The Genocide Route is Widely Considered the Hardest Ending in Undertale

As an avid Undertale player and fan, I often get asked which ending I think is the most difficult to achieve. After multiple playthroughs and lots of frustration, I confidently say the Genocide route takes the spot, and most fans agree. Completing it demands determination as steel. This guide will break down exactly why it lives up to its notorious legacy.

What Even is the Genocide Route?

For the uninitiated, Undertale has several possible endings depending on how merciful or murderous you are. The Genocide route is triggered by systematically killing every single monster. And I do mean every single one.

You can‘t just defeat monsters that attack you. You have to grind random encounters to hunt down even harmless creatures like Moldsmals and Woshua. The game tracks kill counts in each region, so you have to keep battling until you exhaust the spawn rate. That‘s when you‘ll see the chilling "But nobody came" message.

As a general rule, killing monsters that don‘t want to fight feels pretty terrible. I confess, I teared up erasing that sweet skeleton Papyrus on my first Genocide run. But for completion‘s sake, I persisted.

Genocide Route Kill Requirements

So why go through this emotional wringer? Well, story-wise the Genocide route reveals intriguing lore. But more relevant to this guide, it also features the toughest challenges in all of Undertale.

The Devious Difficulty Spike

Undertale isn‘t considered a very hard game…unless you walk the murderous path. The Genocide route replaces most puzzles with extremely deadly boss fights. I should know – it took me over 24 hours of attempts to finally triumph!

Bosses Get Extreme Makeovers

Remember silly Papyrus and his "complex" tile maze? On Genocide, he activates a ludicrous gauntlet of overpowered attacks you must endure for five whole minutes. And that‘s just a warmup for the epic showdown against Sans!

Let me be clear: Sans‘ final Genocide fight obliterates ALL his other versions. He conjures floating animal skulls that blast unavoidable lasers. He slams you with gravity shifts, beam walls, and bone blades. And just when you whittle his HP down, this grinning skeleton starts dodging everything!

Fans widely consider Sans the most difficult Undertale boss. Between learning his patterns and outlasting his final barrage, he‘s a mountainous obstacle. My first victory against him probably took 50+ attempts over three days!

And that‘s not counting the other upgraded bosses like Undyne, who transforms into Undyne the Undying. She hurls spears in rippling waves and charges with anime-style energy slashes!

You Face ALL Bosses Back-to-Back

As if those intense one-on-one fights weren‘t bad enough, the Genocide route forces you to tackle them consecutively before facing Sans. There‘s no saving or healing in between either. The unrelenting assault had me banging my headfighting Asgore, Flowey, AND Sans with hardly any breaks!

Genocide Permanently Alters Your Game

Thrilling challenge isn‘t the only reason players approach this route so cautiously. Completing a full Genocide run irreversibly changes future playthroughs by linking you to Chara.

In subsequent Pacifist endings, Chara hijacks your happy ending and jump scares you with creepy red eyes. They then offer to destroy the Undertale world together. Yikes!

Many fans thus avoid Genocide until they finish exploring other endings. Preventing this "soulless" alteration helps preserve that first magical Pacifist finale.

Personally though, I think the creepy continuation makes my commitment to destroying the Underground more impactful. And that unsettling end scene is pretty cool if you ask me!

Genocide Tests Your Determination and Morals

When you tally up the emotional exhaustion of killing every monster, several brutally difficult boss refights, the inability to save, and impact on future plays, there‘s no doubt why Genocide is widely considered Undertale‘s hardest ending. It tests the absolute limit of your determination and conscience.

For us passionate gamers though, that incredible challenge just makes finally toppling Sans and watching the credits roll (set appropriately to "Burn in Despair") even more satisfying!

So if you thirst for a TRUE test of skill, go for the Gold…the Genocide Gold that is! Just beware, once you walk that lonely road it really does burn everything irreversibly to the ground. But hey, it‘s worth it for the sweet, sweet clout of conquest!

Let me know in the comments if YOU managed to complete this behemoth challenge! I‘d love to celebrate your accomplishment too 🙂 Until next time gamers, stay determined!