Dusttale

Dusttale is a Korean Undertale AU/AT where Sans kills monsters to gain LV so that he can kill the human to stop them from doing any more Genocide runs.A Genocide Run in Undertale is one of the possible ways to play the game, focusing on deliberately killing every encounterable monster in each area of the game even when they pose no threat. The tone of the game becomes much darker. Characters react differently, often fearing or loathing the protagonist. Certain areas become eerily quiet or devoid of life. Completing a Genocide Run drastically changes the ending of the game, making it bleak and unsettling. It will also affect future gameplays. Failing to kill every enemy in an area before progressing locks you out of the Genocide Route. 
It was created by Osteophile.Sans KILLS: An AU called "Dusttale" : r/Undertale and Calvateylacalvateyla's tumblr, along with one other person They are most commonly credited as Ask-DustTale in the Undertale fanbase.
Most of the fanworks for Dusttale are based on Evan Streblow’s fangame rather than the original fanfic, mostly due to a language barrier. 
During the 2020s, more fan works end up being based on the canon version of Dusttale.
== History ==
In February 2016, three pieces of character art for the Dusttale AU was posted to the Korean Undertale forum, 'Undertale Gallery', which were linked on the Ask DustTale Tumblr in 2018 with the commentary:
In March 2016, Osteophile posted to the r/Undertale subreddit, giving an overview of the Dusttale AU which they and two other authors had been working on. The Ask DustTale Tumblr and a Twitter account were also set-up around this time and were linked to through the Reddit post. At the time, the post received a small amount of attention with 15 comments. Many seemed to be making fun of how 'edgy' they felt the AU was, however a couple felt that there was logic to the AU and saw a perspective from which Sans could become this kind of character.
On the Ask DustTale Tumblr, there was notably more interest, with many asks being sent in about the AU or from fans asking to use elements of it in their fanworks. The Tumblr page would remain active, answering many asks a month, up until October 2021. 
From April 2016 to June 2016, the creators of the AU posted 7 one-shot Dusttale fanfics to Archive of Our Own; a multi-chapter fic would later be posted in March 2018:
* 미친 시간 연작 - calvan
* 미쳐가는 시간 (Time to go mad) - calvan
In August 2018, Evan Streblow released a fangame for Dusttale which went onto receive 1,541 comments, and this game drew more interest to the AU, which would eventually lead fans to the Tumblr and original works. Many fanworks for the Dusttale AU were influence by or inspired by the game. 
==Canon ==
In canon of Undertale, characters do not explicitly remember resets or previous runs, but instead allude to lingering senses of something happening before, a sense of deja vu, or observed patterns of behaviour that seem to indicate reliving the same experience. The premise of the Dusttale AU is that the player of Undertale has completed numerous Genocide runs — killing everyone they came across — and Sans remembers all of these in detail. 
Determined to stop the human from continuing their runs, after numerous failed attempts Sans discovers that a single monster is not powerful enough to defeat the human. So, Sans decides to sacrifice other characters, gaining LV — also known as LOVE, which stands for "Level of Violence." — when he kills them. The LV increases both his HP and AT. In most Undertale fanworks, the more LV you have, the more powerful you become. By sacrificing the other characters, Sans believes he will become powerful enough to kill the human, breaking the cycle of genocide runs. 
While the AU starts with Sans suffering with guilt and trauma from his actions, as it progresses, he become increasingly desensitised to his own actions and focused only on completing his goal of defeating the human player once and for all. Along the way, Sans experiences a breakdown and begins to see the hallucination of Papyrus, who he has killed during his attempt to defeat the player. 
The creators of the Dusttale AU did not have a decisive ending for when Sans achieved his goal of killing the human; though they envisioned that the Underground could continue to be reset so that Sans could potentially restore the characters he had killed. However, as they had no set outcome in their AU outline, they encouraged people to use their imaginations or go with the outcome that they most wanted to explore. 
===Characters===
*Sans, nicknamed Murder!Sans
*Papyrus: Same as the original.
*Phantom!Papyrus: A hallucination of the original papyrus.
