Undertale’s loveable monsters: investigating parasocial relationships with non-player characters

Elvery, G. (2023) Undertale’s loveable monsters: investigating parasocial relationships with non-player characters. Games and Culture, 18(4), pp. 475-497. (doi: 10.1177/15554120221105464)

Abstract

Interaction with non-player characters (NPCs) that simulates one-sided social interaction is a common feature of many role-playing video games (RPGs). This kind of interaction may be described as parasocial. Parasocial phenomena have been identified across media, but there are few studies which detail how they function within specific video games. This article marries close analysis of the video game Undertale with theories of parasocial phenomena to examine how effective parasocial relationships (PSRs) are created with its cast of quirky, loveable monsters. The article uses players’ reception of the game in the form of Steam reviews and Let’s play content to evidence players’ attachments to NPCs and uses the concept of parasociality coupled with close reading to explore why. The paper concludes by considering what insights analysis of PSRs in video games can provide regarding both our relationships with the technology that facilitates them, and our off-screen relationships.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This publication was supported by the University of Glasgow’s Lord Kelvin/Adam Smith (LKAS) PhD Scholarship.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Elvery, Gabriel
• Authors: Elvery, G.
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies > English Literature
• Journal Name: Games and Culture
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• ISSN: 1555-4120
• ISSN (Online): 1555-4139
• Published Online: 29 May 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 The Author(s)
• First Published: First published in Games and Culture 18(4):475-497
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License