Howās it going guys, my nameās Graeme
and welcome to 2 left thumbs. Today I want to talk to you about a very specific
subject within Undertale and Deltarune. Sans... could possibly be a Darkner. I put out a small poll asking you guys what
kind of video youād like to see within this franchise next - and I know itās weird to
call two games a franchise, but I think it technically qualifies - and a video on Sans
was the one that won out by quite a bit. Iām very excited to do this video, I think
pulling together the evidence was a lot of fun. Anyone who's been following along with all
my Deltarune/Undertale content, the last video I did was on: āEverything Gasterā. And what people have probably gathered from
that, is that I'm much more of a āhereās the evidenceā type of channel, rather than
a āhereās a crazy theory I craftedā channel. While I might speculate here and there, I
like to just give you guys the details as specifically and detailed as I can, and allow
you to run wild with that information. Now, that Gaster video is absolutely not required
viewing for this one. But thereās a few small things I build off
of, and I tend to under-explain things here that I over-explained in the Gaster video. I donāt want to entirely repeat myself. So you can easily watch this video without
that context, but it might help, and you might enjoy it if youāre into this stuff anyways. Now an argument can be made here that the
Dark World is entirely fictional. Thatās a very popular theory. Itās created by Kris and Susieās imaginations
while playing together in the closet. The different characters and areas within
that Dark World all reflect the game pieces and boards around the room they end the game
in. The only characters that are analogous to
those from the overworld are those which we personally know. Like Ralsai having a direct connection to
Asriel - with all the other characters being complete figments. The items you have with you simply become
a ball of junk when you return to the surface. They were never anything important. Thereās more evidence than that, Iām just
quickly rifling off a few of the examples people tend to give. There are other arguments that can easily
point in the other direction. Building off what I outlined before in the
Gaster video: At the beginning of Deltarune as a game, we are seeing a world being created. Maybe the Dark World isnāt permanent, and
always accessible? But in this case could be real, and created
as an experiment of Gasterās. That may be a bit of a stretch, but there
seems to be a collective uncertainty between Kris and Susie. I honestly feel it would be out of character
for this āearly gameā Susie to play āpretendā with Kris in a closet. And after leaving, she has to specifically
address whether this actually happened, or if it was a dream. Like some isolated form of mass hysteria. And with all the insane things that happen,
the persistence of that egg, suggests that this world is in fact real. And as I outlined before, that egg likely
came from Gaster. Maybe we could argue semantics of what marks
a world real, but regardless of how it exists, I believe the events of Deltarune in the Dark
World, did take place - whether or not that was a physical experience. Now, Iām unpacking a lot here in a very
short amount of time, so for the sake of moving forward, the Dark World is real. Those events and the consequences of that
world are real. Itās inhabitants are real. And Sans, is one of them. Now we can finally talk about Sans, and how
Sans is likely a Darkner. Iām going to break this up into a few categories
that I think very thoroughly make this case. First is Sansā overall personality, next
is how he travels within these games (something Iāve talked about briefly in other videos
but Iām going to cover much more thoroughly here), the overall depiction and appearance
of Sans across both games, and how you interact with Sans and how he reacts within battles
- which might be some of the most important evidence. I might bring up little relevant tangents
as they come up, but thatās broadly how Iām going to be making this case. [Personality]
To begin, let's get to know Sans a little bit better by digging into his personality. Sans is a comedian through and through. Heās willing to joke about anything, and
loves a good pun. While he appears to be simply silly and quite
cavalier, heās actually very observant. Often reading the protagonists expressings,
intentions, and occasionally inferring our actions. āThat look on your face while you were talking. Youāve already heard my spiel havenāt
you? I suspected something like this. You're always acting like you know what's
going to happen.ā So while he puts off these humorous vibes,
heās a much more active participant in the story than he lets on originally. Heās seemingly lazy, but his apathetic attitude
is likely a result of his knowledge that his actions are relatively meaningless. Sans, being one of only a few characters whose
aware of timeline resets, which within the game is anytime we reload a save file. Sans kinda flirts with this idea. Heās garnered that the player is likely
altering time and reality, and he gives us a simple test. āSo, I have a request for you. I kind of have a secret code word that only
I know. So if someone tells it to me, theyāll have
to be a time traveller. Crazy right?ā āYou act like you know what's going to happen. Like youāve already experienced it all before. This is an odd thing to say, but if you have
some kind of special power, isnāt it your responsibility to do the right thing?ā Now his knowledge of the timeline likely spawns
from his own scientific research. There are several hints that he was a very
dedicated scientist before his discovery of the timeline, shifting his ideals to amore
fatalistic nature. A view that events are predetermined and therefore
inevitable. Viewing the world this way may create a bit
of a disconnect between responsibility and consequences. This scientific background is reflected by
his own personal workshop; his quantum physics book; Alphys and Sans supposed connection,
with the characters referring to each other now and again, them supposedly collaborating
on the Gaster journal entries, and even a little moment where you call Papyrus with
