Welcome back, ya’ll!
We’re back on Typography with Character Analysis and we’re going to have another fun one today!
We’re still in the world of Undertale for this example, so buckle up!
Font Fun Fact
Did you know?
Comic sans is another font that is widely disliked, also due to misuse and overuse. The font being casual, to being described as childish, it being wrongly used on something professional can irritate people. As such, it’s seen as a lazy font to use in something relatively serious.
This brings us to our character of today’s topic…
Sans
[Image source from the Undertale Wiki]
Sans is the older brother of Papyrus (despite being shorter, some older siblings know this pain) both being skeletons named after a font that they use to speak it. Sans is one who works many jobs yet seems to be lazy in all of them. Or maybe he’s the Brilliant but Lazy type? Hmm…
Even though he’s named after one of the hated fonts and lazes around, Sans is someone not hated in his world and in terms of fan response, he was one of, if not the biggest meme from the game. So it goes without saying he’s amongst the fan favorites as well. It’s possible to be aware of the character from the memes being made involving from him such as “Get dunked on!” to him being a Tumblr Sexy Man (if anyone wants to know what that means, we’d love to talk about the design quirks those on Tumblr enjoy but sadly we don’t even remotely have the time to unpack that BIG can of worms!).
Memes may not be accurate at times, it’s best to see the material to get a clearer idea on the character. In this case, Sans is seen throughout the game checking up on Frisk, starting from the very beginning, sneaking up behind them…. foreboding demanding they say hello with a handshake…. only for the sound of a whoopie cushion to be heard once Frisk holds his hand. This first impression probably gives the best idea of Sans, he’s a prankster who’s also friendly as well but he’s also very capable of being scary. And if the player forgets that last part, Sans will remind them in a later part of the story whether or not they’re naughty or nice.
But Sans coming off as lazy which causes people to underestimate them but is actually very smart and capable? Feels like a lot of smart kids will relate to Sans.
Speaking of relatability, let’s talk about about Sans’ design.
Design
[Image source from the Undertale Wiki]
Sans wears blue toned hoodie and pants, along with slippers. (Of note on the topic of his shoes: the color of his slippers differ pink was from his Mii Costume in Smash Brothers Ultimate, while on Steam he wears blue slippers and united blue and white sneakers, meanwhile his overworld sprite doesn’t even show Sans wearing shoes, despite his battle sprite showing slippers. Weird, huh? Either Sans often changes his shoes like a normal person or to mess with us players on figuring out what’s consistent here.)
Besides the blue he sports, being a monster that resembles a skeleton, Sans has the color white as a main color/shade. Blue being a calming color, he contrasts with the reds of his brother, Papyrus. Sooner being the quiet one in ways, compared to how loud his younger brother is at times, as evidenced by their intros in the game proper, down to their clothing types. With Papyrus wanting to sooner jump into the action and how Sans likely wants to nap.
[Left (Sans) Image source from the Undertale Wiki]
[Right (Papyrus) Image source from the Undertale Wiki]
Blue is also a color associated with wisdom. Sans being the older sibling, he has a lot presumed responsibilities. Being the older siblings and maintaining jobs, though, whether he does the latter well, you’re going to have to ask.
Besides his name in a font meaning, the word “sans” means to exclude someone out of something. Sans himself often excuses himself out of various things, as seen throughout the game, which likely also contributes his “lazy” label.
His brother Papyrus seems to believe Sans is a lazybones at times, who is prone to trolling but regardless, both brothers clearly care for one another regardless of the sibling banter. If anything this kind of sibling banter is normal for the sibling relationship.
That’s all for now! Look at our next post where talked about his brother, Papyrus if ya missed it!
Do you want to read about someone who’s careful and someone else who’s a sibling to another character? Check out our duo character analysis which showcases Blake Belladonna and one of her teammates, Yang Xiao Long!
