Deltarune Chapter 5 Genocide Route Explained
Deltarune Chapter 5 does not have a traditional Undertale-style genocide route where you kill every enemy in the chapter. What players usually mean by the Chapter 5 genocide route is the Weird Route, also called the Snowgrave Route or Side B, which continues Noelle’s alternate route from earlier chapters and ends with the “Insert Chapter 7 Side B” screen.
The important thing to know is that you do not start this route from scratch in Chapter 5. If you are on the correct Weird Route save, Chapter 5 skips most of the normal festival and Dark World content, sends Kris and Noelle to the lake, and ends the route there for now. If you are expecting a full Chapter 5 kill-every-enemy route, that is not what this is.
Jump To
- Is There A Chapter 5 Genocide Route?
- Genocide Route, Weird Route, Snowgrave, Or Side B?
- How To Start The Chapter 5 Weird Route
- What Happens In Chapter 5’s Weird Route
- What Happens At The Lake With Noelle
- What Insert Chapter 7 Side B Means
- What Happens If You Stop Proceeding?
- Do You Miss Chapter 5 Content?
- Is The Chapter 5 Weird Route Worth Doing?
Is There A Chapter 5 Genocide Route?
There is no normal genocide route in Deltarune Chapter 5.
In Undertale, the genocide route means hunting down and killing every enemy. Deltarune does not work that way. The closest equivalent is the Weird Route, where the player pushes Noelle into darker choices across specific chapters.
That matters because Chapter 5’s version is not a long combat route. You are not clearing the Flower Shop Dark World by freezing every enemy. In fact, if you follow the Weird Route all the way, you do not play the normal Chapter 5 Dark World at all.
So if you searched for the Deltarune Chapter 5 genocide route, the answer is: yes, there is a dark alternate route, but no, it is not a classic kill-everything genocide route.
Genocide Route, Weird Route, Snowgrave, Or Side B?
The route has a few names, which is why searches get messy.
| Name | What It Means | Best Use |
|---|---|---|
| Genocide Route | The Undertale term players often use for the darkest route. | Common search term, but not technically exact. |
| Weird Route | The broader Deltarune alternate route name. | Best overall term. |
| Snowgrave Route | The name players use because of Noelle’s SnowGrave spell in Chapter 2. | Most familiar fan term. |
| Side B | The label Chapter 5 uses with “Insert Chapter 7 Side B.” | Most important Chapter 5 term. |
My advice is simple: use “Weird Route” if you want the accurate Deltarune term, use “Snowgrave Route” if you are talking about Noelle’s path, and use “genocide route” only as a search-friendly shortcut.
If you want the broader route breakdown, use the Deltarune Chapter 5 Snowgrave Route explained guide after this.
How To Start The Chapter 5 Weird Route
You start the Chapter 5 Weird Route by carrying the correct Weird Route data into Chapter 5.
This is not something you can trigger halfway through a normal Chapter 5 file. The route starts earlier, especially with Noelle in Chapter 2, then continues through later alternate route scenes before reaching Chapter 5.
The basic setup is:
- Follow the Weird Route in Chapter 2 with Noelle.
- Force Noelle deeper into the Snowgrave path.
- Continue the route through the later chapter scenes involving Noelle and the ThornRing.
- Start Chapter 5 from that route state.
- Follow the Chapter 5 lake scene with Noelle.
If you are on a normal save, you will get the normal Chapter 5 festival and Flower Shop Dark World path instead. The dark route is not hidden inside the normal Chapter 5 route. It branches before that.
What Happens In Chapter 5’s Weird Route
Chapter 5’s Weird Route is extremely short compared to the normal route.
Instead of playing through the festival, entering Asgore’s flower shop Dark World, fighting enemies, collecting items, and reaching Flowery, the route cuts almost everything away. Kris wakes up late, the festival feels wrong, and the story moves toward Noelle at the lake.
That is the first major surprise. Chapter 5’s darkest route is not a bigger version of Chapter 5. It is a missing version of Chapter 5.
