(Now a Random Blog? Post for an Archive deep, deep within the Depths of Brainrot)
By Brix Braxium
Rouxls Kaard.
A very, uh, interesting character in Deltarune that’s played as a joke.
A Gag. A funny.
But what If I told you that Rouxls Kaard is important?
More important than we would ever fathom.
Have I already lost you? GOOD!
Allow me to present my argument:
I believe it is quite possible that Rouxls Kaard, Duke of Puzzles, will be the final Secret Boss of Deltarune.
In this blog…post? Thing? I have no clue what this is. In this document, I am going to go over why I believe this to be not only theoretically conceivable, but likely.
Let us begin by analyzing whether Rouxls meets the requirements we currently suspect SBs to have;
Allow us to quickly see if Rouxls meets the requirements for being a SB from what we know:
- He is an object discarded on a societal level; the Rules Card.
- He has a speech quirk (Ye Olde English)
- Has conceivable ties to Freedom / Irrelevant Choices (Will get to this later)
- Has immense potential power (Will get to this later)
- Has a Voice Clip (“HEY!” in It’s Pronounced ‘Rules’)
- Has a Dialog Portrait, but not a talksound. The other SBs are the inverse of this.
(I’m well aware that Rouxls does have unused talksounds; perhaps they went unused for this reason? Or maybe this isn’t really a rule.)
It would appear his qualifications are in order.
So, our next question is whether Rouxls actually has the capacity to pose a legitimate threat to the point of being a Secret Boss.
And in my eyes, the answer to this is a resounding Yes. Absolutely.
In fact, I actually think that Rouxls Kaard is the most powerful darkner we’ve met yet; he just hasn’t realized it.
No, I’m not joking.
For starters, while the game plays this off as a joke, he can teleport, a power only held by himself, Jevil, and Sans.
Lancer *kind of* does in the bake sale cutscene, but it’s just for the visual gag- it’s more like, cartoon logic. Compare to Jevil and Sans where their teleportation is a more specific “This is a thing they can do” power.
Rouxls definitely falls into the latter category, warping in front of us multiple times across the game.
Additionally, Rouxls repeatedly claims to have some ‘True POwer’, which he tries to use on us before he gets Statue’d. While Rouxls might be a bit silly, and tends to overstate his achievements, I really doubt he’d bluff this hard unless he had…something.
Furthermore, if you do attempt to beat Rouxls Kaard with violence in chapter 2, he just…denies your victory?
Again, this is played as a joke, but he literally is just like, “I suppose you think you’ve won?” to which Ralsei agrees which prompts Rouxls to claim that he’s going to win anyway because of his REALE POWER…before getting statue’d.
But just because he can teleport and claims to have a ‘true power’ doesn’t mean he’s all powerful, does it?
Oh, yes it does. Think about this;
Rouxls Kaard is the Rules Card.
The Rules Card dictates how the game is played.
And in the Dark World; a world that is, effectively, in some sense, a game; with an actual, diegetic battle engine (See: Noelle’s Dialog about it) and multiple other things I won’t get into; the ability to define the rules on the spot is effectively control over reality itself. At least, in the Dark World.
What is a game if not just a set of rules?
We kind of even see him do this in Chapter 2, where he’s able to implement a House Territory minigame into battle.
But I think his potential limit with this power is well beyond what we’ve actually seen him do; and I don’t think he himself realizes his near unlimited potential.
Also, I'm aware that Toby mentioned a Rouxls Fight was planned for Ch1 but that it was cut because it seemed like Rouxls was the type to go down in one hit. ...But that's not exactly the case.
Note that he says that it "Felt like if he had a song like this, you'd actually be able to defeat him in one hit". Not that Rouxls is weak; but that if this were his battle theme, it wouldn't make sense unless it was a joke.
TLDR; Toby didn't say Rouxls was too weak, he said that an epic battle theme wouldn't fit him unless it was for a joke.
So, Rouxls has great power- or at least great potential. But what about ties to freedom? Does Rouxls even have ties to freedom?
This brings us to Part 3.
In my eyes, every Secret Boss is an answer to one very simple question:
“How should you behave in a world where your choices don’t matter?”
Lets take a look at the SBs we have now to see what I’m getting at:
Jevil’s whole philosophy is that Nothing Matters, therefore his Actions Do Not Have Consequences, therefore he should do whatever he wants.
His response, ultimately, is Hedonism; the pursuit of your own happiness above anything else.
He can “do anything” both in the sense that he’s a wildcard (As the Joker) but also in the sense that Morality as a whole no longer really applies to him. He can do anything he wants, and it won’t actually matter.
He sees the world as a metaphorical game, with everyone as it’s participants, and seems well aware that The Roaring Is Coming, Dumbass,
According to Seam, the things he said didn’t make sense, but didn’t not make sense; and they have lead Seam to believe their actions are futile.
In general, Jevil believes that nothing matters and that he should just do whatever he wants.
Spamton’s whole philosophy is kind of the other way around.
Spamton’s response is Rebellion. He wants to fight back against this dark truth.
He sees the fact that his choices are irrelevant as some dark truth to overcome.
His entire character is based around [[Breaking the System]] and becoming exempt from this truth.
He believes firmly that [[Power]] will be enough to do this, and is very aware of your actions in the Weird Route being significant in regards to freedom.
Once it’s clear that pure power in the [[Neo]] form isn’t enough, he switches gears and attempts to take Kris’ SOUL to become truly free and call his own shots, which doesn’t end up working for him.