*The Player/The Human: They are Sans's driving force for gaining LV.
==Fandom==
As of December 5th, 2024, Dusttale has over 453 Works on AO3.Alternate Universe - Dusttale (Undertale) - Works | Archive of Our Own Dusttale has hundreds of fanart pieces on DeviantArt.Dusttale tag on DeviantArt
===Common Tropes===
*Phantom!Papyrus being a ghost of the original papyrus rather than a hallucination. This trope originates from Evan Streblow’s fangame.
*Dust!Sans nickname, this was later accepted by the creator.https://ask-dusttale.tumblr.com/post/624149261898088448/in-the-korean-fandom-dusttale-sans-popular-name
*Sans wearing Papyrus's cape or scarf.
*Sans using Purple Bone Attacks
*Murder Sans' Location Encounters: A trope that was popularized by the Roblox Undertale fangame, Undertale: Last Corridor.
*Sans copying other Monster's magic. in the Canon, Sans only can mimic other Monster's attacks
=== Trios===
Murder Sans is commonly a part of some trios. The most popular trio that features him is the Murder Time Trio, created by Touken-Kamui. The Murder Time Trio includes him, Killer Sans from Undertale: Something New, and Horror Sans from Horrortale. Other trios that include him are Mad Time Trio (Murder Sans, SwapDust Papyrus and ShiftDust Chara), Former Time Trio (Last Breath Sans, Murder Sans, Insanity Sans), Heroes Time Trio (Murder Sans, FellDust Sans and OuterDust Sans), and more.
===Shipping===
The creators of Dusttale doesn't like shipping. They used to prohibit Murder Sans x Frisk and Murder Sans x Classic SansIt's time to get organize. Since July 21, 2020, restrictions on shipping were lifted because Dusttale became way too well-known, and you can't control fans.Notice for restrictions
==Reactions ==
Dusttale is commonly disliked by some people in the wider Undertale fanbase because they view it as 'too edgy,' and the AU doesn't make "any sense," because Sans won't remember Resets and Sans is very out of character.Why does everybody hates Dusttale? : r/Undertale Why is Dusttale so beloved if it doesn't make fucking sense? : r/Undertale Fans of Dusttale defend the point that Sans is very out of character by using the information from the canon that Sans's option of Genocide is his last option. Misconception revolving around Dusttale : r/Undertale Fans also state that "Not all ATs and AUs should be Canon Compliant". 
Some Undertale fans thinks that Flowey being The Murder would make more sense than Sans being the murder because Flowey can remember Resets and is willing to kill.It was brought to my attention that it makes more sense for Flowey to go insane in Dusttale and not Sans. I decided to fix this. : r/Undertale Fans argue that this contradicts Dusttale's central themes, which is tragedy and despair, while Flowey being the murder is about becoming stronger to become the controller of timeline again.It was brought to my attention that it makes more sense for Flowey to go insane in Dusttale and not Sans. I decided to fix this. : r/Undertale (Comment) Some Dusttale fans view it as disrespectful to Osteophile, the original creator of the AU.Dusttale (My honest take on regarding "Fixing" it by making Flowey Do it instead of Sans or any characters.) : r/Undertale 
==Takes==
Dusttale, like many other AUs, has multiple takes based on it. A take in the Undertale fandom is a reinterpretation of an AU created by someone other than the original creator.
===SP!Dusttale===
SP!Dusttale is a popular take of Dusttale created by the Bilibili user, springs. This take is very popular in China and surprisingly also in the English-speaking Undertale community.
===Evan's Dusttale ===
Evan's Dusttale is the modern name of the version of Dusttale that features in Evan Streblow’s fangame. The modern Undertale community treats Evan's Dusttale as a meme. 
A remake of Evan Streblow’s fangame called Dusttale: Remastered is in-works created by Robin and was greenlit by Evan.
===UT!Dusttale===
UT!Dusttale is a sprite animation created by Yuti. It is the most popular take on 'Flowey being the murderer' in Dusttale. It is very well-received.
