In fact, some people change so much photos of them as a child and an adult they aren’t even look like the same person. Therefore, looks are the only thing which establishes a character is Sans. In an “AU” where Sans is the only character (generally, Dream Sans, Ink Sans, Nightmare Sans, etc.), it’s not possible for Sans to have similar relationships or roles, and other similarities are also less likely. Looks If it looks like a duck, it is a duck. In that case, the only thing that makes him a “Sans” at all is his looks.Ģ. Though Fresh-Sans looks just like Sans in tacky 80s/90s clothing, he’s actually a bizarre alien parasite controlling “a Sans”, not a monster. However Sans and Papyrus were made in canon, they certainly weren’t gods made from a black hole or made from a tree’s light ergo, none of them qualify as “Sans” by this logic. Dream Sans and Nightmare Sans were created from the light of a mystical tree, which is, again, not like canon Sans.

In ReaperTale, a work where various Undertale characters are gods, Sans and Papyrus were made from a black hole. K.O., monsters’ natures differ so much in O.K. In fact, even if he were a “monster” or class of monster within the world of O.K. It’s bizarre to assume a DNA test would reveal he’s identical to Sans, as his physiology differs so much. Therefore, to say than two Sanses are the same because they have the same genes only makes sense if identical twins ‘count’ as the same person, or variations thereof. Though they may have the same DNA, the way that DNA is expressed (such as through epigenetics) can differ, and the differences can magnify over time. Indeed, as time goes on and their environments diverge (e.g., not going to the same school), they come to differ more from each other. Identical twins, despite having the same DNA, do not count as the same person. In works where a character obviously can’t have the same origin, DNA, or material composition as canon Sans that character cannot “count” as Sans. For this to be a valid interpretation, a “Sans” would need to have the same parent(s) or source as canon Sans, whatever that may be. (say, being a plucked duck, or a plucked duck whose legs are missing).īy this logic, an individual who is genetically identical to Sans is Sans. If a particular animal’s DNA matches a duck, it’s a duck, regardless of whether it looks really weird. When it comes to living things, essences are generally conflated with DNA. By definition, essences cannot be measured, only the things that are presumed to be manifestations or signs of it. People often ascribe “essences”-something invisible from which recognizable traits arise-within living beings. isn’t “a Sans” called Coffee Sans? 1 After all, if a “Sans” can differ drastically from the original’s looks, relationships, and role, what would disqualify Joe Cuppa?ġ. Indeed, canon timelines alone sometimes show the malleability of characters’ identities.Īs a point of illustration, what’s to say Joe Cuppa from O.K. Complicating the matter, it’s impossible to say how far Sans can change while still being himself. Yet, supposedly, they are “Sans”, or “a Sans”, rather than Sans-like characters. Some of these Sans-es look and act drastically different from the canon one, from lankier interpretations of Gaster-Sans to the hyperactive Underswap-Sans. Indeed, Sans is so disproportionately popular he’s practically a subfandom in himself, what with the many Sans-centric works or creative works or worlds which only feature Sans and Sans-oid characters.īut which works’ characters “count” as Sans, and which do not? There are multiple ways in which one can define “What is Sans?”, and each definition has various problems. Some of them count as Alternate Universe works, where the work’s very premise is altered, and so do not, but many of them feature distinctive versions of or interpretations of Sans, or Sans-like characters.

The Undertale fandom has many, many works called “AUs”.

As such, mentions of various “AU Sanses” should be assumed only broadly correct. Is Joe Cuppa Coffee Sans? Or: Who is Sans, Anyway?Ĭaveat: It is impossible to reference every “AU”, or even every permutation of “major” (common on the Undertale Tumblr tag) “AU”.

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