Alphysā lab: āWait, that bag of dog food looks familiar. I remember seeing it in Sansās room? Yeah! I asked him why he had it! He told me he was trying to eat healthier.ā And lastly, sans does showcase a general interest
in science. This is repeatedly supported through other
characters, especially these few lines from Papyrus. āA lab! My brother would love that. He loves science fiction, especially when
it's real.ā āMy brother, of course he has a telescope. Sans loves outer space sci fi stuff.ā Papyrus on the other hand, clearly doesnāt
have a mind for science. When standing outside of Alphysā labratory:
āHmm. A mysterious science house.ā āthe sign outside says ālabā.ā āLab!ā ālikeā¦ laboratory.ā āLabradorā¦ y? Does that mean there are dogs inside?ā āi meanā¦ i wouldnāt rule it out.ā And on a second call:
āStrange dogās house.ā Now despite an understanding of the timeline
resets, and the save function, Sans does not retain his memories when a save is loaded. He is unable to utilize this function himself. This awareness at least explains his scrupulous
nature. He can even spot when the protagonist is reliving
certain experiences. When we face Sans after killing him for the
first time. āThat expression that youāre wearing. Well I won't grace it with a description.ā And each additional time after that,
āThat expression that youāre wearing. Youāre really kind of a freak huh?ā This knowledge may actually grant us some
additional insight into his personality. Why heās able to stay so relaxed in the
face of danger and his own mortality. āYou can't understand how this feels. Knowing that one day without any warning,
itās all going to be reset. Look I gave up trying to go back a long time
ago, and getting to the surface doesn't really appear anymore either. Because even if we do, weāll just end up
back here, without any memory of it right? To be blunt it makes it kind of hard to give
it my all. Or is that just a poor excuse for being lazy? Hell if I know.ā Thereās some āLie to Meā level analysis,
where Sans is reading our subtle, shifting facial expressions. With these observations going so far that
heās able to accurately assess the protagonists EXP and LOVE just by looking at them. Sans originally regards the protagonist as
an anomaly, hoping that through good food, bad laughs, or nice friends, he could stop
them from resetting the timeline. Weāre granted access to Sans workshop only
upon confirming that we are utilizing saves and traveling through time. Now none of this is directly supporting the
fact that Sans might be a Darkner. But it doest give some context for how Sans
behaves within these games. It also explains some of his quote, unquote,
abilities. Which I can talk about next, and how Sans
travels. This insight into saves shows Sansā understanding
of time manipulations, but the other piece of the puzzle as to how Sans can be a Darkner
comes from the combination of both time and space, and how that is utilized across multiple
universes or realities. [Space and Time]
Throughout Undertale, Sans jumps around in the world in a manner that's seemingly impossible. While itās easy to dismiss as silly video
game logic. Sans himself mentions that he can quickly
travel or teleport using what he calls shortcuts. Seemingly another joke, he does actually take
the protagonist through one to arrive at Grillbyās more quickly. And we similarly use a shortcut at the MTT
Resort. Undertale gave us the hint of something here,
but it was explained much more clearly in Deltarune. The glowing door in Sans room is rather confusing,
and appears that the house may be burning down. Another seemingly meaningless oddity surrounding
Sans thatās given some real significance. These glowing doors are shown to be teleportation
devices in Deltarune. Now in addition to Sans teleporting around
maps at incomprehensible speeds, heās recurrently popping in and out of his little shops, travelling
great distances in now time at all. Seemingly being at multiple places as once. One of the shops even has a visible door directly
behind that it that we can never access ourselves. Itās not lit up at the moment, but itās
possible that's one of his many portals, or shortcuts. Maybe the doors aren't always lit, or maybe
this one is broken like the one we encounter in the Dark World? Seam, a character already shrouded in so much
mystery, has a very peculiar shop entrance - almost appearing to be torn into the fabric
of the world behind it. But that might be something else entirely. We also have characters like Rouxls Kaard
who can teleport on the spot. Or, Lancer instead moves similarly to Sans
- moving off screen - then somehow abruptly appearing somewhere we wouldnāt expect. These are the more direct, physical examples. But when we look at less tangible examples
of Sansā complex travel methods, we are given much more insight. Upon entering Sansā room, we wander through
the dark, in a way that is mirrored when first entering the closet of Deltarune. When Papyrus first opens this door, heās
in search of Sans. And when he flicks on the light and see us,
he accuses Sans of playing pranks using time and space. It might not be that it was just dark in that
room, Papyrus might have actually been seeing an entirely different world. āHis room isā¦ itās like another world!ā āYouāre best staying away from that strange
place.ā This line reveals that Papyrus knows a lot
of what is going on. He's probably aware of Sans teleportation
powers, and is introducing us to the concept that a dark room can house an alternate reality. Perhaps the Dark World exists like Schrodinger's
Cat, existing both within and outside of reality. The truth of which is only revealed when casting
a light upon it. Here it reveals that weāre walking on a
treadmill in the middle of a bedroom. But perhaps the light could also reveal two
young children playing with board games in a closet? Now Sans seems to be the most well studied
on multiple realities, understanding the save states and time resets. But Papyrus clearly knows about Sans abilities. And a few other intelligent, or some of the
more learned characters of the universe seem to also be vaguely aware of multiple worlds
or realities. Alphys straight up says that alternate universes
exist. If you say you donāt know who she has a
crush on, Mettaton will talk about the unknowable, and sheāll respond:
