| “ | Neither Light nor Dark hold a future for a Darkner in my condition.
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| ~ Seam, lamenting on their future |
Seam is a supporting character in the 2018 episodic indie RPG Deltarune, serving as the tritagonist of the Shadow Crystal side quest. They appear as a jaded Darkner shopkeeper, initially disinterested in the quest of the Delta Warriors. As the main characters learn more about Seam, however, a broader picture is painted of the raggedy old cat, revealing their heroic past and the events which lead to their crippling nihilism.
Seam plays a vital role in the Shadow Crystal questline, offering directions for how to collect them and offering to assemble them into an item for the player to use when they collect them all.
Appearance
Seam takes the form of a worn, aged stuffed cat. Their fur is a light purple, while the highlights of their ears, their button eye, their scarf, and even their mouth have an orange glow. They have very clear visible damage to them, seen in the sewn black patch on the top of their head, the button which covers a large scar going across a missing eye, and their stitched mouth. Their torso is never properly seen, but it appears they are wearing some sort of brown poncho.
They are capable of turning their button eye at will, as well as retracting their fangs.
Biography
History
Seam's history is explained somewhat comprehensively through the stories they tell. Once a Court Magician, they had grown a close friendship with the Court Jester, Jevil. The two seemed to be one another's only companions, spending their days playing games (presumably sparring). Seam remarks that Jevil was the only one that could match them in the games they would play, implying Seam is just as powerful as Jevil, if not even stronger. Eventually, a 'strange someone' appeared, and quickly took Jevil under its mentorship. It shared its secrets with Jevil, tearing apart Jevil's very concept of reality, driving the jester entirely insane, before vanishing as mysteriously as it appeared. Seam had heard some of the mysterious person's lectures, and what they heard haunts them to this day, making their worldview, as they describe, "darker, yet darker."
After Jevil was driven insane, he became increasingly violent. It seems there was a single event in which Jevil had entirely snapped, spreading chaos across the entire Card Kingdom. This was apparently catastrophic enough for the four Kings to instruct Seam to lock away Jevil forever. By Seam's description, the process of locking Jevil away was very difficult, likely culminating in a battle which may be responsible for the loss of Seam's eye. After locking Jevil away, Seam had retired from their position, losing any interest in life, nihilism taking over their entire philosophy. They then set up a shop outside the Field of Hopes and Dreams, where they sell their previous possessions which they no longer care to keep. The Knight then arrived, the King of Spades took over, and Kris, Ralsei, and Susie began their quest. None of that, of course, means anything to Seam.
DELTARUNE
Seam first makes their appearance in the Field of Hopes and Dreams, manning their shop. They will inform Kris and the party on the history of the Card Kingdom if asked on this, though they express no interest in the party's efforts to seal the Dark Fountains. If Jevil was spoken to in his cell, he directs the party back to Seam, who seems surprised that the party wants to release him after all the effort they took to seal him away. They will however, remark that someone should probably deal with Jevil and will give the party a part of the 3 keys needed to release him, directing them to the other areas needed to find the keys. When Jevil is defeated, Seam will congratulate the Delta Warriors and explain their past with him. They do however, remark that the efforts of the party are futile and that they will recognise it soon.
At the beginning of Chapter 2, Seam will have moved to Castle Town to operate their store and change up their wares. From there, they will note that if Jevil was defeated (in this file or another one) that he dropped a Shadow Crystal. Seam remarks that these valuable and powerful crystals can be used to create something incredibly powerful and asks the party to continue collecting them. If any of the Shadow Crystals are missed by not defeating their holders in any save files, Seam will despair and give up their quest.
Upon the defeat of Spamton NEO, Seam will remark that the importance of the machine he was using to a Lightner was probably what made him so powerful. They warn the party that their next foe will be nigh-unbeatable and offers them the Shadow Mantle, only to realise it's missing.
During Chapter 4, Seam will recount how during a game of cards with the Addisons, they managed to bet them out of everything they owned, though they would soon return the Addison's belongings. They will be surprised at the party retrieving the Knight's Shadow Crystal, remarking that Kris is sicker than Jevil if they managed to defeat the Knight without a Shadow Mantle. Seam warns the party that their next foe will be exceptionally powerful, but remarks that for whatever reason, they think they'll probably triumph. They inform the party that with two more Shadow Crystals, they'll be able to create something they believe the party "will quite enjoy", meaning that Chapter 5 will hold the last Shadow Crystal.
Trivia
- Seam's name is a pun on the name Sean, and the common mispronunciation of it. 'Sean' is pronounced 'Shawn', although it would appear to be pronounced 'Seen', just as one would expect Seam to be pronounced 'Seem' (the same way as a 'seam' in sewing), but it is actually pronounced 'Shawm'. They also refer to their Shop as a 'Seap', following this to its logical extreme.
- Based on this, it seems that Seam is self aware, seeing as they clarify how their name is pronounced even though Kris and the party would hear the correct pronunciation, implying that this clarification was meant for the player.
- As there are always two jokers for each deck of cards, it's been speculated that in addition to being the Darkner form of the cat plush, Seam is also the Card Kingdom's red joker to contrast Jevil being the black joker, as seen from their red cloak.
- In Undertale, Flowey has a sprite which bears a strange resemblance to Seam. When he absorbs the human souls, he claims he will destroy "Monsters" (his face transforming to resemble Toriel's, or Asriel's), "Humans" (his face transforming to resemble Frisk's), and "Everyone". When he says "Everyone", his face becomes three dots which rotate in a circle, in the same way that the holes on Seam's button eye rotate.
- Seam, like Ralsei, might know the complete prophecy, hence their crippling nihilism. This could explain how they predict each of the next Shadow Crystal holders for the next chapters, seeing as the prophecy likely informs them of what will happen.
- Seam's description for their view on life after overhearing the strange someone, "darker, yet darker," is an expression used by Dr. Gaster in his hidden scene in Undertale when referring to his newest experiment, implying a connection between Dr. Gaster and the someone.
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Undertale Deltarune | ||