Martlet
Martlet is the deuteragonist of Undertale Yellow, the boss of Snowdin, and the final boss of the Genocide Route. She is a member of the Underground Royal Guard.
Profile[edit | edit source]
Appearance[edit | edit source]
Martlet is a blue anthropomorphic bird-like monster with two wings used as arms. She wears two brown boots over her feet with a cotton trim. She has a mop of hair on top of her head with outsticking parts and a feather-like tuft near the back. She wears a greyish blue sleeveless shirt and dark blue pants.
When Martlet transforms with her serum, her eyes turn a glowing yellow, and her hair, wings, and legs become longer. Her hair drapes down more and is more wavy. She sports a breastplate with a heart design in the middle and shoulder pads fitted into the suit pointing up. Her boots disappear from her original design, with talons replacing them. Martlet's hair is also more elegantly displayed, with the outsticking motif from her original hair style being accentuated.
Personality[edit | edit source]
In February 2019, a comic was made about her, depicting her running late to work and falling asleep when trying to be productive. In the game, Martlet is shown to be, as the game states, scatterbrained. Martlet seems to struggle with concentrating on her duties and often relies on a manual or lists so she can know what she has to do. Her laziness is also hinted at in the game with a note on Information booth that tells passerby to wake her up if she dozes off on the job.
While she seems a bit naïve on the surface, what Martlet makes up for in her disorganized workflow is her strong morale. As shown in the Genocide Route, Martlet has a strong sense of justice, and is more serious compared to her Pacifist counterpart. She even runs away from her initial battle via a tactical retreat, and monitors Clover for most of the game. She will go to great lengths to put a stop to anyone trying to harm monsterkind, including injecting herself with a fabricated serum, just so she can have the power to put an end to Clover’s killing spree, no matter the cost.
Main Story[edit | edit source]
Neutral Route[edit | edit source]
Snowdin Encounter[edit | edit source]
Martlet is first introduced in Snowdin when she is recalibrating a lava ball puzzle, and again propping up a sign next to the swinging bridge puzzle. After going through some of her puzzles, Clover officially encounters her when she is pretending to be an information kiosk. This doesn't last long, as she soon reveals herself to be a member of the Royal Guard. She correctly guesses that Clover is a human and engages in combat.
Wild East Encounter[edit | edit source]
Apt. Complex Roof Encounter[edit | edit source]
Mail Whale hands Clover an urgent letter from Martlet when they're leaving Steamworks, which tells them to meet her on the roof of UG Apartments. When they get there, Martlet explains that she can't let them go to Asgore Dreemurr since he will kill them. Martlet asks Clover to reconsider and offers them to live with her, but before they could, Flowey impales and kills her with a vine. Martlet dies while blaming Clover.
If the player aborted a Genocide Route before finishing Steamworks, the dialogue is changed. Martlet feels like she can still sense good in Clover, despite feeling proven right that humans are the enemy, and despite contemplating the plan of using her syringe. She questions her own judgement, and says that even if Clover shoots her now, they will never get past Asgore. She then pleads with Clover to put an end to the death, and come live a "happy, violence-free childhood" by staying with her. Flowey kills her nevertheless.
Pacifist[edit | edit source]
Snowdin Encounter[edit | edit source]
Martlet becomes confused when Clover does not attack first and tries to understand by reading her Royal Guard guidebook. When Clover still does not attack, Martlet loses the urge to fight and instead pushes Clover to insult her. When Clover finally does, Martlet tells them she is very close to losing her job and that another misstep will get her fired. With this in mind, Martlet suggests hiding Clover to not lose her position and to get Clover home. She escorts them to the U.G Aviator and joins Clover down the ride through Waterfall. Shortly, however, Martlet and Clover are separated after the U.G Aviator crashes.
Wild East[edit | edit source]
Upon arriving at the Wild East, Clover and Martlet will be confronted by the Feisty Five. While Clover is taken in for deputy training, Martlet spends the entire chapter located in the town’s jail due to them not believing her to be a Royal Guard. Once Starlo is bested and talked down, Martlet heads back to Snowdin to not be late. After successfully traversing the Steamworks, Clover is taken back to the Wild East while Starlo pursues Ceroba. Martlet is then informed by Moray of the Feisty Four in order to aid Clover in investigating Ceroba's home, and upon discovering Chujin's recordings, instructs Clover to meet her on the roof of the UG Apartments Complex. From here, both of them leave to pursue Ceroba and Starlo to New Home.
Apartment Complex → New Home[edit | edit source]
Clover and Martlet both take the elevator up to New Home, where they both discover Ceroba and Starlo standing on a balcony, arguing over the morality of Ceroba's quest. After listening in to their conversation, Martlet and Clover interfered their argument to aid Starlo in driving Ceroba of her quest. Ceroba knocks out both Martlet and Starlo before engaging Clover in a final showdown. Both do not recover until the fight ends.
If Ceroba is spared after the fight, Martlet and Starlo attempt to find a new alternative to Clover offering their SOUL to them, but could not overrule Clover's decision, and respect their wishes. She is seen in the end credits giving corn to Dalv at his new house. Later, at Waterfall, she reveals to have put her two week notice for the Royal Guard before placing Clover’s Hat in the U.G Aviator. Dalv, Starlo and Ceroba join her, and they all say their last goodbyes to Clover.
If Ceroba is killed, Martlet tries to cheer Clover up after Starlo's departure, and continues with them to Asgore. She attempts to convince him to let Clover go back to the surface, before reluctantly leaving the room at Clover’s request.