āH-hey, Iāve done research about this! There are alternate universes out there! S-someday, maybe, I could meet them...ā And the River Person says to beware of the
man who came from the other world. And on top of it all, in the end game we have
Chara's line, ālet us erase this pointless world, and
move onto the nextā. More melodramatic than the rest. But still kind of proving the point. There is clearly a strong significance to
the Gaster Followerās and Goners. I lumped them together a little bit in the
last video, but they are made distinct. Itās something that probably shouldnāt
be overlooked. Looking a little more closely at things, specifically
at Goner kidās views on existence. * Yo! * You're a ??? too, right? Possibly referencing us being a Goner, with
the intro sequence of Deltarune actually being labelled āDEVICE_GONERMAKERā, and the
individual sprites being āIMAGE_GONERHEADā, and so on. * Have you ever thought about
a world where everything is exactly the same... * Except you don't exist? * Everything functions
perfectly without you... * Ha, ha... * The thought terrifies me. In the battle with Asriel, there is a line
that could be interpreted as hinting at multiple realities, but this line much more strongly
reinforces the significance of āGonerāsā "Everytime you die your grip on this world
slips away!" "[...]Your life will end here, in a world
where no one remembers you!" That might link up with Goner Kidās thoughts. Itās not that you never existed. Itās that you did, are now gone, and are
no longer remembered. You are a āGonerā. Seemingly, the more a character loads a save,
the more they lose their grip on reality. Frisk is at risk of becoming a Goner themselves. If Sans truly is manipulating time and space
as well - that could be the more he is losing himself - adding much more weight to his statements
on saves and different worlds. But what potentially supersedes all in this
conversation, is Tobyās own written word on the subject. āDELTARUNE's world is a different one. With different characters, that have lived
different lives. A whole new story will happenā¦ā Considering the overworld cast is almost entirely
characters we have met before, it is quite clear that this is an alternate reality, or
universe. Thatās been a pretty hard tangent, but I
think some worthwhile things to discuss. Looking back now specifically at our subject
of interest. Supposedly no one knows where Sans and Papyrus
came from. āThe two of them, brothers I think. They just showed up one day, and asserted
themselvesā. Sans and Papyrusā house and Grillbyās
appear to be identical to their Undertale counterparts. Now this is lumping Papyrus into this. And he seems to have some knowledge of what
Sans is capable of, but there isnāt really any evidence to support that he came from
the same place as Sans. The simplest explanation is that yes, they
are brothers. And that they probably are coming from the
same place. But a lot of the evidence that stacks up for
Sans isnāt really present for Papyrus. So based on the facts, I don't know if they're
actually brothers? In the epilogue of a Pacifist run, Sans specifically
refers to Papyrus as āmy friendā. Now itās not like Iāve never called my
brother my friend before, itās just kind of a weird word choice, and feels a little
bit extra important when itās at the end End END of the game. One potential explanation Iāve seen that
I kind of like, is that Sans and Papyrus ARE brothers, BUT who we are seeing in the game
Undertale, is a Darkner version of Sans, and the original Papyrus. The original Sans might be gone altogether,
or simply missing from these games? This does lead into a pretty ridiculous, yet
very funny theory: That if for whatever reason itās a requirement that a Darkner version
of an original character has to have an anagram version of their name - nothing that in this
context a āDarkner versionā is from the Dark World, and not someone from the overworld
visiting like Kris or Susie - then Sans literally can be an anagram for Sans. I don't know how the rules of this world works,
I don't know if you have a say of what your Darkner world name would be? This is the exact sort of comedic stuff that
Sans would really be in to. So that could help explain things a little
bit. That at one point there was an overworld Sans
to pair off with the overworld Papyrus, and we are now instead seeing the Darkner version. A compelling argument from celly-does-art
on tumblr, examined pairs of monsters within Undertale. Showcasing how similar Toriel and Asgore look,
and how they share the exact same fire attacks, since they are the same āspeciesā (for
lack of a better word). Sans and Papyrus look dramatically different
in every way! Sure, theyāre white and boney looking, but
we donāt really see much under Sansā clothes. Even their bone attacks are slightly different
shapes, which may simply indicate they are more individualistic - the attack has more
to do with personality, or their own body shape, rather than the āspeciesā - or
that they have separate origins. Maybe there is another character out there
that Sans more closely resembles than Papyrus? With a rounded body, toothy grin, black white
grey and blue colours, face and nose shapes? But the blue isnāt quite the same and the
shapes might simply be the result of limited pixelation to work with? But donāt discard that just yet, Iāll
come back to it! One of the River Personās offered warnings,
is ābeware the man who came from the other worldā. Itās incredibly vague, and a lot of people
have posed that this could be Gaster. Based on this travelling of time and space,
there's a possibility, he could have been referring to Sans. It could also be noteworthy that theyāre
referred to as āthe manā, rather than āthe monsterā. But identifiers of man, and woman likely arenāt
exclusive to humans. I donāt want people to get too hung-up on
that detail. āLook. I gave up trying to go back a long time ago. And getting to the surface doesn't really
appeal anymore, either.ā There's a separate theory out there that Sans
was at one point a human. No, I don't mean that theory. Itās more general than that. But this could explain some of his innate
connection with Frisk. How heās able to read their face and emotions
better than anyone else. It could also explain the townsfolkās confusion
by his presence. How heās able to manipulate the world in
