Sans (Undertale)

"sans." redirects here. For the song, see Undertale Soundtrack To see more information go to the Undertale Wiki
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 and boss fight, which is considered to be one of the most difficult in the game. His popularity with fans inspired several user-created mods and other types of projects.
Sans appears in the related game Deltarune. His likeness also appears as a customizable skin for the Mii Gunner character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
== History and 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.
Sans first appears in Snowdin, initially appearing as a silhouette approaching the player from behind before shaking the player's hand, setting off a whoopee cushion. He clarifies that he has no interest in capturing humans, unlike Papyrus, whom he describes as a "human-hunting FANATIC". After helping the player hide from Papyrus, Sans follows his brother throughout most of the forest, commentating on his puzzles and even contributing a word search, much to Papyrus's dismay. As the story proceeds, Sans continues performing such antics as attempting to sell the player highly overpriced fried snow. Later in the game, Sans invites the player to eat at a restaurant together. If they so choose, Sans explains how he befriended a woman, Toriel, behind the large door in Snowdin, who shared his love for puns. 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".
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. After the player defeats Asgore and Flowey (if he has not been fought before) and they leave 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. If the player does not kill any monsters, Sans appears alongside the other main characters after the fight with Asgore is prevented.
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 and continues slaughtering every monster they meet, 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. Sans is revealed to have supernatural abilities, able to somehow observe the various timelines created by the player's saving and loading (an action diegetic within the Undertale world), and wants to stop the player character before all the timelines are reduced to nothing. As the final boss, Sans is considered to be extremely powerful, but can be killed by the player.
=== 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. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, a Sans costume for the playable Mii Gunner character was released as downloadable content on September 4, 2019. In Among Us, Sans' hoodie appears as a cosmetic belonging to the Cosmicube event called "Indie Hour", also featuring other characters from Undertale. Sans has also been the subject of many fan works and projects, being featured in numerous games, creations, and video game mods.
== Development ==
Sans is listed in the credits as being created by Toby Fox with "special inspiration" from J. N. Wiedle, author of the webcomic Helvetica, a series about an eponymous skeleton named after the Helvetica typeface. His first concept drawing was made by Fox on a college notebook, and at this point in development the character was called "Comic Sans" after the font, described simply as the brother of the game's second boss Papyrus.
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. He is often paired with his brother named Papyrus, also named after a font of the same name.
== Reception ==
Sans was ranked 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." Its boss fight was praised by Dan Tack of Game Informer, while IGN staff ranked it as the second best final boss in video games.
Sans has also been well-received by Undertale fans, being the subject of many fan works. During the Undertale Q&A, Sans and Papyrus were the characters that received the most questions from fans. Professional wrestler Kenny Omega has expressed his love for Undertale, dressing as Sans for the October 30, 2019, episode of All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite. His addition as a Mii fighter costume in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate garnered positive feedback from fans;[citation needed] they created memes and fan-art after the inclusion.
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. Toby Fox responded to the results by writing a short fan fiction comedically dramatizing Reigen's attempts at surpassing Sans in the poll.
In January 2022, a rendition of Sans' theme, "Megalovania", was played in front of Pope Francis.
== See also ==
* Megalovania
* Undertale
* List of Undertale and Deltarune characters
* Flowey