Spyret's Blog

Sorry to keep you waiting…

With recovering from surgery, family issues, my birthday on the 19th, and the sheer amount of research this topic needed, I have been neglecting the blog I paid for…!!! Sorry about that. Let’s just get to the point.

Today’s post is about Sans. Though, with what I want to talk about, and Chapter 5 inspiring me, it should be more aptly titled “Sans (and Papyrus) and His Extensive, Convoluted, Mysterious Backstory Nobody But The Dog Knows About… and How DELTARUNE Can Fix It”. As someone who understand Sans’ character to the height of its abilities, and considers itself an expert on the topic, I felt I needed to make a post on him eventually. I’ll try not to let my headcanons interfere too much, OK? OK. Good. Let’s go.

We need to talk about UNDERTALE first, obviously. With the Sans DELTARUNE Theory being more or less confirmed by now, there’s not a whole lot I can expand on, but it makes more sense when UNDERTALE is taken into account. Our first time meeting Sans is a major moment that spells out exactly who he is. He’s a funny type guy with a funny typeface (reference, anyone?) with way more of a mysterious air to be explored than at first glance. He also cares about his brother deeply, and his brother cares about him. It’s a good thing that, upon entering Snowdin Town for the first time, the shopkeeper lets us know where they came from.

…Well, not exactly.

She says that the two of them just showed up one day and asserted themselves. That’s an answer, sure, but an intensely vague one. It offers more questions than the one we initially had, right? Sans and Papyrus came from somewhere, not Snowdin, and immediately jumped into making a life there. Well, the Underground isn’t a very big place, all things considered, so where did they come from? Nothing in the game actuallyshit cat on my face sorry anyway Nothing in the game actually answers this… does it?

If you really pay attention to Sans, though, there’s a few hints he drops, no matter what route of the game you’re on. He mentions “knowing the feeling” of wanting to go home in the diner, despite encouraging the human to come to terms with the fact that maybe searching for a way to return is less than ideal. That kind of defeatism sounds like he’s learned that lesson the hard way, doesn’t it? His Lost Soul dialogue in the Asriel fight reflects this too, even referring to people he’ll never see again. In his battle in the bad kid route, he says he “gave up trying to go back a long time ago”. The biggest thing, though, is the FUN-value-specific dialogue you get by checking a drawer in his secret lab.

A poorly-drawn picture of three smiling people. Written on it…

“don’t forget.”

…………….Hey, how do you get this dialogue again? Clam Girl appearing in Waterfall, encouraging the human to meet her neighbor, Suzy, who looks to be around their age? And if you’re playing on the Switch version, that released only days before DELTARUNE Chapter 1, she says that the time you’ll meet her is fast approaching?

Who loves my segue?! DELTARUNE!

I’ve had the Sans DELTARUNE theory since Chapter 1, to be completely honest. He turned up looking just like his UNDERTALE counterpart… not a coincidence. Papyrus’ absence does not go unnoticed… actually, there’s a good chunk of people who believe he’s the Knight. My own research has concluded that he’s one of the top three theorized characters. It was confirmed in Chapter 4 with the track at the end of the chapter, The Place Where It Rained, and for folks who didn’t get it (everyone who dared to fight me in my TikTok comment section), he ran the ice cream booth in Chapter 5, and gave Susie a punch card to draw her friends on. This moment is mandatory no matter what route you’re on in that chapter. This is not, NOT, NOTTTTT a coincidence. It should have killed any suspicion that this theory was incorrect, and I would say it has, if not for some UTDR fans’ inability to read.

Now, Sans’ backstory is covered, right? Right? RIGHT?! Well… no. Since Chapter 5’s Weird Route ending may have confirmed Device Theory, the theory that DELTARUNE takes place on the strange machine Sans keeps in his secret lab, it only raises more questions. How does Sans, if he is from DELTARUNE, manage to leave the confines of the machine? How does multiversal travel fit into this? Is he really a creation of Gaster? Was Handplates onto something? All this and more, maybe in Chapter 6.

Papyrus, however, may know more than he lets on. But I think his memories don’t serve him as well as Sans’ does. Sans’ knowledge of the way the world works allows him some flicker of when resets happen, what they are, what determination is, but it rests on a very unreliable twinge of deja vu and his ability to read expressions and body language. While Sans’ knowledge stands out because of his leaning on the fourth wall, the other characters, including Papyrus, act like it’s normal for them, and even share some of it themselves. Alphys talking about alternate universes, Asgore’s flavor text if you tell him how many times he’s killed you, Toriel recognizing that you’ve killed her before, Papyrus recognizing you if you reset after Snowdin… Sans not being from this world may allow him to see how strange it all is, maybe a bit more than the others. But Papyrus also has to be from DELTARUNE, right? I’ve seen some people say no. Some theorize that Papyrus is merely the UNDERTALE version, but I don’t believe this at all. I have my own thoughts of how Papyrus fits into the DELTARUNE world, and no, I don’t think he’s the Knight. I’ll talk about this on a later date. But if I didn’t know any better, I would say, yes, Papyrus is a different person in different universes, unlike Sans. But there’s one thing Papyrus says that changes my mind instantly, and if you’re a Truck Freak like I am, you’ll know what I mean.

In an interview with Papyrus in one of the newsletters (no, I’m not going to look back and check, are you crazy?!), he’s asked where he and Sans come from before Snowdin. It seems like he has trouble thinking back, but before Sans takes over and ends the question (sir?!), he mentions green grass. No further questions, Your Honor.

Folks, we just got Chapter 5 last month. I know it looks bleak. DELTARUNE, as much as we hate to admit it, will come to a close very soon. Toby’s dream will soon be realized, and we won’t know what comes next for these characters and this extended story. I’ve spoken to people who are frustrated about the lack of answers so far, and many are worried that we won’t learn the truth before the end.

To that, I say… have faith. This story has been written for nearly fifteen years. Toby wouldn’t have laid these bread crumbs if they weren’t leading somewhere. I don’t believe any good writer leaves mysteries like these unsolved. It would make for a very unsatisfying end. So, let’s find out together in the coming years.

Until next time. ❤