Molly Dupain-Cheng

Molly, also known as the first human or the fallen human, is the first human to fall into the Underground. Molly is also the fallen human that the player names at the start of the game, and not the controllable character who is played throughout the entirety of ANIMALTALE.

Appearance
Molly looks strikingly similar to the protagonist but with no pigtails, down to a "similar fashion sense," as said by Asriel Dreemurr, and just like the protagonist, has a female gender. She appeared to have been around 12 years after falling into the Underground. Molly's SOUL is red as the protagonist's SOUL is pink, this is indicated by the red SOUL on Molly's coffin.

At the end of the Genocide Route, Molly is seen to be a flamingo wearing a lime and cream colored striped shirt (which is an inverted color of the protagonist's shirt). Molly has pink feathers and, villainous eyes, and a smile that contrasts the protagonist's stoic expression.

Personality
While initially cast in a sympathetic light, Asriel admits at the end of the True Pacifist Route that Molly "...wasn't really the greatest person." Asriel states that Molly climbed Mt. Paris for an unhappy reason, and adds that Molly "hated humanity".

At the end of the Genocide Route, CMolly behaves in a polite, deliberate manner, thanking the protagonist for guiding her, and teaching her, by doing it yourself, killing was the reason she awoke. She tells her that her determination woke her from death when entering the Underground. However, if the protagonist refuses to destroy the world, Molly becomes frustrated and confused, wonders what the player wants instead, and then finally gives in to the frustration, erasing the world anyway.

After falling into the Underground, Molly was taken in by Toriel and Asgore as a second child and was treated with respect equal to their biological son. Molly and Asriel became best friends, and animals spoke of how Molly filled the Underground with hope.

One day, after becoming terminally ill from consuming buttercups, Molly expressed the desire to see the Golden Flowers found in her home village. After her death, Molly's SOUL was absorbed by Asriel, and she shared control over a body. Molly carried her own corpse across the barrier and wanted to use her full power. Asriel resisted Molly, which ultimately led to the humans killing the fusion of the two SOULs.

Molly's motives in this situation are uncertain. In the fourth True Tree tape, Asriel says "Y...yeah! We'll be strong! We'll free everyone.", and in the fifth "Six, right? We just have to get six..." In the Genocide Route, Flowey tells Molly that she should finish what she started and free everyone. Flowey also adds, "Then... let's let them see what humanity is REALLY like. That despite it all... This world is still 'kill or be killed!!". Asriel tells the protagonist that he came up with this philosophy because his resistance to Molly had led to both of them being killed. At the end of the Genocide Route, Molly says little about Asriel's betrayal other than, "At first, I was so confused. Our plan had failed, hadn't it?"

Molly's body was originally laid to rest in a coffin in the basement of the castle, where the bodies of the other fallen humans would later be put. When she left Asgore, Toriel carried Molly's body to the Desert and gave her a proper burial.

In the Genocide Route, Molly says that the protagonist's "determination" and "human soul" awakened her from death. There is evidence that some narration, as well as descriptions of certain actions and events, is by Molly herself. However, the narrator throughout the entirety of ANIMALTALE is up to speculation.

Neutral Route
When the protagonist gets a Game Over, Asgore's voice can be heard as he urges Molly to "stay determined." The messages seen on the game over screen are identical to what Asgore said to Molly while they were on their deathbed.

The protagonist also hears Molly's name in their dreams. If the protagonist sleeps in the bed in Toriel's home, Asgore's voice can be heard as he pleads, ", please... Wake up! You are the future of humans and animals." When the protagonist first falls into the Grassy Grave, Asriel's first words to Molly appear on the screen, narrated with Asriel's voice byte.

True Pacifist Route
In the True Tree, VHS tapes of Molly interacting with her family can be played back. None of these VHS tapes include visuals and provide narration alone. Most of these tapes are of Asriel and Molly, and prove that Molly had a "plan." In one of the tapes, Asriel tells Molly to wake up and that "he doesn't like this plan anymore." Asriel's quote is speculated to be something that he said to his dying sibling because this same VHS contains the quote seen on the game over screen.