a way others arenāt, his humanoid looking skeleton, and the fact that he bleeds. All of that supports that he could be human. It could also explain the bond that he has
with Toriel. If he was someone who fell down, and was cared
for as a human, and eventually became a skeleton, they may no longer recognize one another,
but there would still be that connection deep down. But I think this line very clearly frames
that he would not be going back to the surface. ā...getting to the surface doesn't really
appeal anymore, either.ā Going back, and going up are expressed as
two separate ideas. If going back meant going up, he wouldn't
separate the thoughts like this. The surface isn't somewhere heās ever been. So I would say heās certainly not human. If heās not home where he is now, and if
home isn't up above, that means Sans did come from somewhere else. I think thatās a crazy important piece of
evidence that's seemingly insignificant without the context of Deltarune. I love the fact that deep seeds like that
have been sitting there planted so long ago. At the end of Deltarune, it seems that Sans
has only very recently arrived. This is reminiscent of how he is also new
to Undertaleās world. He as a character is frequently on the move,
before eventually getting caught in a time loop in Undertale. And if heās just now showing up in this
world, itās completely possible that the way we entered the Dark World is the same
way that Sans got out. Now a lot of this just provides context and
is rather circumstantial and kinda starts to point in the right direction. When we first talk to Sans in the Deltarune
overworld, one of our options is āgood to see you againā. In response Sans points out the oddity in
saying that to someone you just met. But throws a quick wink our way before reaffirming
that he is new to this town. Maybe timeline resets are still a prominent
part of this world, and Kris either knows, or has a vague sense of familiarity? Itās a very specific choice to allow us
to choose that in our interaction. Made more interesting by the way Sans seems
to simultaneously dismiss it, and play along. Squeezing in something that showed up at the
eleventh hour! I was just doing a final pass editing this
video, and NRobbi commented about this one particular thing with yellow text that I was
unaware of! I looked into it further, and /u/kira-10 on
Reddit had kind of gone a bit deeper into this. At the beginning of Deltarune, anytime you
make choices in the overworld, theyāre simply white or white. In the Dark World they are yellow and white. And upon returning to the overworld - they
remain yellow and white! It is only white throughout all of Undertale,
until the VERY end when speaking with Chara. I donāt know what to make of this? Itās super cool! Definitely keeping an eye out for that in
the full Deltarune game. A simple small detail, but something that
could have a tiny bit of weight. In Sansā room in Undertale, there's a thank
you letter written to Santa. We know that Santa exists in Undertale. We've seen other characters reference him. Or, this note could be a leftover from an
alternate universe? The town in Deltarune is filled with Christmas
references. I think itās a very clever little seed laid
here by Toby, in that it was obviously meant to apply to either world. Looking again to celly-does-artās tumblr
post. A small example they used on the subject,
is Sansā Ice-E word search. That is the only instance of the mascot or
brand in Undertale, whereas it is a full restaurant in Deltaruneās world. This could be a fun reference, or world-building? But layered with everything else, and the
fact that it came from Sans gives it some weight. Looking at the actual words to be searched
for, Skeletons are listed separately from monsters! Sans also has his line, āit's just a dark
cavern filled with skeletons and horrible monsters.ā which might actually reaffirm that Skeletons
are separate from monsters? But I think that is confirmation bias? While there might be something there, we donāt
consider cats to be separate from animals just because they have a specific name or
CATegory. Skeletons could just be a type of monsters,
and heās just being specific. [Character designs]
Now I feel like I got a little ahead of myself with some of the design-y type elements, but
this next section is going to focus on that much more specifically. Itās just hard to be comprehensive, while
bringing up everything that feels relevant, while still staying narrowly focussedā¦ Weāre doing our best here! In this alternate reality we have largely
the same cast of characters as the main world. We can see that every character has an entirely
new design to reflect this new reality. Very notably, Sans is the only character to
not have a redesign, meaning that the Sans in both Undertale and Deltarune are likely
one-in-the-same. Although interestingly this still doesn't
rule Sans out from being a Darkner either. We have no design reference to know if the
outfit he's in is the one from the Dark World or light world, because weāre lacking the
reference, we don't really know which of these 3 worlds is his original. We never actually see Papyrus in Deltarune,
so we canāt confirm whether or not heās been redesigned. Papyrus is seemingly left out of Deltarune,
because it would give us too big of a piece of the puzzle. If we saw Papyrus and he had a redesign, unlike
Sans, it would probably confirm that these two probably aren't direct brothers. But also that thereās more going on with
Sans than meets the eye. While speaking to these design choices, we
should look at character portraits during dialogue. Talking sprites in Undertale directly use
the same head as their uncoloured battle sprites. The characters of Deltaruneās overworld
all speak with plain black and white portraits, similar to what we saw in Undertale. When we travel down into the Dark World, Susieās
portrait remains black and white, while characters like Ralsei and Lancer have fully coloured
images. As a side note, this seems to confirm that
Ralsei is indeed a Darkner version of Asriel, rather than directly being Asriel hiding out
within the Dark World. Not the most common theory, but Iāve seen
some confusion. So Iām just trying to clear some of that
up while weāre at it. We also have no inverse example of how a Darkner
would be represented in the overworld. Whether or not they would suddenly revert
