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Why I agree with Undertale's sense of justice
Undertale is a game that's polarizing. Often it's called out for double standards against the player in comparison to the monsters. Except... not really.
Yes, most monsters try to kill you and killing in self-defense is frowned upon and gives you a bad ending. (Though Pacifist will make the monsters see you as a heroic savior, even racists like Undyne.)
HOWEVER! If you only kill in self-defense, you do NOT face any serious consequences. You can just reset and do a pacifist. And the only two characters you get an extra scolding for killing are Toriel and Papyrus, who are the least evil monsters in the game and actually try to not kill you.
In fact, if only Asgore dies, Undyne, who is biased in his favor, will not blame you for the king's death.
Only in a Genocide Route, where you aren't defending yourself, but actively, maliciously murdering helpless monsters for sick pleasure, does the game truly punish you, first by showing the aforementioned Undyne be a true hero for wanting to stop you, then by Flowey making your path easier (and are you proud to be allies with such an asshole?), then by Sans forgetting his laziness and humiliating you as a boss and finally with an ending so horrible you have bad consequences even AFTER you reset. Then it's really your fault and you were the villain.
Now to the treatment of monsters in the game. Again, the ones you will pay the price for killing are Toriel and Papyrus, who really don't deserve it.
When a monster acts more evil than you, the game will defend you instead. The Mad Dummy wants any excuse to hurt you? Napstablook helps you against it. You are in True Pacifist and face Asgore? Toriel will kick his ass and call him out for fighting you. In fact, she left Asgore because he declared hostility to humans with an ineffective policy. Save the Monster Kid while chased by Undyne and the kid will root for you. Gerson will root for you in a pacifist route, but against you in a Genocide one. The monsters can ditch Jerry to make your life easier.
Oh, and Asgore, due to being responsible for the hostility to humans, has the least plot armor out of everyone, but because of his hidden heart of gold, he can get a happy ending and monsters love him.
And now we get to Flowey, the only true villain not associated with you.
He is far from a Karma Houdini. When he ambushes you and tries to murder you, Toriel sends him flying with a fireball and takes care of you.
In your first Neutral run, Flowey is the final boss and absorbs the six human souls. You can fight him and beat him up. Furthermore, the souls will rebel against him and help you instead. And again, this is not a pacifist run, Flowey is still treated as worse than you. Then you can kill him, where he fucking dies of course, or spare him and shit on his ideals. And he knows you shat on his ideals.
In fact, he is humiliated so badly he refuses to fight you again in subsequent playthroughs.
In Genocide, he encourages you to murder people, but you get to kill him so brutally you will feel sorry for him, as you have become worse by this point.
And then comes the True Pacifist route. For starters, Flowey tries to defeat you, but all your friends, even Asgore, defend you from him. Then Flowey turns into Asriel and becomes extremely strong, but karma is so much in your favor the game will not let you lose the fight. After you save everyone, you do get to redeem Asriel, who starts feeling increasingly guilty.
After he is fully redeemed, he still faces consequences. He can never truly forgive himself and sacrifices all of his power to free everyone else. He becomes a soulless flower again, just without his malice this time, and is doomed to be like that forever. He is not a Karma Houdini, he is actually very pitful and can never truly have a happy ending.
So, I think the game treats you the way it treats the monsters, fairly.
Yes, most monsters try to kill you and killing in self-defense is frowned upon and gives you a bad ending. (Though Pacifist will make the monsters see you as a heroic savior, even racists like Undyne.)
HOWEVER! If you only kill in self-defense, you do NOT face any serious consequences. You can just reset and do a pacifist. And the only two characters you get an extra scolding for killing are Toriel and Papyrus, who are the least evil monsters in the game and actually try to not kill you.
In fact, if only Asgore dies, Undyne, who is biased in his favor, will not blame you for the king's death.
Only in a Genocide Route, where you aren't defending yourself, but actively, maliciously murdering helpless monsters for sick pleasure, does the game truly punish you, first by showing the aforementioned Undyne be a true hero for wanting to stop you, then by Flowey making your path easier (and are you proud to be allies with such an asshole?), then by Sans forgetting his laziness and humiliating you as a boss and finally with an ending so horrible you have bad consequences even AFTER you reset. Then it's really your fault and you were the villain.
Now to the treatment of monsters in the game. Again, the ones you will pay the price for killing are Toriel and Papyrus, who really don't deserve it.
When a monster acts more evil than you, the game will defend you instead. The Mad Dummy wants any excuse to hurt you? Napstablook helps you against it. You are in True Pacifist and face Asgore? Toriel will kick his ass and call him out for fighting you. In fact, she left Asgore because he declared hostility to humans with an ineffective policy. Save the Monster Kid while chased by Undyne and the kid will root for you. Gerson will root for you in a pacifist route, but against you in a Genocide one. The monsters can ditch Jerry to make your life easier.
Oh, and Asgore, due to being responsible for the hostility to humans, has the least plot armor out of everyone, but because of his hidden heart of gold, he can get a happy ending and monsters love him.
And now we get to Flowey, the only true villain not associated with you.
He is far from a Karma Houdini. When he ambushes you and tries to murder you, Toriel sends him flying with a fireball and takes care of you.
In your first Neutral run, Flowey is the final boss and absorbs the six human souls. You can fight him and beat him up. Furthermore, the souls will rebel against him and help you instead. And again, this is not a pacifist run, Flowey is still treated as worse than you. Then you can kill him, where he fucking dies of course, or spare him and shit on his ideals. And he knows you shat on his ideals.
In fact, he is humiliated so badly he refuses to fight you again in subsequent playthroughs.
In Genocide, he encourages you to murder people, but you get to kill him so brutally you will feel sorry for him, as you have become worse by this point.
And then comes the True Pacifist route. For starters, Flowey tries to defeat you, but all your friends, even Asgore, defend you from him. Then Flowey turns into Asriel and becomes extremely strong, but karma is so much in your favor the game will not let you lose the fight. After you save everyone, you do get to redeem Asriel, who starts feeling increasingly guilty.
After he is fully redeemed, he still faces consequences. He can never truly forgive himself and sacrifices all of his power to free everyone else. He becomes a soulless flower again, just without his malice this time, and is doomed to be like that forever. He is not a Karma Houdini, he is actually very pitful and can never truly have a happy ending.
So, I think the game treats you the way it treats the monsters, fairly.