Towards the end of the fight against Asriel, when the protagonist calls out "someone else"'s name, flashbacks of Molly and Asriel play. They show Molly's fall into the Underground, Asriel's discovery of Molly, and the royal family spending time with Molly. After the fight, Asriel recognizes the protagonist as Mary.

During the epilogue, Mary may return to the room containing the coffins of the other humans. This leads to the discovery that all of the coffins are empty and that there are mummy wrappings at the bottom of Molly's coffin.

Genocide Route
While traversing the Genocide Route, many characters comment on the protagonist's creepy smile. Sans comments that it would be great if the protagonist continued pretending to be a human, and Asgore inquires what kind of animal the protagonist is.

At the end of the Desert and when going through New Home, Flowey determines that the protagonist is empty inside, just like himself. He concludes that the protagonist is Molly, and informs her of a plan he has to become omnipotent.

Molly seems to be in control of the protagonist's scripted sequences, as the sequences in the Genocide Route differ from the Neutral and True Pacifist Routes. Instead of following other NPCs commands, the protagonist defies them as Molly seems to become corrupt while the route progresses. The first example of defiance occurs when the protagonist ignores Sans's request to hide behind the conveniently shaped lamp; the last is when the protagonist kills Flowey after the player press Enter on their keyboard before Molly makes her appearance.

The only instance in the game where Molly makes an in-person physical appearance is at the end of the Genocide Route. She appears as an overworld model and speak into the fourth wall. Molly could be speaking directly to the player in this sequence.

After this appearance, Molly reveals that the protagonist's "human soul" and "determination" were the cause of their reincarnation and that the merciless events that occurred during the route lead Molly to realize that the "purpose" of her awakening was power. Molly states she is the embodiment of the feeling received whenever STATS increase and proposes erasing the world and moving on to the next.

The protagonist is given the choices to "ERASE" the world, or "DO NOT." Both choices lead to the same result.
 * If the protagonist chooses to "ERASE," Molly calls the protagonist "a great partner." Additionally, her eyes disappear into bloody zombie eyes, and Molly says to the protagonist that she will be "together forever."

After the protagonist makes her choice, an attack animation occurs, followed by blood covering the screen. The game is forced into windowed mode and shakes similarly to a animal's death animation as the game closes. The player cannot exit the game before the crash unless they use the OS's Task Manager.
 * If the protagonist chooses "DO NOT," Molly seems confused, she then seem to shake it off and Molly's eyes disappear into bloody zombie eyes, she says the protagonist was never in control. Afterward a jump scare occurs, in which Molly approaches the screen with a flock of flamingos sound. The screen (or game window) shakes while a loud flock of flamingo sound loops in the background.

Upon reopening the game, the screen is black and accompanied by a quiet flock of flamingo sound. After 10 minutes, Molly speaks to the protagonist and is doubtful yet intrigued at the fact that the playser wants to go back to the game's world. She reminds the player that her actions caused the world's destruction, and after she asks the protagonist if she thinks they are above consequences, Molly offers to restore the world in exchange for something, later revealed to be the protagonist's SOUL.
 * If the protagonist agrees to this trade, the world is restored, but the True Pacifist ending is permanently altered.


 * Refusing this offer causes Molly to abandon the protagonist, only to offer the same choice again after the game is restarted and another 10 minutes elapse.

True Pacifist Route
"Molly" appears briefly after the True Pacifist Ending Credits if a Genocide run has been completed beforehand. If the protagonist chose to stay with Toriel, the after-credits scene continues briefly after Toriel closes the door, showing Mary turning to face the screen with bloody flamingo eyes. The game cuts to black, with Cristina's laugh playing at a lower pitch.