to a black and white portrait? Since Frisk and Kris never speak, we are also
lacking human portrait examples. Sans is conveniently a black and white character,
and therefore his portrait doesn't reveal where he may be from. This is a very specific design choice. One that throws a wicked curveball, but one
that might be some of the strongest evidence? As an aside, yes Sansā eye flashes yellow
and blue in battle, but it isnāt something ever shown in his portrait. So while Iāve seen that used as a counter
argument for the āblack and white portraitā conundrum, I donāt think it can apply. We also have a precedent in-game of a character
having a coloured eye outside of an otherwise black and white sprite. Toriel has ever-so-slightly red eyes! Theyāre like, a dark maroon-y red? But they are different. The colours of cyan and yellow coincide with
the souls of Patience and Justice. Sans is more of an observer than an instigator. He has the patience of a scientist, testing
things methodically, and waiting to act. When he finally does confront Frisk at the
end of Undertale, it is only in retaliation during a genocide run. It is now his responsibility to seek justice
for all those who were murdered. Still, why specifically does his eye glow
when using specific powers? Why is it that eye? And why is it his eye at all?? It might have less to do with the connection
to souls, and instead could be seen as a small visual connection between the yellow and cyan
that Darknerās names will turn when they are either spared, or too tired to keep battling. With the ties between the Dark World and Gaster,
weāre starting to get more of a web of connections. Gaster, the Dark World, these two specific
souls, Sansā eye, the spare and pacify colours for Darkners. Thereās more to be guessed at there probably,
but I leave it open to you guys for your own theory crafting. In other wordsā¦ I have no idea what to make of it right now!! [Battle]
I think how Sans is presented within battle provides the best evidence. It is also the source of some of the most
complicated arguments, and a lot of misinformation. Iāll attempt to address these in as much
detail as I need. There are several pillars to this case, built
up using evidence provided in Deltarune. First off:
We know through Undertale that monsters don't bleed. The overworld in Deltarune is shown to be
consistent with Undertaleās world. Only humans have blood, and not monsters. With the bunny in town recognizing Kris as,
āthe human who lives at the top of townā, and asks ādoes it hurt to be made of bloodā. But thereās a few suggestions that Darkners
do. Lancer busts out a bucket saying that heās
going to fill it with our blood. Now, Lancerās never really been around humans
or monsters. All he really knows is other Darkners. So heād have no real reason to know of blood,
unless Darkners have it. That's why he generalizes that Kris and Susie
must both bleed, same as him and Ralsei. And throughout the game Ralsei consistently
steps in to correct Lancer when he makes mistakes like this, but lets this one slide. Ralsei also sees nothing wrong with this. Sure itās a messed up threat to make. But factually, thereās nothing wrong with
the idea that maybe monsters have blood. Thereās one particular line that throws
a bit of a wrench in this. When Susie says, āeveryone bleeds, right?ā As a monster, Susie shouldn't have blood,
so it would be inaccurate to lump her into this statement of, āeveryoneā. But it is probable that she is simply using
it for the sake of the threat. Using Lancerās assumption of everyone bleeding
to her advantage. Itās a lot more intimidating to say āeveryone
bleedsā, than to factually lay out who in the room does, and doesnāt bleed. So, supposedly Darkners can bleed. Sans in Undertale is seemingly one of the
only characters shown to bleed; something he shouldn't be able to do as a monster. People have spun out a lot of theories about
this: that itās injected Determination leaking out of him, or that his bone marrow contains
red blood cells. These are interesting, but rather speculative
or based on misinformation. Our examples of monsters using Determination
are Undyne and the amalgams (and a little bit in Alphysā lab notes, but there are
the ones that we physically see). In either instance, their bodies can not handle
it, and begin to melt or disintegrate - while in the end still dying in the usual cloud
of dust. And while āred marrowā is a thing, it
exists due to the production of red blood cells. Why would anything that doesnāt have blood
produce red bloods cells? If the argument is that Sansā bones do have
red marrow, then the argument is also that, yes, he has blood. Those are less frequent examples (but I still
see them come up quite a bit), I would instead focus on the three most common explanations
for why Sans bleeds. The first is definitely the simplest. He has blood. When we see him bleeding, it is simply blood. The second is that he has ketchup in his system
because he loves ketchup - and because heās a skeleton itās able to just kind of leak
out. Iām going to immediately dismiss this one. There are a few things that outline that monsters
don't really eat food the way humans do. As soon as you eat monster food, it converts
perfectly into energy. Or this one, "Isn't human food different from
monster food? It does things like "spoil". And when you eat it, it passes all the way
through your whole body. Disgusting. I'd love to try it sometime." Basically their food is made out of magic,
or energy, and when you consume it it combines with the energy or magic that the monsters
themselves are made of. There are various quotes stating that monsters
do not have blood. They are made of magic! Therefore food doesn't really affect them. If Sans is drinking ketchup in Grillbys, itās
going to be monster ketchup made out of magic, and itās not going to persist in his system. Through this, I believe we can rule out the
idea that the ketchup is just floating around in his skeletal body. The third is that heās carrying it around
in his jacket. The theory here is that Sans brought the ketchup
for the theatrics of it. He tucked it away in his jacket as kind of
a final gambit. That during this genocide run, he saw that
all these other monsters turning to dust hadnāt deterred you. Maybe something more relatable to our human
