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Toby Fox
Born
Robert F. Fox

(1991-10-11) October 11, 1991 (age 33)
Other names
  • Radiation
  • FwugRadiation
Education Northeastern University (BS)
Occupation
Years active 2008–present
Works
Undertale, Deltarune

Robert F. "Toby" Fox, born on October 11, 1991, is an American video game developer and composer. He is famous for creating the popular role-playing video game Undertale. This game received many awards and was loved by players worldwide. Toby Fox is also the mind behind Deltarune, another game that shares characters and ideas with Undertale.

Before making games, Toby Fox mostly wrote music. He composed many songs for the online comic Homestuck. After Undertale became a big hit, he also created music for other independent games. You can hear his music in games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and some Pokémon games too!

Growing Up: Toby Fox's Early Life

Toby Fox was born on October 11, 1991, in Manchester, New Hampshire, USA. He grew up with his three brothers. His father worked as a financial planner, and his mother was a retired school assistant. As a child, Toby took music lessons, learning to play the piano and trumpet. In middle school, he started playing piano again, learning game music just by listening. He later went to Northeastern University and finished his studies in 2014.

Toby Fox's Creative Journey

What Inspired Toby Fox?

Toby Fox was fascinated by the music and world of the game Final Fantasy VI. Other Japanese role-playing games, like EarthBound, Secret of Mana, and Super Mario RPG, also greatly inspired him. He especially admired the music of Yoko Shimomura. Her song "Megalomania" from the game Live A Live was a big inspiration. Toby wanted to use a version of it in a game. Instead, he created his own famous song, "Megalovania". In middle school, he found the Touhou Project games. He even played a piano version of a Touhou song at a summer camp. He liked how Touhou games encouraged players to keep playing, even just to hear the music.

Toby Fox's First Steps in Gaming

Toby Fox started making games with his three brothers using a tool called RPG Maker 2000. In high school, he also created special versions of existing games, known as "ROM hacks." His most famous early project was the EarthBound Halloween Hack in 2008. This was a spooky version of the game EarthBound. Later, he began writing music for Andrew Hussie's online comic, Homestuck, starting in 2009. Andrew Hussie noticed Toby's talent when Toby shared his piano covers of Homestuck music online. Toby became a key part of the Homestuck music team until 2016. This experience helped him learn how to use music software. He even created a version of "Megalovania" for Homestuck. Some of his Homestuck music also inspired themes in his later game, Undertale.

The Success of Undertale

Toby Fox's most famous creation is the 2015 role-playing video game Undertale. He also wrote all the music for it. The game sold over a million copies and became a huge hit around the world. Toby worked on almost the entire game by himself. He only asked Temmie Chang to help with the art. He came up with many ideas and characters for Undertale while he was in college, drawing them in his notebook.

Annoying dog face
Close-up of the face sprite of the "Annoying Dog" from Undertale, which is a self-insertion of Fox

After Undertale came out, it gained a massive number of fans. Toby said he didn't mind if some people didn't like the game, as it's "not for everyone." Even with all its awards, Toby personally felt the game was still unique and deserved an "8/10" rating. In 2016, Toby released some music tracks from Undertale that weren't used in the game. He was also featured on the 2018 Forbes 30 Under 30 list for his work on Undertale. By then, the game had sold more than 2 million copies. Undertale's popularity, especially in Japan, gave Toby a chance to meet Masahiro Sakurai, the creator of Super Smash Bros.. They talked about games and even played Super Smash Bros. Ultimate together. Later, Sans, a character from Undertale, was added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a special costume. Toby also provided a new version of the song "Megalovania" for the game.

The World of Deltarune

On October 30, 2018, Toby Fox hinted at a new project. The next day, he released the first part of Deltarune, a game connected to Undertale, for free. He explained that he had been working on Deltarune since 2012. He even said that the idea for Undertale grew out of Deltarune's development. On September 17, 2021, Toby released the second chapter of Deltarune for free. He mentioned that he wanted to share it because times had been tough for many people. The next two chapters (3 and 4) are planned to be released together as a paid game in 2025. Toby is now working on Chapter 5, which is expected in 2026.

