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'''Sans the Skeleton''' is a fictional character created by [[Toby Fox]] and first appeared in the 2015 [[role-playing video game]] ''[[Undertale]]''. Initially appearing as a friendly [[Non-player character|NPC]] with an easy-going and laid-back personality, he becomes the ''[[de facto]]'' [[Boss (video games)|final boss]] if the player chooses to complete the "genocide route" and go out of their way to destroy the game's race of monsters. His name is based on the [[Comic Sans]] font, which is used for most of his in-game dialogue. Critics praised the character for his dialogue |
'''Sans the Skeleton''' is a fictional character created by [[Toby Fox]] and first appeared in the 2015 [[role-playing video game]] ''[[Undertale]]''. Initially appearing as a friendly [[Non-player character|NPC]] with an easy-going and laid-back personality, he becomes the ''[[de facto]]'' [[Boss (video games)|final boss]] if the player chooses to complete the "genocide route" and go out of their way to destroy the game's race of monsters. His name is based on the [[Comic Sans]] font, which is used for most of his in-game dialogue. Critics praised the character for his dialogue. |
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His popularity with fans inspired several user-created [[Mod (video gaming)|mods]] and other types of projects. His [[boss fight]], which is considered to be one of the most difficult in the game, with its theme, "[[Megalovania]]", became a widely popular track. The track has since appeared in other games and media such as ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'', and has been performed in a live rendition for [[Pope Francis]] by a circus. |
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==Concept and design== |
==Concept and design== |
Revision as of 23:06, 21 March 2024
Sans | |
---|---|
Undertale character | |
First appearance | Undertale (2015) |
Designed by | Toby Fox Temmie Chang |
In-universe information | |
Home | Snowdin |
Sans the Skeleton is a fictional character created by Toby Fox and first appeared in the 2015 role-playing video game Undertale. Initially appearing as a friendly NPC with an easy-going and laid-back personality, he becomes the de facto final boss if the player chooses to complete the "genocide route" and go out of their way to destroy the game's race of monsters. His name is based on the Comic Sans font, which is used for most of his in-game dialogue. Critics praised the character for his dialogue.
His popularity with fans inspired several user-created mods and other types of projects. His boss fight, which is considered to be one of the most difficult in the game, with its theme, "Megalovania", became a widely popular track. The track has since appeared in other games and media such as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and has been performed in a live rendition for Pope Francis by a circus.
Concept and design
Sans was conceived by Toby Fox, the creator of Undertale. He was created with "special inspiration" from J. N. Wiedle, author of the webcomic Helvetica, a series about an eponymous skeleton named after the Helvetica typeface.[1] His first concept drawing was made by Fox on a college notebook,[2] and at this point in development the character was called "Comic Sans" after the typeface, described simply as the brother of the game's second boss Papyrus, following the same naming scheme.[3] When Fox first designed Sans, he did so to make more skeleton puns, but he didn't think it was humorous enough, so he later scrapped it for artist Temmie Chang. Chang remarked that the character looked like it appeared to have been playing poker at the casino when determining Sans' attire.[4] Artist Drak designed a Steam trading card based on Sans that came packaged with a collection of Undertale cards. Fox thought it would be intriguing if Sans was absent from the card itself and could only be seen in full view dozing over to the side. Since he wasn't sure if Steam would accept a card with nothing but blank black space, he added the spotlight. Finally, he concludes by expressing his hope that "Sans' sleepy presence will continue to surprise someone every once in a while."[4]
He is one of the characters who does not normally use the game's default font in his dialogue; rather, it is usually displayed in Comic Sans. He only uses the default font if he is talking about the mechanics of the game.[5] When translating Undertale into Japanese, however, this needed to be changed due to being difficult to translate. The final version had Sans' dialogue be communicated in a "cutesy irreverent typeface one might find on an advert or television variety show."[6] He is often paired with his brother, also named after a font of the same name.[7] In Japanese, Sans refers to itself in as サンズ/Sanzu, which may refer to the 三途の河/Sanzu River, also known as the "Sanzu no kawa" or the river that separates life from death, and judges for those that pass it. Sans uses oira, and anta, and sometimes omae towards his friends and he also switches his gender-neutral speaking style into omae and ore when he is either being serious or talking to his brother, and then also uses sentence finals such as sa and na. When Sans meets the main character, he tells a story where he again switches to "Kansai ben" about a meeting he had in the woods. He only does this once, and in other ways, he speaks the standard language. During the meeting, he wanted to practice his new puns with the women and had a boke/tsukkomi relationship. He also uses a mix between the "macho male" and the "young boy/shounen otoko-kotoba". He then speaks yakuwarigo as a male and uses masculine expressions such as ze, zo, sa and some commando forms when he speaks. However, in contrast to the "macho male", Sans more likely sounds less macho and is much goofier because of his persistent use of oira and anta, depending on the situation.[7]