sensibilities, like seeing someone life force drain from them would have a greater effect
on you instead? Thereās no real evidence for that, but I
think it matches pretty well with the character. He would fake bleed-out to try and make you
reconsider, and not kill him. I think this can be undone by the fact that
monsters don't actually know what blood looks like. Kris is able to fool Noelle with ketchup on
his arm. Now we never actually know if Kris is actually
just kind of twisted, and they actually had a cut, and was showing off their gross blood
just to be weird. Or perhaps they took calling it ketchup as
an out, to save Noelle from the horrors of seeing real blood. But if Sans is a monster, I guess if you know
that itās a red liquid, ketchup is a pretty good guess? It certainly worked for fooling Noelle. But more importantly, how does it leak from
his mouth? Through the same logic as before, it should
have turned to magic or energy after being consumed. As we start poking holes in the different
possible sources of the ābloodā -fake or otherwise - weāre only really left with
one option. It just is his blood. Now that weāve covered the blood in detail,
Iād like to fold in another key aspect of Darkners highlighted in Deltarune, that is
shared with Sans. I've seen people argue that Sans using magic
suggests that he's more than a typical monster. I don't think this fully checks out. Lots of monsters seem to use magic. But I think there's a very important overlap
in the venn diagram of having blood and using magic. Humans have blood, but canāt use magic. At the very least they cant use it while in
the underground - Or else the lore of wizards, and using a spell to seal the monsters underground
doesnāt make sense. But letās take this at face value, with
the rules Undertale presents us. Humans have blood; can't use magic. Monsters don't have blood, but can use magic. This suddenly creates a distinction with Lightners,
and monsters, and I donāt know how important that is? But Lightners appear to not have blood, and
not use magic. A good example is our versions of Toriel. In Undertale itās cleaned with fire magic,
and in Deltarune itās covered in batter. And last, we have Darkners, who have blood
and can use magic. Now which of these does Sans belong to? *GASP* The blood and magic argument was a bit of
an arduous one to build, having to sort through plenty of false claims, and insanely in-depth
lore that these games have built up. This next example is a little easier to sum
up. At the end of his battle, Sans doesn't die
on screen. He slowly walks away and says he's going to
Grillbyās. In Deltarune we seemingly can't directly finish
off a character. They always flee from battle before itās
over. And where to we find Sans in Deltarune? At Grillbyās. Although itās been somewhat renovated... That is assuming Deltarune takes place after
Undertale. Honestly, thatās potential for a whole other
video. But for the sake of this one argument weāll
say it takes place after. Some have pointed to the fact that we gain
EXP from the battle against Sans, leading some to believe he was actually killed. But finishing someone off in battle is not
the only way we earn EXP in Undertale. There are some specific actions, like mocking
the Loox before defeating them. So while it is the most common, EXP is not
necessarily linked to direct murders only. Sans does not count as a kill in the stats
menu, and the game doesnāt actually record whether or not he was killed. Sans is the only character in Undertale you
defeat without landing a killing blow, but instead making him tired. In Deltarune all the Darkners are defeated
by becoming tired. The Sans battle follows the Undertale battle
mechanics instead of Deltaruneās, since that appears to be tied to the world youāre
in, not the characters themselves. BUT, the Darkner trait of growing tired and
fleeing is something that Sans has retained post-battle. Taking things back a short bit, Papyrus will
actually turn to dust when he dies, the same as any other monster in battle. Sans is an exception to the rules. Simultaneously showing the way he stands out
amongst monsters, while also showing us one of the clearest distinctions between him and
his brother. Sans and Papyrus being unrelated is not really
a hill I plan to die on with this video, but seemingly based on the evidence of Sans being
a Darkner, and these things not really applying to Papyrus, thatās kind of a secondary conclusion
that I was forced to draw. As I mentioned before, there could be more
going on there? Maybe theyāre simply adoptive brothers? It remains to be seen in the larger game. Sans is also the only character in Undertale
that can dodge attacks, which is something the Darkners consistently do. Monsters throughout Undertale are unable to
dodge attacks. There are a few exceptions to this, but there
are explanations for each. There different amalgams and Asriel seem to
be the only characters that can actually properly dodge attacks. Now Asriel at this point, is basically a god,
so maybe the ability to dodge has become available to them - or more likely follows the logic
seen with the amalgams. We are actually hitting them, and there is
some form of recoil, but weāre only dealing zero damage, which the game registers as a
MISS. Now the only other exception outside these
is Sans. He's a character that appears to very actively
dodge our attacks and result in a MISS. Either heās godlike powerful like Asriel,
or itās some special ability that Darkners have? Thereās a theory that his ability to dodge
stems from his knowledge of the timeline resets. He's encountered Frisk and there attack patterns
enough times to sometimes predict and avoid whatās coming next. I do actually like that theory. That kinda makes sense. It follows the in-world logic. So that oneās a little ambiguous. It can be a checkmark under multiple columns
there, but it could be interpreted to be something to connect him further to the Darkners. Taking this a step further, once again from
Celly-does-art (thank you so much for the amazing research you did, it was very nice
to see someone in agreement, and being able to have some complimentary arguments to build
off of) monsters in the underground have an HP bar that appears when they are hit. Sans is the only āregular monsterā to