You do not get the normal Dark World progression. You do not fight the Chapter 5 secret boss on that path. You do not collect the same items. The route is basically a horror scene that replaces the chapter instead of adding a full alternate dungeon.
What Happens At The Lake With Noelle
The main Chapter 5 Weird Route scene happens at the lake with Noelle.
Noelle asks Kris to do something crazy with her, and the two walk into the lake together. The player is repeatedly pushed to choose “Proceed” as they go deeper into the water.
The scene gets worse the longer you continue. Noelle’s portrait becomes distorted, the sound becomes harsher, and the screen eventually fades into a white, glitchy cutoff.
This is the Chapter 5 version of the route’s usual trick. It is not about normal RPG combat. It is about the player forcing a character past the point where they should stop.
The normal route uses the lake scene as a much warmer Susie and Noelle moment. The Weird Route twists that same setting into one of Chapter 5’s darkest scenes.
What Insert Chapter 7 Side B Means
“Insert Chapter 7 Side B” means you reached the current endpoint of Chapter 5’s Weird Route.
After the lake scene reaches its cutoff, the game shows the “Insert Chapter 7 Side B” message and sends you back to chapter select. That does not mean you missed a door, puzzle, or hidden Chapter 5 continuation. The route just stops there for now.
The wording is the important part. It says Chapter 7, not Chapter 6. That strongly suggests the Side B version of the route may not continue normally into Chapter 6.
I would not call that fully confirmed until later chapters are playable, but the implication is clear enough: Chapter 5’s Weird Route is pointing past the next chapter and toward a later Side B continuation.
If that screen is what you are specifically trying to understand, use the Deltarune Insert Chapter 7 Side B explained guide for the focused version.
What Happens If You Stop Proceeding?
If you stop choosing Proceed near the end of the lake scene, you can avoid the full “Insert Chapter 7 Side B” cutoff.
This does not simply make everything normal. Instead, the game appears to pull the route back toward a changed version of the normal Chapter 5 path. Noelle reflects that Kris had not changed, and repeated “Nothing changed” moments make the branch feel intentionally wrong.
This is important because it may become a third kind of route state later. You pushed the Weird Route far enough to change things, but you did not fully commit to the lake ending.
For now, the practical answer is this: keep choosing Proceed if you want the Side B cutoff. Stop near the fade-out if you want to see the altered route that pulls back from it.
Do You Miss Chapter 5 Content?
Yes, the Weird Route makes you miss most of Chapter 5’s normal content.
If you follow it all the way, you do not play the normal Flower Shop Dark World. That means you miss the normal Chapter 5 enemies, bosses, secret boss path, Shadow Crystal, flower rewards, and most of the chapter’s standard exploration.
That is not a bug. It is the point. The route cuts the chapter down into something shorter, harsher, and more unsettling.
If you want to actually play Chapter 5, keep a normal save. Use the Weird Route for the alternate story, not as your only Chapter 5 file.
For normal route cleanup, the Deltarune Chapter 5 walkthrough is the better path.
Is The Chapter 5 Weird Route Worth Doing?
The Chapter 5 Weird Route is worth doing if you care about Deltarune’s darkest story path, but it is not worth doing if you only want more gameplay.
As gameplay, it is short. You skip most of the chapter, lose access to the normal Dark World content on that route, and hit a cliffhanger. As story, though, it is one of the most important scenes in Chapter 5.
The biggest mistake is treating it like Undertale’s genocide route and expecting a full chapter of combat. Deltarune is doing something different. It is using Noelle, the Proceed prompt, and the chapter skip to make the player feel the cost of forcing the route.
My recommendation is simple: do the Weird Route on a separate save if you want the story, but do not make it your only Chapter 5 file. Play the normal route too, because the “genocide route” version of Chapter 5 cuts out most of what the chapter actually contains.
Looking for more? Browse our complete Deltarune guides hub for every walkthrough, route, and secret in one place.