Toby Fox: A Talented Composer

Beyond his own games, Toby Fox has composed music for many other projects. He wrote music for the 2017 game Hiveswap, which is based on Homestuck. He also composed for Escaped Chasm, a game by Undertale artist Temmie Chang. In 2019, he created music for Game Freak's RPG Little Town Hero. Toby's music can also be heard in the Pokémon series. He composed a song for Pokémon Sword and Shield and several tracks for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. He even remixed Ed Sheeran's song "Celestial" for a Pokémon expansion. In 2024, Toby worked with Japanese game developer ZUN on Touhou Danmaku Kagura Phantasia Lost. For this game, he created a unique song that blended music from Touhou and Undertale.

Toby Fox's Personal Life

Toby Fox prefers to keep his personal life private and doesn't often give interviews. He sometimes experiences wrist and hand pain. This pain can make it difficult for him to program or compose music. To help with this, he often uses special software that turns his speech into text on the computer. In 2020, he mentioned that this pain caused some delays in making Deltarune Chapter 2.

Works

Ludography

Year Title Director Composer Writer Released Platforms
2008 EarthBound: Halloween Hack (ROM hack) Yes Yes Yes Yes Super Nintendo
2015 Undertale Yes Yes Yes Yes Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One
2016 Rose of Winter No Yes No Yes Windows
2017 Hiveswap: Act 1 No Yes No Yes Windows, macOS, Linux
2018 Deltarune Chapter 1 Yes Yes Yes Yes Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2
2019 Escaped Chasm No Yes No Yes Windows
Little Town Hero No Yes No Yes Windows, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One
2020 Dweller's Empty Path No Yes No Yes Windows
Hiveswap: Act 2 No Yes No Yes Windows, macOS, Linux
2021 Deltarune Chapter 2 Yes Yes Yes Yes Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2
2022 Pokémon Scarlet and Violet No Yes No Yes Nintendo Switch
2025 Deltarune Chapters 3+4 Yes Yes Yes Yes Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2
Off (remaster) No Yes No No Windows, Nintendo Switch
2026 Deltarune Chapter 5 Yes Yes Yes No Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2

Guest composer only

  • Hiveswap Friendsim (2018)
  • YIIK: A Postmodern RPG (2019)
  • Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2019) - DLC only
  • Pesterquest (2019)
  • Pokémon Sword and Shield (2019)
  • Omori (2020) - jukebox music only
  • beatmania IIDX 30 RESIDENT (2022)
  • Mr. Saitou (2023)
  • Touhou Danmaku Kagura Phantasia Lost (2024)
  • Fields of Mistria (2024)
  • Chunithm Verse (2024)

Other credits

Year Media type Media title Role Notes
2009–2016 Webcomic Homestuck Composer
2010 Album The Baby is You Writer, composer, vocalist Album made for Homestuck
2012 Album I Miss You - EarthBound 2012 Composer
2012 Website tane.us Guest arrangement Metronomy - Black Eye Burnt Thumb (Toby "Radiation" Fox CHIP MIX)
2018 Album PRAY Guest composer, lyricist and vocalist
Video game Black Bird Game testing
2020 Comic Hobonichi Mother Project "Pollyanna" comic Contributor
Music video Chip Tanaka/Hammerhead Shark Song Director/animator (music video)
2021 Video game Get in the Car, Loser! Credited for providing guest items and stories
Song "Myths You Forgot" Featured artist In collaboration with Camellia
2022 Album "Skies Forever Blue" Composer, writer In collaboration with Itoki Hana
2023 Song "The Greatest Living Show" Composer, writer
Song "Prelude" Composer In collaboration with bo en
Animated television series We Baby Bears Voice actor (2 episodes)
Downloadable content Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Composer Remix of Ed Sheeran's "Celestial"
2024 Song "Fallen Wing" Composer As a guest composer for Hololive VTuber Amane Kanata's Unknown DIVA album, with Camellia
Song "Dead Ma’am’s Chest" Composer In collaboration with Hololive VTuber Houshou Marine and Camellia

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Toby Fox para niños

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