not have an HP bar! And, you probably guessed where this is going
already, none of the Darknerās have HP bars when hit! Iāve seen the argument that only Darkners
and Sans are able to manipulate and move the space our soul moves in during battle. The Spade King very specifically does this. And to an extent: Muffet, one of the amalgams
[Lemon bread], and Papyrus kind of do. They each do it to varying degrees, and Sans
doesnāt appear to do it in any specific way that shows him to be more similar to the
Spade King than the monsters in Undertale. Itās definitely a unique power, that only
some characters have. And maybe this tells us more about other characters
like Muffet and Papyrus, rather than disproving anything else? But rather than speculating too hard, I think
we just need to dismiss this one until we have further evidence. If anyone can better explain why this should
be treated as more important, please let me know! So, blood, magic and dodging! What sounds like a Red Hot Chili Peppers album,
also make up the pillars of my battle evidence, and I think together - maybe make the best
evidence for Sans being a Darkner. But we arenāt done yet! [Additional Evidence]
I talked about the song āDonāt Forgetā in the last video, more in the context of
itās connections to Gaster. There's an interpretation that the lyrics
are a directed message attempting to help Sans retain memories across resets. The title of that song obviously connecting
with the āDonāt Forgetā photo in his workshop. The song even has the lyrics, ādonāt forget
I'm with you in the darkā - which may be in reference to the Dark World. The photo in Sans workshop drawer changes
depending on which playthrough youāre on. The photo with three smiling people, and the
words ādonāt forgetā only appears when meeting Clam Girl, where she tells you about
āSuzyā. This addition was made to the game at the
same time Deltarune was being worked on - so that difference is very intentional. Toby had likely named his character by that
point, and even if it was still being tinkered with, he probably would have patched it by
now. Perhaps names in the Dark World arenāt always
anagrams like Ralsei and Asriel, and Suzy with a Z is the Darkner version of our Susie? But, back to the photo.... This could be Kris, Susie, and Lancer. It could also be Kris, Susie, and Ralsei. Itās ambiguous enough that there are so
many different ways that it could be taken. But having the three people smiling, and the
text ādon't forgetā, seems to directly fold in with the ending theme of Deltarune,
celebrating the glory of the three heroes spoken about in the prophecy, with a line
in the song ādonāt forget, Iām with you in the dark.ā Itās all speculative, but thereās a lot
of different cool ways this could be tied together and interpreted. Thereās clearly a connection here, we just
are missing a few pieces of the puzzle I think? Regardless of how that song, photo, and Dark
World precisely tie together, it appears to be a very deliberate connection, and one that
shouldnāt be ignored. I have something quick to discuss with Sansā
eye. Itās more of a counterargument than anything. But I see it brought up a lot, and wanted
to address it somewhere in the video. It's interesting how it plays out within Undertale. I don't think it has an immediate significance
when adding in Deltarune. Talking about our right, and our left when
weāre facing Sans. His right eye is kind of like his āpower
eyeā. Itās the eye that lights up and goes crazy
during our battle with him. So there's this idea that when he winks with
his left eye, leaving his right eye open, it's meant to be more menacing. And when he winks with his right eye, leaving
his normal eye open, itās supposed to be like jolly and just playful. Basically what it seems to come to, is that
he winks with his right eye during the usual dialogue-box, and with his left eye whenever
itās his battle-sprite. Some people have an interesting theory that
when Sans is winking with the right eye in the portrait, that's whenever he's talking
to either Frisk or Kris. And he likes them. Heās just kinda goofing around there. It's in moments like the cutscenes and battles
that he's actually winking at the players themselves. Knowing that were the ones actually in charge
of resets. It's more of a taunt. Now I think that's a cool theory. It doesn't really tell us anything about Sans
origins as far as I can tell. Itās all based on things fans have read
into the game, not real facts. But I like the concept of it enough that I
plan to pay extra close attention to during the followup Deltarune chapters. If you have anything more to add on to that,
Iād be happy to hear it. But based on what Iāve come across, itās
interesting but does not contribute to the larger Darkner narrative. The Undertale soundtrack contains a bit of
a red herring, with the unused track āSong That Might Play When You Fight Sansā. Despite not having a role in the game, itās
inclusion in the official soundtrack hints at its significance. About 10 seconds in (I would recommend headphones
for this) you can hear a sampling of the Gaster leitmotif in your left ear only. From Sansā perspective, his left eye is
the one that glows in battle. One more connection between Sans, Gaster,
and the eye! Before wrapping up this video, I want to point
out a few things that take all of this a step further. Potentially a step too far? Thatās for you to decide. But I didnāt want this muddled up in the
middle of the video. The first time we encounter Sans he's shrouded
in complete darkness. This is similar to how we first meet Lancer
and the Spade King. While maybe not specifically the strongest
piece of evidence, maybe itās a thing that Darkners are just able to do? Theyāre just real sneaky, and good at blending
in? I might be missing an example but I don't
think anyone else in Undertale does this. But it makes sense thematically, that these
DARKners would have powers to manipulate shadow, and hide in the dark. Sans possess toilet paper, as seen in the
interaction with Shyren (I laid out in the last video, I wonāt get into it) while monsters
donāt require bathrooms. We know the Spade castle has a bathroom, and
that Darkners likely actually digest food. The toilet paper thing is so specific, that
I wouldnāt be surprised if - you know - Toby just did it for a joke and didnāt really