Appearances
In Undertale
Sans is a skeleton wearing a blue jacket, black shorts with white stripes, and white slippers. Prior to the events of Undertale, he had moved to the settlement in Snowdin from an unknown location with his brother Papyrus. Papyrus was hired as a royal guard trainee sentry and forced his brother to help in his quest to capture a human.[8] Unlike his brother Papyrus, Sans claims has no interest in capturing humans.[9] He follows the player throughout most of the forest, commentating on his brothers puzzles and interacting with the player. Sans continues to appear as a recurring character throughout the rest of the game, often appearing at sentry posts to make jokes and sell items. Near the climax of the game, Sans invites the player to eat at a restaurant together, where he explains how he befriended Toriel behind the large door in Snowdin. He reveals that he promised not to kill any humans who come to the Underground and states that if he had not made that promise, the player would have been "dead where [they] stand".[10]
Sans makes one more appearance in the "Last Corridor", where he reveals the true meaning of the "EXP" and "LV" values that the player has accumulated throughout the game: 'Execution Points' and 'Level of Violence', respectively. He judges the player for how high their EXP and LV values are before disappearing and allowing the player to proceed and fight the king, Asgore.[11] After the player defeats the final boss and leaves the Underground, Sans calls them to inform them of what occurred after their departure, having different dialogue depending on the player's actions in-game.[12] If the player does not kill any monsters, Sans appears alongside the other main characters after the fight with Asgore is prevented.[13]
If the player opts to kill every monster in each area, Sans's behavior will be different. Before the Papyrus boss fight, Sans threatens the player with a "bad time" if they proceed with their actions. If the player ignores Sans's warning, he eventually confronts the player in the Judgement Hall to prevent them from destroying all of the Underground, acting as the route's final boss.[14] Sans is revealed to be able to observe the various timelines created by the player's saving and loading, and wants to stop the player character before all the timelines are reduced to nothing.[15] As the final boss, he has his own theme called "Megalovania" and will fight the player near the end of the game's "genocide" route.[16]
Afterward, Fox revealed the cut content that involves Sans eating ice cream for a minute as he said that it was "silly, irreverent, blurring the lines of the fourth wall."[17]
In other media
Sans appears as a character in Deltarune, where, he can be found at his shop, a remodeled version of Grillby's Diner from Undertale.[18] In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, a Sans costume for the playable Mii Gunner character was released as downloadable content on September 4, 2019.[19] In Among Us, Sans' hoodie appears as a cosmetic belonging to the Cosmicube event called "Indie Hour", also featuring other characters from Undertale.[20] Sans has also been the subject of many fan works and projects, being featured in numerous games, creations, and video game mods.[21][22][23]
Reception
Sans has received generally positive reception since his appearance in Undertale. He has also been well-received by Undertale fans, being the subject of many fan works.[24][25] Nathan Grayson of Kotaku identifies him as one of the most "endearing" characters in the game.[26] Leah Donato of Dualshockers felt that Sans was the best character in the game, he said that he is "comedic relief that is sorely needed and seems like a teddy bear-esque figure on the surface. While this is true, he also has a very sarcastic side, which he indulges at every possible opportunity."[27] Sans was described as one of the best video game characters of the 2010s by Polygon staff; writer Colin Campbell particularly praised his appearance and how "[w]hen he makes a joke, the camera zooms in on him while he winks. It never gets old."[28] The sibling relationship between Papyrus and Sans has received praise. RPGFan writer Alana Hagues felt that their distinct personalities make them a great pair. She appreciated how their humor helped "carry [her] through a tearjerker of a game" and helped her "fall in love" with the setting.[29] During the Undertale Q&A, Sans and Papyrus were the characters that received the most questions from fans.[30] Nathan Grayson enjoyed their relationship, appreciating that their humor was "natural" instead of "dickish or ugly." He discussed how, despite the fact that their personality differences could cause them to hate each other, "they have each other's backs."[31] Destructoid writer CJ Andriessen believed that Sans' appearance in Smash Bros. had increased to his desire, and thought that he was too late to play Undertale.[32]
