you find naturally spawning in vehicles across the world.

I think Ralsei is a goat simulator gift card(possibly a gift from Asriel) Kris forgot inside his pocket

I have another theory. Since ralsei's kingdom is a place where people from both other dark worlds can visit, and ralsei can visit other dark worlds, my guess is that he is somehow literally just from the dark world, with no real counterpart, and that his kingdom is somehow manifested by itself, rather than by real objects. I mean, Lancer turned into stone in the Cyber world, so why shouldn't the people from Cyber world turn to stone in Ralsei's kingdom?

I don't think he _has_ a physical counterpart, I think he's just made of pure darkness like his fountain, which would explain why he can traverse other dark worlds and why he disappears when downed in battle. As for his Dreemurr like form I think he intentionally took on that form because he knew it would mean something to Kris

Watch Ralsei just be the chalk that Kris and Susie were looking for.

i always think of ralsei as just being an entity of pure darkness like his fountain

Not all darkners are physical objects you can pick up though -- several darkners in chapter 2 are computer data: task manager, paint programs (swatch), popups and ad scripts. They exist in reality (as info encoded electrically or magnetically) but they're not really *objects* like playing cards, per se. My theory is that Ralsei is in Kris' head. Possibly in memories about Asriel. It makes sense of how Ralsei just turns up in chapter 2, and Ralsei seems to know a hell of a lot about Kris specifically (more than he does about, say, Susie)

i think its definitely the headband. in the game its explained darkners turn to stone when they dont "fit into" the dark world they are brought to. the headband is something kris wore all the time, which means they wore it EVERYWHERE. thus, ralsei would fit in anywhere, as the headband was worn constantly everywhere.

Some theories suggest that Ralsei is who Kris wants to be. Like Kris wants to be a monster so he can fit in with the others because in the acid tunnel, Ralsei mentions how Susie is mean but likes her for being herself, and also likes Kris for being themselves. When Kris tells Ralsei that they like Ralsei being himself. Ralsei tells Kris that no one has ever told him that, and tells Kris that he doesn't know what being "Ralsei-like" is like, meaning that Ralsei's behavior is not original, but rather someone else's.

Imagine after all this Toby just makes it a pair of glasses

One interesting theory I’ve heard is that Ralsei is an idea rather than an object, being possibly a product of Kris’s desires to see Asriel again, among other things. I mean, if Darkners can be made from nothing but data (like Spamton and many other Cyber World Darkners are implied to be) Ralsei being made from an idea/wish isn’t too far fetched, and would also explain things like how he’s compatible with other Dark Worlds or how he can appear in the Cyber World suddenly.

Ralsei is your best friend *_A S R I E L D R E E M U R R_*

My head cannon after reading the Paper Trail fan comic is that Ralsei is actually a diary page that Asriel wrote on a piece of junior jumble. It also displays an emotion of Asriel towards either the world or Kris that relates to one of the 7 souls from Undertale. (I.e., Ralsei wears green so he is meant to represent Asriel’s kindness.)

Maybe its a Kris toy that looks like Asriel that the school confiscated and forgot to return

that would also show why Ralsei is the way he is, feeling outcast at the beginning, despite being able to meet new people and knowing those people, since they already seemed to know who lancer was at the beginning. Kris wore the horns to feel more normal in the place they lived in, despite already being accepted.

hes Kris’ sweater. hes fluffy, like a sweater. hes comforting, like a sweater. his cloak is green, like Kris’ sweater. and Asriel probably had a similar sweater when he was a kid, which would be why Ralsei is so similar to him.

ralsei is actually a ball of fluff never swept up

I specifically remember a stuffed toy in the room you end up in after the dark fountain is removed, with the scarf Ralsei wears

I think it could be the drawing of Toriel in the classroom or maybe the town's collective memory of Asriel being nice.

Since Ralsei can travel worlds without us it means that : A) he is a sentient moving object in real life or maybe even a person. Some even suggested he became trapped in the dark world after the previous roaring but was previously a darkner. Or B) he is with Kris all along. I can't really tell what, I just know it can't be the soul because it's us and there is another soul in the dark worlds. Maybe a piece of cloth, maybe an inventory we don't know about. And since Kris' animosity towards Ralsei I guess they would have thrown it off if they knew what object he was Edit : wow, didn't imagine that this comment would get answers 4 months later

Plot Twist, Ralsei is secretly a Lightner.