think about the deeper lore of that. āWhy would monsters have toilet paper?!ā But, letās stay on the line of thinking
that Toby is as intentional with that stuff as we think he is. There may actually be a layer of connection
deeper than simply living in shadows. Going back to their similar colours, and shapes
- maybe Sans is more directly connected to Lancer and the Spade King than we think? Afterall Sans never says that he wants you
to hang out with Papyrus tomorrow. Simply that he wants you to hang with his
little brother, who needs friends. Which Lancer definitely does... A lonely, jokey, oddball kid who has no problem
with a dinner of nothing but milk. Something thatās good for your bones! A kid who likes to ride his bicycle, setting
up minimalist shops, and building intricate machines with accompanying blueprints, while
also knowing how to take some time to relax. Earlier in the video when I mentioned Sans
and Lancer seeming kind of similar, I said I would come back to it. And what better way to do so then by talking
about their different ābluesā. Seemingly Lancerās specific blue cannot
be found anywhere within the Spade Kingsā sprite. And theyāre directly related! All three characters have their exposed, toothy
grins. Further reflected by the pictures on the walls
of the Spade castle, all feature smiling faces. The motif of Spades having big, toothy grins
is seen in several pieces of imagery and architecture throughout that castle. Threading things back to Gaster (we clearly
havenāt spoken of him enough yet?) The Gaster Blaster face appears to also have
a subtle Spade theme. As well as a crown shape, and nose crest that
appear to be reflected in the Spade King. Perhaps this is either the craziest, or most
sane thought of this entire video... But maybe, these are the three characters,
smiling on Sansā photograph? A memento of when he left home in the Dark
World. A reminder from himself. āDonāt Forgetā. You ready for a rapid fire round? This is likely just a series of neat coincidences. But I think it would be fun to fully unpack
this, even if it ends up being dramatically wrong. We know weāve met the Spade King, and Jack
- with the queen being missing. Leaving us with an unknown Ace of Spades. Which I think may be Sans? In cards an ace can be either a 1 or a 14. The lowest value card before a two, or the
highest after the King. Sansā stats are both 1 and 1. He has the dichotomy of being both the weakest
enemy, but also the hardest boss fight. When Sans uses his super special attack, he
scrolls past the screen 14 times. One of the most well known brands of cards
is Bicycle. And in ācardologyā (which is a little
bit like astrology) thereās this idea of assigning cards to beings, and the meaning
behind those cards. The ace of spades is seen as the most mysterious
card; a card of āancient wisdomā. Those who bear this card are often seen as
perceiving āspiritual truthsā. Cards in cardology also have a āchallenging
karma cardā, a card that exists in close relation, and is intertwined in some way. For the ace of spades, this is the seven of
hearts. Now I'm sure we could find 1000 more examples
of 1s and 14s, but itās probably not worth our time to dig through every one of them? But I wanted to throw out some of the most
obvious ones, because if this ends up being true, it will just prove what an insane amount
of foresight and thought was put into every little detail in these games. Now taking a step back, threading all of this
together. Sans could be from a different world, AND
a different time. Now what i'm trying to say here is that it
makes whether or not Deltarune or Undertale happened first irrelevant. There's a lot of evidence to support which
came first, there's a lot of arguments on either side, Iām not going to get into all
that right now. But because of these timeline alterations,
the warping of time and space, it doesn't matter what happened first or second, because
we could be experiencing them out of order anyways. Iām sure when the game is complete more
will be revealed, and thatās the sort of question we could probably actually answer. But for now itās ambiguous, and it's made
only more so by Sansā presence and manipulations. And with that I think Iāve fully made my
case. Laying out all the supporting evidence that
I think agrees with the theory, and doing my best to debunk things that donāt quite
line up. Is this ironclad? No, probably not! But itās as close to that as I can get with
the current state of these games. Presumably the follow-ups will provide more
evidence if not direct answers. This video literally took A YEAR to make. Thatās not an exaggeration, while at the
same time is- is kind of an exaggerationā¦ I started it back in like December 2018. People had pitched the theory. I started assembling evidence, crafting it
all together. But I would work on it for a couple days,
then end up throwing it out and starting over. And I did that on and off, over and over and
over. Before setting it aside for like, 7-8 months. Something crazy like that? In that time people had come up with new ideas,
new connections, new evidence - and that time around coming back to it, it was much more
clear how everything fits together. But even then, this still took weeks of scripting
and editing, and revising, and moving things around, while trying to keep things clear
and concise (as much as possible). It was an uphill battle... I can easily say Iāve never put more work
into a video. Amazingly somehow topping the amount of work
it took to make that first Gaster video. So I'm so wildly happy to have it out there! Whether or not you disagree with this theory,
I want to hear from you guys either way! Itās very fun to talk about this sort of
stuff. If youāre not convinced that Sans is a Darkner,
hopefully it at least gets some gears turning, and maybe you think of an alternate explanation
for all the various ways sans sticks out in this universe? I probably need a bit of a break before I
make more content on these games. Iām not ruling that out as a possibility
though! Weāll see where things go. Thank you all SOO much for watching, and Iāll
see you again soon.
This video attempts to synthesize a lot of the evidence, mismatched claims, and discussions that I had seen on reddit, tumblr and such. So thank you all for the incidental help! I hope I did the topic justice