Chara was not universal during begining of the series, the place the Undyne fought Chara who was not universal yet during that section of the game. She was building level (low ball), Large building (High ball).
I agree, Chara had to be Building + during that fight.
"Then it further is cemented, because all of Chara and Frisk's actions are the player's. Chara herself is the embodiment of the player, due to the name "Chara" being short for "Character"."
It's not really my interpretation. I believe Toby Fox stated that he left everything about Frisk and Chara ambiguous so we could imprint ourselves on them. Or something like that. This is the reason why they have no canon gender, so they can logically be any gender. It's also why their pronouns are always "They or Them" since it can count for both genders.