Ralsei is different from other darkners in many ways. He's one of the biggest mysteries in the game. I think that Ralsei's original dark world is the castle town and that he is the only survivor of some sort of catastrophe that happened there.

a possibility is kris’ sweater! it could be a hand-me-down from asriel, that reminds kris of their older brother.

Fools, Ralsei is obviously Kris' copy of Goat Simulator for the Xbox, hence the green

These theories are very fun to think about!💚 My two personal favorites are that Ralsei is Kris's lost headband as you suggested, or that Ralsei does not have a light world counterpart and is made of pure darkness (I saw this theory in a comment from Issack21 on this video). I think both make sense considering what we know about Ralsei and the dark world right now. Ralsei being Kris's lost headband has a lot of strong narrative potential for Ralsei being a foil to Kris and a representation of who Kris wished they were as a kid: a sweet, polite monster that got along with everyone, just like their brother. It's very different from the mischievous, rebellious, and quiet human we hear from others when describing Kris, which adds more nuance to them overall. Maybe Kris accepts themselves more now, and Ralsei is an uncomfortable reminder of their past wishes to conform and please others? There's a lot of potential for interesting story beats :3 Meanwhile, the theory of Ralsei being made of pure darkness with no light world counterpart, and his kingdom kind of just manifesting on its own, is also very interesting to think about. It would explain why Ralsei does not turn to Stone in other dark worlds, how he can travel among them, why he knows so much about dark worlds, and why other darkners don't turn to stone in Castle Town. Overall, Ralsei being a darkner made of pure darkness with no lightworld counterpart ties more lore-related loose ends into a neat bow, but Ralsei being Kris's lost headband has more narrative potential for interesting character dynamics :3

Since he comes from the grand fountain, he probably doesn't change. If he did, then he wouldn't arive in the cyber world.

I always assumed Ralsei is something of a keepsake that once belonged to Asriel, something that Kris holds close to their side so as to never be alone in the darkest of times.

One thing we have to pay attention to is that not every object becomes a dark world being. Kris’s pencil becomes a sword so things like his red horns and knife would also probably become armor and weapons because every dark world being we’ve seen so far is more of a toy or other object that can’t be used as a weapon or clothing so I don’t think any kind of weapon like pencils kitchen tools clothing or dress up things would become a living dark world being

If ralsei was a object in the light world I think he would be a heart because of his kindness and innocence he's full of.

There’s a dark world at the university asriel is at, and Ralsei is asriel who got stuck in or stayed in that dark world to see Kris, let me cook.🧑‍🍳

Ralsei being the headband makes the most sense. His horns are a redish-pink, much like the red horns of the headband, he looks just like the Dreemurrs and seems to be stronger than most other Darkners, which matches with Kris's desire to be more like them. He seems to know a lot about Kris, from what his room in the Light world looks like to the player being in control. Ralsei is an anagram of Asriel, a name that is a combination of Asgore and Toriel. The headband could have been lost at the school. Also want to point out that he was working on stuff IN Castle Town overnight, while nobody else was in the Dark World. He can't be something Kris keeps with them all the time, otherwise he couldn't have been working on the town without them

I like to think Ralsei is actually represented by a real person, Kris's brother Asriel. or rather, Kris's version and desire to see Asriel.

No kris just has toothpaste stuck in his pocket. Thats why lancer calls him toothpaste boy

he could be a lightener that fell into the dark world and stayed there to "protect it"

My ‘joke’ theory is that Ralsei is just the embodiment of good memories, between Kris and Asriel.

What if: Ralsei is the town itself? The thing that struck odd to me is that he seems aware of the Lightner world and where certain things are in precise areas; something that no other Darkner had demonstrated.

For me i think he is asriel who has found a way to hang out with his little brother.

Ralsei is a lightener that has gone so insane and stayed in the dark world for so long she thinks she is a darkener.