Genocide[edit | edit source]
Snowdin Encounter[edit | edit source]
When first encountering Clover in Snowdin, Martlet shows concern about them being left behind. After offering to help Clover catch up with the others, a battle begins the two. Although not wanting to fight at first, thinking they're just scared due to the current looming threat, after being attacked 3 times she realizes that Clover is the reason behind the Evacuations, which causes her to begin attacking. Upon reaching low HP, Martlet stops the fight, asking Clover to lower their weapon before warning them about the consequences of their actions if they continue killing and flies away.
Wild East Encounter[edit | edit source]
Martlet and Clover run into each other on the path to the right of the playground. Here, she tries to reason with Clover, before they step forward, cutting her off. She then warns them about how the Royal Guard searching for them and how she thinks Clover can still fix things. Clover pulls their gun out, so she warns them about how they won't get away with what they've done before flying away.
Apt. Complex Roof Encounter[edit | edit source]
Martlet can be seen staring at the core, before turning to face Clover. After being brought into battle, she monologues about how she wanted to believe humans were good, sharing her regrets about not trying harder to stop Clover but how she knew the chance of her succeeding was slim. She then pulls out a syringe (implied to contain either determination or some of the leftover Blue SOUL extract from Chujin), telling Clover that they should've finished her when they had the chance before injecting it into her left wing. The effects cause her to collapse and fall down[1], however, like the Amalgamates in Undertale, she stays awake because of determination. Soon, her body begins transforming. Her old wings erupt into much larger, galaxy textured wings, and her legs develop into large, sharp talons. She flies into the air, out of frame, before slowly gliding back into frame, revealing a metal chest piece that can only be damaged by the SOUL blaster. She lets out a battle cry, and begins fighting.
After her chest piece's health is depleted, she falls to the ground before the screen fades to white and the chest piece can be heard shattering. A flashback then ensues, showing her telling Chujin about how she got a job as a Royal Guard, posted near Hotland. Shortly after, it cuts to a conversation between Alphys and Martlet, before another cut to Martlet standing infront of the true lab door. It fades to black as she enters the true lab, muttering "Humans are dangerous..." as the flashback ends.
Martlet re-emerges with another stance using both her wings as fists as she prepares to fight once more. As her health depletes, her body's integrity begins to waver, and cracks form in the starry grid behind her. When Martlet loses all of her health, she asks Clover how many it'd take for them to be satisfied, calling them an unjust maniac. She attempts to say something else, beginning with "I hope you-" but is cut short when she starts losing color and melts rapidly. She desperately pleads for help, to no avail, and eventually fully disintegrates, levelling Clover up to LV 20.
In Battle[edit | edit source]
- Main article: Martlet/In Battle
Gallery[edit | edit source]
Sprites[edit | edit source]
Martlet's running animation.
Martlet waking up at her station.
Martlet retrieving her Royal Guard manual.
Martlet taking flight.
Martlet bumping fists with Clover.
Martlet, Starlo, and Ceroba all hugging Clover.
Clover giving Martlet their hat in the True Pacifist ending.
Martlet and Dalv shaking hands after the Pacifist route.
Martlet sharing a drink with Chujin in a flashback.
Martlet initiating the start of her boss fight in the Genocide Route.
Martlet flying during her boss fight in the Neutral and True Pacifist Routes.
Martlet flying during her boss fight in the Genocide Route.
Martlet melting after her HP goes below 80% in the second phase of her final battle.
Martlet melting after her HP goes below 60% in the second phase of her final battle.
Martlet melting after her HP goes below 40% in the second phase of her final battle.
Martlet melting after her HP goes below 20% in the second phase of her final battle.
Artwork[edit | edit source]
Official artwork of Martlet from the Game Jolt page drawn by Emmalume.
The official artwork of Martlet, alongside some of her sprites.
Artwork for Martlet's Genocide Route battle in Snowdin, drawn by AeroArtwork.
Concept art of Zenith Martlet in the genocide route by AeroArtwork.
Concept art of Martlet by NeroSenseiUT.
More concept art of Martlet and her Zenith form by NeroSenseiUT.
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- A martlet is a mythical footless bird that never roosts throughout its entire life, continuously flying until death. In English heraldry, it is an allegory for continuous effort.
- Martlet is one of the final bosses along with Ceroba and Flowey.
- She is the final boss of the Genocide Route.
- Martlet was revealed on December 26th, 2016 in an Undertale Yellow Twitter post, and her art was created by Emmalume_, who does not have a Twitter account anymore.
- Her Neutral and Pacifist Route battle theme, Protocol, was revealed on April 15, 2019, and her Genocide Route battle theme, Apprehension, was revealed on November 18, 2021, with much more intense and has added guitars. The title of the Genocide track also presents a possible double meaning - “apprehension” can mean the same thing as “arrest” (ironically not what she is doing, as she is acting out of a last resort instead), but also suggests she naturally has immense anxiety from the fight.
- Martlet made a cameo in an Undertale mod, known as Undertale: Bits And Pieces, where she appears beside on a outpost near Papyrus's puzzles areas. She is a member of the Royal Guard in this mod, whereas in Undertale Yellow, she ultimately leaves the group at some point.
- When she dies in the Neutral Route, she turns into dust from the bottom up, which is odd because in almost every other case it is from the top to bottom.
- This detail is shared with Starlo in the Genocide Route, where he turns to dust from the bottom up as well.
- This might imply that monsters who die in the overworld always turn to dust this way, as opposite to monsters who die in battles.
- This may be a reference to mythical martlets, which lack feet as explained above.
- This detail is shared with Starlo in the Genocide Route, where he turns to dust from the bottom up as well.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Martlet is described as Fallen Down during phase 2, both in the phase start narration and in her Check text. This term is very rarely used in Undertale Yellow, only ever being applied to Zenith Martlet and Kanako