Sans

* Sans
* Battle
* Glowing Eye
* Fatal
* Overworld

*"i'm sans.*

*sans the skeleton."*

*- **Sans, introducing himself***

Sans is the brother of Papyrus and a major character in *Undertale*. He first appears in Snowdin Forest after the protagonist exits the Ruins. He is the deuteragonist of Neutral and True Pacifist routes keeping an eye on the protagonist, and as the final boss and heroic antagonist in the Genocide Route trying to stop a human in the last corridor.

## Profile

### Appearance

Sans appears as a relatively short and paunchy skeleton, with mitten-like hands. Sans is always seen with a wide, toothy-grin on his face. Sans wears a blue hoodie, a white t-shirt underneath, black shorts with white stripes, and a pair of slippers. He has white dots in black eye sockets that disappear when he is serious or angered. When Sans uses telekinesis, his left eye flashes light blue and yellow (the colors for patience and justice) while his right pupil vanishes.

### Personality

Sans is lazy, often sleeping on the job and taking breaks. His laziness is a combination of fatalism and apathy, as he is aware of timeline resets. Conversely, he suggests that this knowledge could be "a poor excuse for being lazy."

He enjoys being mischievous. Sans primarily acts this way towards those he is in good terms with. His antics range from an assortment of illogical, juvenile, and slightly inconvenient pranks. Examples include Sans "selling fried snow," using whoopee cushions, sharing an unscrewed ketchup bottle, and eye paint on a telescope. He is not above utilizing his teleportation or other magic for practical jokes either. Sans is also fond of making the occasional low-brow puns. He enjoys making others laugh in general, as he also performs at the MTT Resort as a comedian.

Despite Sans being apathetic towards his own life, he is considerate to those he cares for. For example, Sans is a regular at Grillby's, and the monsters and Royal Guard dogs treat him kindly. Sans has informed Big Mouth about "all kinds of incredible foods," yet Big Mouth comments that "he always orders the worst burger off the menu." Although Sans hates making promises, he respects Toriel's request to watch out for any humans. Even if the protagonist killed people that were close to him, Sans refrains from broaching the topic until the Last Corridor. In a Neutral Route ending where Papyrus or Toriel is alive, Sans omits the protagonist's slaughter to either of them.

He is also observant; Sans reads the protagonist's expressions and can often tell when they have already done certain tasks. Though Sans is usually agreeable, he can become eerily serious to emphasize a subject. Regardless of the human being partially or wholly merciful, Sans tells them that if "the old lady" had not made him promise to protect them, "(they'd) be dead where (they) stand." During the Genocide Route, he does everything in his power to kill the protagonist, even faking mercy.

Sans may have a scientific background. Evidence includes the quantum physics book, his workshop, affinity for science, his inexplicable ability to teleport and his timeline research.

Sans has implied he once longed and searched for a life that he cannot go back to as he "gave up trying to go back a long time ago". As a Lost Soul, he tells the protagonist that "you'll never see 'em again." Although what Sans is trying to return to is vague.

## Trivia

* Sans's name alludes to the typeface in which he speaks in: Comic Sans. This is a reference to *Helvetica*, a webcomic about a skeleton named after a font.
	+ In Japanese phonetics, Sans's name is homophonous with the name of the Sanzu River, a boundary between death and the afterlife in Buddhist lore which, like Sans, judges all who cross it for their deeds. The Sanzu River is also a recurring locale in the *Touhou* series, from which Toby drew inspiration for *Undertale*'s bullet hell battles.
* If the player attempts to name the fallen human "Sans," the game responds with "nope." and prevents the name from being used.

* Sans's text sound originates from a small clip of SpongeBob SquarePants from the S2 episode 'Something Smells', where Patrick Star says "M**ay**be it's the way you're dressed".
* Sans appears to be left-handed. Evidence includes:
	+ Greeting the protagonist with a handshake using his left hand.
	+ Holding and drinking a ketchup bottle with his left hand while dining at Grillby's.
	+ Steering a tricycle using his left hand in the True Pacifist Credits.
	+ Manipulating gravity with his left hand in his battle.
* Sans speaks in all lowercase, not even capitalizing names or sentence starters, with a few exceptions. This may be a representation of how lazy he is.
* Sans is one of the final bosses along with Flowey and Asriel.
	+ He is the final boss of the Genocide Route.
* In a deleted tweet, Toby Fox said that Papyrus would use the term "Aniki," a Japanese slang used for older brothers or superiors. There are a multitude of interpretations for this as it does not give a clear answer. However, in the official Japanese translation released in 2017, Papyrus refers to Sans as "Nii-chan", a somewhat immature way of addressing one's older brother.
* When the "fun" value is between 45 and 50, Sans calls the protagonist in Snowdin Forest to ask if their fridge is running.
* There was a glitch in version 1.0 in which Sans would walk up off the screen at Grillby's when he took the protagonist there. His dialogue still appeared normally.
* In the Xbox version of *Undertale*, Sans mentions a "famous cherry" in regards to what the GamerBlood soda is made of. This is a potential reference to Merg a YouTuber that frequently plays *Undertale* fan games, as his icon depicts a cherry.
* Sans's line "on days like these, kids like you... Should be burning in hell." could possibly be a reference to a line said by Captain Strong in *EarthBound*, which goes "At times like this, kids like you should be playing Nintendo games."
	+ In addition, the first part of this quote is a direct reference to a quote of Asgore's on the Neutral Route.

* There are two unused overworld sprites of Sans in the game files, one showing him with his pupils (*spr\_sans\_dangerous\_0*) and one showing him holding an ice cream.
	+ In the 2023 summer edition of the *Undertale* / *Deltarune* newsletter, Toby Fox revealed that the ice cream sprite was meant for a special scene before Sans's judgement if he was reached fast enough, in which he would slowly eat the ice cream for a full minute accompanied by silly music.

* Sans also has an unused pose for his battle graphics, similar to his shrugging pose, but with clenched hands.
* In the 5th Anniversary Alarm Clock text, Undyne was talking about a hockey game everyone had played against her. Once Sans scored a goal, he went over to Alphys and did a "finger-pointy arm-crossy dance," implied to be the *Fortnite* emote Dance Moves, more commonly known as the Default Dance.
* Sans makes an appearance alongside Papyrus at the end of the *Undertale* Demo if the protagonist gained no EXP.
* Sans appears as a Mii costume for Mii Gunner in *Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*. The Gaster Blaster is used as the Mii Gunner's arm cannon. The Sans Mii Costume and *MEGALOVANIA* remix can be bought for $0.75.
	+ The costume model is based on the 3D model used for the "Sans Inaction Figure" sold on Fangamer, though it differs with the aforementioned Gaster Blaster and no visible neck. It is simultaneously a play on some of the *Smash* series's concept of the *Smash* fighters being trophy figures brought to life, often depicted as Amiibos in reality.
	+ The reveal trailer for this costume is in homage to *Undertale*, with themed items and brief moments of Sans dodging attacks from two Villagers to represent the humans, and a yellow Piranha Plant, implied to represent Flowey.
	+ Sans is the first Mii Costume in *Super Smash Bros. Ultimate* to include a song with it.
* Sans appears as a guest character in *Pop'n Music UniLab*.
* Despite most official appearances of Sans depicting him wearing pink slippers, such as his Mii costume in *Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*, Sans is never seen wearing pink slippers in either *Undertale* or *Deltarune*.