Ralsei is Kris's fursona, plain and simple

I kinda flow with the AU of Papertrail so I think it’s something that formerly belonged to Asriel as there is an obvious play on names with Asriel and Ralsei.

Ralsei is an anagram of asriel

Ralsei belongs to the dark world being the prince and heir of that realm, which would explain why he can go from world to world by himself and without petrifying.

I do agree with the knife theory, mainly because we've only explicitly seen a Dark Fountain be opened with Kris's knife. Ralsei seems to go wherever Dark Fountains open up, so this would make sense.

I always headcanoned that Ralsei was what Kris wanted to be, his perfect self. So Ralsei is probably some form of Kris’s own *Spiritual* darkness, instead of some physical object, the yin to his yang. But there’s probably some kind of base physical object to base his appearance on, in which I believe to be the crayon.

the real ralsei is the friends we made along the way.

He's either the headband, the cellphone or the sweater

Since he's so fluffy and Kris gets a wardrobe change in the dark world, I like to believe that he's Kris's sweater :)

He is fluffy boy He needs to be nothing more.

Fun fact: Jevil is the joker card, can do anything, jester.

Ralsei is Kris's brother, who went missing and they just tell Kris he's in college.

The horn headband is actually a good theory. Kris wanted to be like their family, so we could say that Ralsei is what Kris wanted to be. That's why he knows a lot about Kris.

one of those squishy anti-stress balls, no other reason other than it fits

"Ralsei is Asriel's dust" -That one Gannondorf theorist

It would be a weird but funny twist if it was just some guy following you ever since Kris and Susie stumbled into his chalk closet.

Ralsei is Kris’s hidden fursuit from their furry phase

He's probably part of the dark world itself, being the prince of darkness.

I like to believe he’s just the dust in the supply closet

I think that he is a lightner. He is able to go to other dark worlds and has so much knowledge about everything

I saw a funny comic where Ralsei turned into the horns... and a trans pin. In the comic, Kris points out that they've been looking for those 🤣

ok but y'all can agree that ralsei is huggable as hell

Ralsei, Jevil, Spamton, Tasque Manager, and starwalker are all entities of the main fountain, so that’s why they’re all able to travel from dark world to dark world

i think ralsei is just kris’s memory of asriel because they want asriel to come back from college

There is always the chance, that Ralsei is just Asriel's corpse... I think those count as objects

I think Ralsei is Asriel putting on a persona to help Kris and Susie to save that world.

Simple, ralsei is actually memories of a long forgotten time passed with krises older brother

I heard interesting theory about what Ralsei is, and it was about how he's living symbol of the Hometown, that's why he can be literally anywhere in here, and also it explains why he's looking awfully like Asriel, since everyone in here talks about him and adores (this would explain Kris' Ralsei tea reaction too)

Ik I’m a bit late to this but I always thought ralsei was a lightner too, and so doesn’t have an object associated to him. Hear me out: asriel oc is Kris’s brother, and I assumed they would play together. So what if they created the dark world together like a dnd game, and ralsei was just asriel’s character (since it’s an anagram and everything) but since asriel left, ralsei is sort of replaced as an npc. Which is why he sort of serves as a tutoriel and can survive out of the dark world, also why he eerily knows the dark world is ‘imaginary’ (I mean how it’s created out of real life items, like it’s all just up to Kris and Susie’s imagination) for example when he breaks the illusion by specifically asking just Kris to get the items out of the abandoned classroom to bring all their friends to the castle (maybe he doesn’t want to break the illusion for Susie). Personally I can’t really see ralsei as a darkner, especially since he presumably looks very similar to asriel, like how Kris and Susie just change costume when they get to the dark world. Also maybe why Kris keeps hugging ralsei, because he reminds them of playing with asriel? Anyway that’s just how I picture it. It’s a bit of a long comment, especially since no one will see it😉.

I think Ralsei is the green crayon that Kris forgot was in their pocket

Ralsei is just Ralsei. He’s one of a kind.