In general, Spamton heavily believes that he has to break past the ‘[Silly Strings]’ that keep his actions from mattering.
Well, personally, taking everything about Rouxls into account, I think there’s a quite clear unique response Rouxls would have to this truth.
…Denial. Denial that this truth is even real.
Rouxls is a character DEFINED by his Ego. He believes himself to be a higher class than everyone else, even speaking in Old English in an attempt to appear smarter or more sophisticated, and he believes himself to be quite relevant to the story at hand; claiming that the tale will be told as ‘The Tale Of Rouxls Kaard and the Three Heroes”. While he’s probably just being silly, I think it’s a good idea of how important Rouxls carries himself.
Note that this would be a very different response than Spamton; Spamton believes this truth fully, and wants to fight against it; I believe that Rouxls would simply deny that the problem exists.
If you walked up to Rouxls Kaard and tried to educate him on the irrelevance of his actions in the greater picture of the world, he would just laugh at you.
So Rouxls has an interesting take on the freedom question.
We’ve compiled my thoughts up until now, so allow me to tell you the tale of Rouxls Kaard and the Three Heroes.
At some point, while away from the Delta Warriors, Rouxls Kaard will be contacted by a strange someone, who will attempt to tell him the truths of this world.
He will, as we just went over, simply deny that these truths are real; who is this random stranger to tell him he doesn’t matter?
But then…
Then, he’ll fight the Delta Warriors. Again.
And he’ll lose, again.
And again.
And again.
His demeanor and perspective of the truth he was told will begin to crack.
Clearly, these truths cannot be real; he has to matter. He has to, he’s Rouxls Kaard, the royal Duke of Puzzles. So he tries even harder to win, to prove that he can make a difference.
And he’ll lose, again.
And again.
And again.
And now, he’s lost 7 different times. It seems that no matter what he does, no matter what plan, no matter how well thought out it was, it just doesn’t matter. He cannot beat the Delta Warriors, and the strange someone was correct.
For a moment… consider what position Rouxls would be in.
Rouxls Kaard, at the lowest point of his existence, forced to contend with hte dissonance of nothing mattering. His persona; his entire sense of self; it no longer makes SENSE.
I predict that he’ll lock himself away or something in suffering,
And then, at perhaps his lowest point, something happens. Something that’s been set up, right in front of us this whole time.
Ponder, for a moment, who Rouxls could have known, who could give him a newfound perspective, perspective that could give him the power he might need to change things, someone who’s words are known to stick with you.
That’s right.
J E V I L.
Rouxls specifically notes in his shop dialog that he likes to take long walks in the dungeon. And no, this does not refer to the long hallway of a basement that we got locked in in chapter 1; That’s just the Prison, as stated in a sign. It used to just be a Basement with Cages.
A “Dungeon”, by definition, is a ‘strong underground prison cell, especially in a castle’. A cell, singular. And there’s only one place in Card Castle that fits that description.
This might also be why Jevil’s area is labeled as ??????- Calling it ‘The Dungeon’ would make this too obvious.
We also know, explicitly, from Seam, that Jevil’s words stick to you, as that while they don’t necessarily make sense, they don’t not make sense.
I argue that in this moment, at the lowest point of his existence, the things Jevil said finally click in Rouxls’ head. He gets it now.
And now, he can see what Jevil was talking about, and he can see how the World he lives in is just a game.
And what is he? The Definer of Rules.
And now, after everything, he finally sees his true potential, comprehending his ultimate, true power.
Imagine a battle against Rouxls Kaard, where he’s constantly changing what the rules of the fight is, and is adding gimmicks left and right.
Imagine having to effectively ACT on Rouxls to whittle his Mercy/TIREDness down all the while having to keep track of something like 5 times more complicated than the House minigame; and if you lose the minigame, you just outright lose the fight.
Or, alternatively, Rouxls just uses Orange and Blue attacks extensively; since those attacks have special ‘Rules’ that must be followed.
It all seems quite fitting to me as the final secret boss fight; the ultimate blend of chaos and insanity.
And then, ultimately, he will be defeated.
And Rouxls will just break.
If power over his own reality itself isn’t enough to change things and finally beat the Delta Warriors…then nothing ever will be.
I believe, at this point, Ralsei will be able to offer insight.
You see, ‘Fixing’ someone who believes that their lack of a big picture impact means they can do anything they want, or that they have to do everything in their power to actually matter- that’s not something you can really do easily. Especially if you don’t know the person.
But Rouxls? Ralsei and Rouxls are at least acquainted, and would have known each other for the entire adventure. And “Fix”ing someone that just doesn’t see the point of existing if nothing matters… Well, that you can actually do.
I believe that Ralsei will help Rouxls by getting him to see that even if his actions ultimately are irrelevant on a grand scale, the emotional connections he makes with others- like Lancer- still matter, and his actions do still matter in other ways.
And, with that, Rouxls can actually recover and accept the nature of his world. Not in the same way Jevil does, but just… genuinely come to terms with it.
Perhaps, the equipment Rouxls gives us is not a transformation, but rather just a genuine gift; signifying how he’s different from the other SBs, and concluding the Secret Boss “Arc”.
How should you behave in a world where your choices don’t matter?
You shouldn’t act any differently. Your experiences and emotional bonds will still matter to you, no matter what. At least, that’s what I think Deltarune will propose as the answer.