Toriel

Toriel is the second major character the protagonist encounters in ANIMALTALE. She saves the protagonist from Flowey and guides her through the Desert.

Appearance
Toriel is a Boss Animal whose head resembles a sheep, structured with up-straight. She has a pair of visible lower teeth and long eyelashes, and her eyes are yellow like some sheep do. She has an anthropomorphic body, with hooves at the end of her limbs. She wears a long purple robe that displays the Delta Rune on her chest. Toriel is seen with her reading glasses, one instance being in her house when reading a book on dragon facts.

Personality
Toriel is a kind animal that acts as a protective mother for the protagonist. She employs tough love on the protagonist as well as Asgore. She cares for children and was excited to become a mother.

She enjoys cooking and bakes butterscotch-cinnamon pie as well as her favorite, dragon pie.

Toriel has a playful side and loves puns and bad jokes and she even keeps a journal of puns.

Toriel is said to be intelligent and dreams of becoming a teacher. She has already prepared a curriculum for the protagonist by the time they reach her home in the Desert. In the True Pacifist Ending Credits, she stands outside a school and, in the Family Ending of a Neutral Route, she starts her own.

Main Story
Before the events of ANIMALTALE, she was married to King Asgore and had a son, Asriel. When the first human fell into the Underground, she adopted her as her child. The deaths of their two children pushed Asgore to declare war on humanity, and as a result, she left him and retreated to the Desert.

Between then and the time the protagonist enters the Underground, she had seen Asgore murder multiple humans and reap their SOULs.

Neutral Route
At the beginning of the game, Toriel saves the protagonist from Flowey, healing any damage done by the murderous vulture. After introducing herself, she guides her through the first few habitats of the Desert. She encourages the protagonist to deal with animal encounters by talking to them, as opposed to acting violently.

She gives the protagonist a cell phone to keep in contact with one another, as she needs to run some errands further into the Ruins. She tells her to stay where they are, only to be disobeyed. She calls the protagonist frequently as the protagonist goes through the Desert, and is about to call her again when she finds the protagonist at the entrance to her home.

She introduces the protagonist to her room and plans to raise them as her own. After the protagonist asks her about leaving the Desert, Toriel abruptly leaves; the protagonist follows.

As she goes toward the exit of the Desert, she explains that she plans to destroy the exit to prevent the protagonist from leaving, as all other humans who left had died.

At the end of the Desert, Toriel tells the protagonist to prove themself strong enough to survive and fights them in a test of strength. She can be killed or spared; if spared, Toriel lets the protagonist go but tells her not to come back.

Sans tells the protagonist during their rendezvous, that he and Toriel have been friends for a while, bonding over their love of jokes and puns. Neither of them knows each other's name or face, as they communicate through the door that blocks off the Desert.

Sans also says that Toriel asked him to protect any human that left the Ruins. He remarks that if not for that promise, the protagonist would be "dead where [she] stands."

True Pacifist Route
Toriel reappears just as Asgore and the protagonist prepare to fight, interrupting it with her wool magic, much like she does with Flowey at the start of the game. She explains the motive of her arrival was the realization that the protagonist would have to take a life to leave and that she had been trying to prevent such a thing from the beginning.

As the protagonist's friends come, she introduces herself to them and recognizes Sans's voice immediately. She tells the protagonist that while she may have to stay Underground with all her friends, she will live a happy life regardless.

Flowey then appears. Having absorbed the human SOULs, he binds Toriel and company with vines. When Flowey tries to kill the protagonist, Toriel is the first monster to intervene, using her wool magic to block Flowey's bones. Her SOUL, along with every other animals', is eventually absorbed by Flowey, allowing him to become Asriel.

During the protagonist's battle with Asriel, Toriel appears as one of the Lost Souls.

Epilogue
After the fight against Asriel concludes, she learns the protagonist's name, "Mary." She tells her that she is free to go through the Underground to talk to more of her friends. Meanwhile, Alphys upgrades Toriel's phone, allowing her to send text messages.

Mary leaves the Underground with Toriel and her other friends. As the others leave Mary to begin her lives on the Surface, Toriel asks Mary what she will do now. In the credits sequence, Toriel welcomes Dolphin Teen to a school that she opened and teaches at. The school door is adorned with the Delta Rune without the triangles that represented the monsters trapped Underground.
 * If Mary decides to stay with Toriel, she says that none of this would have happened if she remained with her at the beginning of the game and that it was for the best that she decided to leave the Desert. She then promises to take care of Mary for as long as they need. Like in the Desert, Toriel takes Mary's hand as they walk off screen together. After the credits, Toriel brings a slice of pie to Mary's room.
 * If Mary says that she "has places to go," Toriel says that she will see her later. After the credits, Mary and their animal friends are shown together in a sepia photograph.

The Protagonist
Toriel cares for humans who fall into the Desert and the protagonist is no exception. She tries to keep the protagonist in the Desert, as Asgore killed the other humans who left her care. If the protagonist spares her, she lets her leave the Ruins, but not before giving her a parting hug.

If the protagonist kills her during a Neutral Route, she uses the last of her strength to give her a warning about what lies ahead and calls the protagonist "my child" before she turns to dust. If the protagonist kills her when she offers mercy, she says that the protagonist is like the animals outside the Desert. In the Genocide Route, she realizes that the protagonist is dangerous and laughs hysterically before she dies. The death model for Toriel is the same in a Genocide Route and on a Neutral Route if the protagonist kills her after she is spared thirteen times.

If the protagonist calls Toriel "mom," it surprises her, and she states that if it makes her happy, then she heartily approves of it.

Calling Toriel on her phone in the Desert and flirting with her makes her assume the protagonist is joking, if she does that again, she is unsure what to make of it. If she flirts with her after calling her "mother," she becomes uncomfortable and calls the protagonist an "interesting" child. She also mentions this in the epilogue.

If the game is reset, Toriel says that talking to the protagonist is like "meeting an old friend for the first time" and also says that she feels this way about most fallen humans.

Asgore
Asgore is Toriel's ex-husband. They were once extremely close, winning first place in the '98 Nose Nuzzle competition and were open about their affection for one another. During their marriage, Toriel's nicknames for Asgore included "Fluffybuns" and "Gorey."

Flowey
Toriel calls Flowey a "miserable creature" as she fireballs him to protect the protagonist. She is unaware that Flowey is Asriel.

Sans
Sans and Toriel do not meet in person until the end of a True Pacifist Route and the Family and Exiled Queenendings, where they both have become good friends. They started their friendship by telling jokes to each other through the door leading to the Desert. One day, Toriel entrusted Sans with protecting any human that left the Ruins.

They continue to bond in the epilogue and text each other as Mary backtracks through the Underground.

Trivia

 * According to Sans, at some point after the events of the game, Toriel drank three glasses of salt water and threw prehistoric leaves at him like frisbees.
 * If the protagonist bores the Elephant during its encounter, Toriel stares in disbelief and confusion and starts thinking in a confused manner before moving to the next room without comment.
 * When attempting to name the fallen human "Toriel," the response is: "I think you should think of your own name, my child," and prevents the name from being used.