==Spin-offs==
Like with almost every Undertale AUs/ATS, Dusttale has also produced its own AUs, with their own fanbases.
=== SwapDust===
SwapDust is a combination of the alternate universes Dusttale and Underswap. SwapDust, or DustSwap as the creator called it, was created by Whelth. SwapDust was thought to be by Legcorn, who transferred the ownership to Kurbo0, Keanechiii, and JesterBones4150. They renamed the AU to SwapDust: Rage and Nightmares. Rage and Nightmares was once considered the canon version of SwapDust by the Undertale community before the discovery of Whelth's DustSwap. 
There is a debate about whether to call the AU Dustswap out of respect for the author, or Swapdust to make the setting and design easier to understand for some people who used "modern" AU Logic. "Modern" AU logic follows the idea that the first AU in the name is the base, while the second AU adds effects like role swaps or events.
===DustSwap===
DustSwap is a roleswap AU of Dusttale. The difference between SwapDust and DustSwap is that SwapDust is UnderSwap going through Dusttale events while DustSwap is Dusttale Swapped.
The most popular take on that idea is Dustswap: The Butterfly Effect, created by laura10211. Ownership was later transferred to D4niztic and Flambeworm370, and now it is solely owned by Flambeworm370 due to D4niztic leaving the Undertale community. DANIZTIC'S ARCHIVE The Butterfly Effect has got a lot of fanart and some fan themes.
===Dustbelief===
Dustbelief is a combination of the alternate universes Dusttale and Disbelief. Dustbelief was created by aude-javel as a web comic. Dustbelief has many different takes, the most notable being Halo's Dustbelief and Disbelief with Dust. The Underswap version of Dustbelief, Dusttrust is also very popular. 
===DustDust===
DustDust is a stack AU of Dusttale created by Carno-Power.A Stack AU is an AU where the same AUs are layered on top of each other. For example, SwapSwap is where Underswap swapped roles again. Carno's DustDust is commonly dubbed as the "Canon DustDust." There is also a popular take, which is more popular than Carno's, created by TheFlameLord, which the fanbase has dubbed "Fanon DustDust." Most fanworks of DustDust are based on Fanon DustDust, but there are a few fanworks for Canon DustDust.
===Felldust===
Felldust is a combination of the alternate universes Dusttale and Underfell.
===Outerdust===
Outerdust is a combination of the alternate universes Dusttale and Outertale, a space AU.
==Example Fanworks ==
===Fanfic===
**But Nobody Came by FireFaceOutlook
===Fansong===
*DUSTTALE - Stronger Than You (Murder Sans Parody) by Yamata41
*The Murder and Red Megalovania by kartrina 130 - Two of the most popular Dusttale Megalos that are commonly used as bases to create more themes.
*Eye to Eye by xXtha
*DAMAGE-MANIA by Redrum320- a popular Dusttale Megalo
*Infamous by SharaX
*Not all dreams are real by Positive Max
===Fangames===
*Dusttale by Evan Streblow
* Friday Night Dustin' - the most popular Friday Night Funkin' mod based on Dusttale
*IDUTSHANE by Mehigh6
*Dusttale: Waterfall Sans Encounter by BossHim
===Fanart ===
====Links====
* murdersans by dupsmj9610
*Dusttale Murder Sans by StarStudio2003
====Gallery====
File:454513 leightoons murder-sans.jpg|Murder Sans by Leightoons
File:Dusttale Desktop Wallpapers 2.jpg|Dusttale Desktop Wallpapers by Weretoons
===Fananimation===
*SWEETNESS by LV
*Villain by アテ宗
*Class Clown by Luna-tic
*CANDLE QUEEN by 水綿
*Piñata and I by 눌 NUL - A animation made for Dusttale's 7th anniversary
*Everything Stays - DustTale Animatic by PersyK
*DustTale - Papyrus' Death (Animation short) by Nec But Animator
===Meta===
*Ranking Every Dusttale take (From Worst to Best) by Based_Guy01
== Notes ==
==References==
Category:Undertale
Category:Shared Universes
Category:Korean-Speaking Fandom