The problem with all the theories saying that Ralsei is an object that is always with Kris is that when Kris leaves Castle Town to bring the chapter 1 darkners, Ralsei stays with Susie

Dear people... Ralsei can be in other dar world because he is from Pure Fountain, and Darkners MIGHT not belong to other worlds.

We'll just wait for another years to come just like what Sans Deltarune said in "his" convenience store.

I think it could be a chalk, because it teaches you how things work, mentions information, how a chalk would be used

I’ve had the theory that… Ralsei is like an Asriel imaginary friend for Kris. Which is why he’s self aware somewhat and knows the school. Also would explain the anagram for his name.

Ralsei being the horns seems to be a good explanation, but Toriel says Red horns, and Ralsei has Pink horns. This might just be a pointless observation, but who knows. Toby is so unpredictable, Ralsei could literally be a button on Kris' shirt.

I think the horn headband makes the most sense. Would lend itself to why Ralsei is so generally supportive of Kris and knows so much about them, explains why he’s specifically a goat boy since that’s what Kris was trying to emulate with those horns (trying to fit in with their foster family,) explains why he’s able to show up in other dark worlds so quickly, and we know Kris carries some stuff around that they won’t let the player interact with because of the knife. It *is* possible that he’s the knife though, to be honest, for many of the same reasons, plus it doesn’t require us to imagine Kris has a whole arsenal of stuff in their back pocket that we can never see

My theory is: Ralsei is a lightner that came long time ago

At this point it's obvious that Ralsei is an apparition of Asriel and a manifestation of how much Kris misses him, which is something that a lot of r34 artists don't seem to acknowledge

If you play a little with the letters you would find that ralsei and asriel have the same letters but in a different order.

No , Lancer is a bouncy little pumpkin...

His horns even look plastic. Ralsei is what Kris wanted to be as a kid. Kids draw themselves in their imagined forms quite often. So Kris would draw Ralsei. Ralsei wears a lot of green. So much so that the crayon would be worn away. Kris probably came up with the name too. The game suggests that Kris isn't fond of Ralsei, if the Ralsei tea is any indication. Kris probably recognizes Ralsei as their monster-sona and is disturbed by the implications. Or perhaps Kris doesn't recognize him entirely, just has the strangest feeling that they know him somehow.

There’s a very very high chance that it’s either Chris’s phone because it has Asriel number on it or it’s literally just asriel PC

Honestly, when i first saw Ralsei, the first thing i thought was a Christmas tree

Ralsai is an unaccounted for lightner.

I think Ralsei is much different from the others and doesn't have a physical object counterpart.My theory is that he is made of pure emotion and memory of Asriel.With Ralsei having the resemblance to Asriel and being the (probably)same age as Kris,he could be from Kris missing Asriel and the days when they were kids.Thats why he can go to other dark worlds freely with Kris and Susie and doesn't turn to stone for long periods of time unlike the others and has no object counterpart

Plot twist, Ralsei isn't actually a Darkner, he's a real person who's just never left the Dark World after discovering it

Ace of hearts It’s pretty simple he has a heart on his chest just like how Lancer has a spade on his chest to Lancer is an ace of spades

Unless he is a lightner. Maybe he is Asriel, who entered the dark world and never wanted to leave.

I know that this is a common theory, but Ralsei might actually be a lightner, considering he knew about the classroom and the junk, was the only living thing in the darkworld when Kris and Susie came back, and he walked all the way to the Cyber World by himself

I honestly do think Ralsei is the knife because i have a theory that he is the one who takes over Kris' body and opens up the fountains, creating another portal to the dark world. He says he's a "prince without subjects", and with the way he insists on befriending everyone in the dark world and the fact that he made rooms for Susie and Kris in his castle, I think he's trying to build his own kingdom to rule so he has friends and subjects to look after and care for because he's secretly lonely.

I think Ralsei’s the crayon. He’s got the kids drawing type of text sprite in chapter one, he takes his hat off (which looks like a crayon tip), and green is Asriel’s favorite colour.

well he somehow manages to go from the remains of the school closet to the Library

Ralsei's Asriel. I rest my case.

I honestly think Ralsei’s a lightner. He even might be a Dreemurr!