The song "Megalovania" matches the intensity of the fight against Sans in Undertale has been cited as a factor for its popularity.[33][34] In 2022, the song was also played at the Vatican as part of a papal audience circus act for Pope Francis.[16][35][36] His boss fight was praised by Dan Tack of Game Informer,[37] while IGN staff ranked it as the second best final boss in video games.[38]
Professional wrestler Kenny Omega has expressed his love for Undertale, dressing as Sans for the October 30, 2019 in the episode of All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite.[39] His addition as a Mii fighter costume in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate garnered positive feedback from fans;[citation needed]
On September 8, 2022, Sans was chosen as the "Ultimate Tumblr Sexyman" (referencing an online slang term for fictional characters who garner romantic and/or sexual interest from a large fanbase despite not being conventionally attractive) via a three-day tournament bracket of polls on Twitter. Sans was a finalist with Mob Psycho 100 character Arataka Reigen, whom Sans surpassed with 50.1% of the vote.[40] Toby Fox responded to the results by writing a short fan fiction comedically dramatizing Reigen's attempts at surpassing Sans in the poll.[41] Sans is considered to be extremely powerful, but can be killed by the player.[42]
See also
References
- ^ Ward, Travis (April 8, 2021). "Undertale: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Papyrus". TheGamer. Archived from the original on January 24, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
- ^ Hilliard, Kyle (January 9, 2017). "Toby Fox Shares College Notebook Filled With Early Concept Art And Ideas That Eventually Became Undertale". Game Informer. Archived from the original on January 13, 2017.
- ^ Fox, Toby [@tobyfox] (January 8, 2017). "(apparently) the genesis of papyrus" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 2017-01-08 – via Twitter.
- ^ a b Fox, Toby (October 31, 2016). Undertale: Art Book. Fangamer. ISBN 1945908998.
- ^ Elvery, Gabriel (June 2023). "Undertale's Loveable Monsters: Investigating Parasocial Relationships with Non-Player Characters". Games and Culture. 18 (4): 475–497. doi:10.1177/15554120221105464. ISSN 1555-4120.
- ^ Lum, Patrick (July 11, 2018). "Meet the people bringing Japanese video games to life in English". The Guardian. Archived from the original on September 24, 2019. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
- ^ a b Jørstad, Maria Christina (Spring 2018). "Localization of Undertale, An American Video Game, Into Japanese" (PDF). University of Oslo. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 13, 2024. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
- ^ Cobbett, Richard (September 29, 2015). "Undertale review". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on September 29, 2015.
- ^ Toby Fox (September 15, 2015). Undertale (Windows). Level/area: Snowdin Forest.
Sans: i'm actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now. but... y'know... i don't really care about capturing anybody. now my brother, papyrus... he's a human-hunting FANATIC.
- ^ Toby Fox (September 15, 2015). Undertale (Windows). Level/area: MTT Resort restaurant.
Sans: that promise i made to her... you know what would have happened if she hadn't said anything? [...] You'd be dead where you stand.
- ^ Mark A. Fabrizi (2018). Horror Literature and Dark Fantasy. Brill Sense. ISBN 9789004366251. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
- ^ Toby Fox (September 15, 2015). Undertale (Windows). Level/area: Neutral Route ending.
Sans: so... it's been a while... [...]
- ^ Toby Fox (September 15, 2015). Undertale (Windows). Level/area: Epilogue (True Pacifist Ending).
- ^ Christopher Hopkins (2022). Video Game Audio, A History, 1972-2020. McFarland. ISBN 9781476646053. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
- ^ Toby Fox (September 15, 2015). Undertale (Windows). Level/area: Last Corridor.
Sans: our reports showed a massive anomaly in the timespace continuum. timelines jumping left and right, stopping and starting... until suddenly, everything ends. [...] that's your fault, isn't it?
- ^ a b Diaz, Ana (2022-01-06). "The Pope listening to Undertale's 'Megalovania' is already 2022's weirdest video". Polygon. Archived from the original on 2022-02-19. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
- ^ Fruzzetti, Amelia (July 5, 2013). "Toby Fox reveals cut Undertale content involving Sans eating ice cream for a minute". Nintendo Wire. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
- ^ Grayson, Nathan (November 1, 2018). "Undertale Fans Already Have Theories About What's Going On In Deltarune". Kotaku. Archived from the original on May 7, 2020.