Similarly, if the protagonist decides to have "places to go," the photograph after the credits has the face of everyone crossed out in blood, except for Molly's model, which replaces Mary's. The "THE END" text is bloody, and a slowed down version of Anticipation plays. The Annoying Parrot does not appear to sleep under the ending screen.

Genocide Route
After completing a Genocide Route a second time, Molly takes on the description of "the demon that comes when people call its name." Molly blames the player for destroying and recreating the world because of their perverted sentimentality, explains she can't feel these things anymore, and suggests you take a different path if you create the world again. Molly gives the protagonist the "choice" to erase the world again.
 * If the protagonist chooses "ERASE," Chara once again calls the protagonist "a great partner," saying they will be together forever.


 * Choosing "DO NOT" causes Molly to tell the protagonist that these feelings were exactly what she was just talking about. Molly then reminds the protagonist she made her choice a long time ago, causing another jump scare, as the world is destroyed again. However, when the game is rebooted, it loads normally.

Asriel
After falling into the Underground, Molly is found by Asriel and returned to his parents; Toriel and Asgore. The two of them grew together as siblings and best friends. Despite unfortunate incidents between the two, Asriel is willing to see past Molly's flaws since such defects are what made Molly unique and special to him, as witnessed by Asriel's confession to the protagonist during the epilogue and the walk through New Home on the Genocide Route.

Flowey
Flowey perceives Molly as his partner and best friend despite his inability to love. Seeing Molly as a creature akin to him, he helps by clearing all obstacles in the way. He says that Molly would never give him any "worthless pity" and is the only one who understands him.

Protagonist
The protagonist only learns about Molly if a Genocide Route is completed. As the protagonist kills animals and gains more EXP, Molly, or something, seems to grow stronger. "Molly" refers to the protagonist as a "partner" if the player accepts her offer to erase the world.

If the protagonist complete another Genocide Route, Molly questions why they continuously recreate and destroy the world. Molly then goes on to say that the protagonist has a perverted sentimentality that drives this odd behavior.

Toriel
When Molly fell into the Underground, Molly took on the role of Molly's mother. She cared for Molly very much, equally as much as Asriel.

Asgore
Similarly to Toriel, Asgore acted as much of a father to Molly as he did to Asriel.

Molly In-Game
In several moments throughout the Genocide Route, Molly temporarily disables the player's input and takes direct control of the protagonist.
 * The first instance of this is when the protagonist does not hide behind the dragon-shaped lamp when Sans asks her to.
 * The second instance of this is during the first encounter and puzzle with Papyrus, where the protagonist seems to ignore Papyrus and moves forward independently.
 * The next instance of this is before the battle with Undyne the Undying, where the protagonist turns away, and then approaches Dolphin Teen aggressively.
 * Another instance of this is during the two encounters with Mettaton, who notices the protagonist's eagerness to fight him.
 * The penultimate instance of this occurs just before the Sans encounter, as the protagonist moves forward to provoke Sans into fighting. The protagonist also deals the killing blow to Sans without any input from the player.
 * The last instance of this is in the Throne Room, where without any input from the player, Molly kills Asgore without hesitation. As with Flowey, several strikes are dealt if the player presses "ENTER/Z" a single time.

Trivia

 * Molly's jumper's color scheme (yellow and green) is a color negative of Mary's (blue and purple).
 * When attempting to name the fallen child "Molly," the response becomes "The true name." Removing the name from a FREEZE file results in the name "MOLLY" being given by default.
 * The Heart Locket may belong to Molly as "right where it belongs" displays when the protagonist equips it in the Genocide Route.
 * Molly is implied to like the real flamingo's food, brine shrimp; should the protagonist check the refrigerator in Asgore's Home, the text reads "No shrimp.”
 * While there is no shrimp in Asgore's home, there is a shrimp's body in the fridge at Toriel's Home; it is possible Toriel kept it in her fridge in memory of Molly's tastes.
 * Molly is known to be the youngest sister in the Dupain-Cheng family.
 * Molly was originally going to have sharp teeth in her beak, this was changed due to her specie.