- ^ Lee, Julia (September 4, 2019). "Sans from Undertale joins Smash Bros. Ultimate as a Mii Fighter costume". Polygon. Archived from the original on December 21, 2019.
- ^ Innersloth, Chris D. (November 28, 2023). "Undertale and other indie video games in Among Us". Among Us. Innersloth. Archived from the original on November 29, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
- ^ Newell, Adam (September 21, 2019). "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fan creates functional Undertale Sans Amiibo". Dot Esports. Gamurs. Archived from the original on October 27, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
- ^ Hernandez, Patricia (May 13, 2019). "Someone put Undertale's Sans fight in Fortnite, and it's amazing". Polygon. Archived from the original on May 18, 2019.
- ^ Gach, Ethan (May 13, 2019). "Undertale's Toughest Boss Fight Made Into A Fortnite Map". Kotaku. Archived from the original on May 7, 2020.
- ^ "Undertale: 21 Creepy and Cute Sans Fan Art". IGN. August 19, 2016. Archived from the original on September 30, 2016.
- ^ Vas, Gergo (December 31, 2015). "Undertales Papyrus And Sans Have Dark Souls". Kotaku Australia. Archived from the original on June 12, 2016.
- ^ Grayson, Nathan (November 13, 2015). "Players May Never Solve Undertale's Final Mystery". Kotaku. Archived from the original on February 3, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
- ^ Donato, Leah (July 8, 2023). "Undertale: 10 Best Characters, Ranked". Dualshockers. Archived from the original on March 12, 2024. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
- ^ Colin, Campbell (November 27, 2019). "The 70 best video game characters of the decade". Polygon. Archived from the original on March 30, 2020. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
- ^ Hagues, Alana (August 26, 2021). "Final Family: Our Favorite Siblings in RPGs". RPGFan. Archived from the original on January 13, 2024. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
- ^ Frank, Allegra (September 15, 2016). "This Undertale Q&A is the best reminder of why it's one of the funniest games ever". Polygon. Archived from the original on November 16, 2016.
- ^ Grayson, Nathan (October 30, 2015). "Undertale: The Kotaku Review". Kotaku. Archived from the original on March 29, 2019. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
- ^ Andriessen, CJ (May 30, 2021). "Why did I wait so long to play Undertale?". Destructoid. Archived from the original on January 12, 2024. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
- ^ Baird, Scott (2019-05-14). "Spanish Version Of First Dates Show Uses "Megalovania" From Undertale On Its Soundtrack". theGamer. Archived from the original on 2019-12-07. Retrieved 2023-08-19.
- ^ Grayson, Nathan (2019-02-20). "Jack Black Is Sorry, Not Sorry About His YouTube Gaming Videos". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 2023-08-19. Retrieved 2023-08-19.
- ^ Colbert, Isaiah (January 6, 2022). "The Pope Listened To Undertale's 'Megalovania' In The Year Of Our Lord 2022". Kotaku. Archived from the original on January 7, 2022. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
- ^ Parrish, Ash (6 January 2022). "For some reason Megalovania played during an audience with the Pope". The Verge. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
- ^ Tack, Daniel (December 2, 2015). "Does Undertale Live Up to the Hype?". Game Informer. Archived from the original on April 7, 2016.
- ^ "10 Best Final Bosses in Video Games". 22 April 2021. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
- ^ Bailey, Dustin (2019-10-31). "AEW had Sans cosplay and ran the Undertale soundtrack on TV, the madmen". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
- ^ Cryer, Hirun (9 September 2022). "Undertale's Sans wins Tumblr Sexyman poll, inspiring Toby Fox to write the event's lore". GamesRadar. Archived from the original on 9 September 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
Then, finally, it was time for the grand final of the Tumblr Sexyman poll. With Sans Undertale vs known-chancer Arataka Reigan, voting was excruciatingly close, but the former just outshone the latter by .1 percent of the vote, taking the crown for the Semi-Annual Tumbly Sexyman competition.
- ^ Colbert, Isaiah (8 September 2022). "Good News, Undertale Fans: Toby Fox Just Wrote A Sans x Mob Psycho 100 Story". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ^ Grayson, Nathan (October 30, 2015). "Undertale: The Kotaku Review". Kotaku. Archived from the original on May 7, 2020.