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lofijellydreamer08643 · 3 months ago

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The Great Papyrus! (A long essay on my favorite skeleton)

By Papyrology specialist LofiJellyDreamer08643

0.) Introduction *Skippable*

I like Papyrus. A lot. So I wanted to write an essay for him! To show people how cool he is ^-^ I know that not a lot of people will actually read the whole thing ._. but I still hope that if you do read this, you learn something cool and have fun! :D

***This will be an extremely long info dump [over 3000 words] so prepare yourself. Mostly all information presented comes directly from the canon game and other canon resources like the news letters. I have done all research myself and have sited outside sources when needed at the bottoms of the sections they apply to. There are some headcanons in here but they don’t go without evidence to support them. Thank you, and have fun reading!***

1.) Papyrus is very mysterious.

Despite me writing this entire long-as-crap info dump on him, we surprisingly don’t actually know that much about Papyrus. Like, of course we know about his personality (Or DO WE!? Part 4, exhibit B) and how he is a kind person. And we know some of his likes and dislikes. We know he is the brother of Sans and that he is very cool. And we know…? Is that it? Just surface level information? That can’t be all! But it kind of is. Think about it. We don’t know anything about Papyrus’s past. We don’t know what he did before training for the royal guard, or what his life before Snowdin was like (aside from the very cryptic “green grass” mentioned in a news letter). We don’t have much information to work with. And for a character with the most lines of dialogue in game (2,184 to be exact), he surprisingly doesn’t talk about himself that much. Even in the Asriel battle where all the characters basically pour out their hearts and innermost feelings, Papyrus… doesn’t actually say that much. Just that he “MUST CAPTURE A HUMAN! THEN EVERYONE WILL…” and that’s it. He doesn’t pour out his feelings like the others. He just… stays quiet. (There is an interesting post about this made by [insert person here] linked at the end of this section). This says a lot about Papyrus’s character and how much we really know about him. Despite this, we can still gain a lot of in game information on him as well as get info from some of the Undertale newsletters.

2.) Papyrus might be one of the most powerful monsters in the Underground.

Papyrus’s battle is only the second boss battle we encounter in game so it’s relatively easy. However, the evidence I have shows that Papyrus might actually be one of the strongest monsters in the Underground!

Exhibit A: The basics of power in the Underground. **This is skippable if you already know this stuff*

To give a refresher on how monster strengths works in the Underground, here’s a short synopsis. Papyrus is a boss monster, obviously. That automatically makes him unique power wise, in battle. He and Sans also have the ability to change your soul color, which is something that only very powerful monsters do. A small thing to note too in Undertale is that the further you are into the game the more difficult the battles will be. This is not a defining factor in strength, but it’s important to remember.

Exhibit B: Papyrus never moves in battle.

This topic has actually already been discussed by many people so I will just reiterate the main points and a few of my own.

If you play Papyrus’s battle you might notice that the entire way through he does not move at all. Like at all. He does not even move his mouth when he speaks even though he clearly does this for every other time he appears! This lack of movement is interesting considering how battles work.

See, each monster you battle in Undertale moves in some way. You can see a pattern of movement where depending on the amount of effort that’s given, the more that monster will move around. For example, Napstablook! Our favorite little depressed ghost doesn’t really want to fight (even having a non-attack saying “not feeling up to it”) so there’s not much movement except for the eyes quivering. On the opposite end of this, is Undyne. She WANTS to kill you BADLY (especially in the genocide battle). She moves a ton in her battle as she tries to take your soul, hair blowing in the wind, bobbing up and down in her battle stance. The Asriel battle is another prime example. He is using all of his power to fight, flying around at the speed of sound and waving his arms.

Now, as stated before, Papyrus does not move. At all. Not even to speak He does not want to fight you. Yet he still has a fairly difficult battle, (he even just lets you pass if you fail too many times). All of this implies that he is holding back and using minimal strength to fight you.

***Here is a link to a helpful and short YouTube video by Betina Levy from some tumblr posts that have a lot of the information I’ve already discussed. (Love you Betina! You’re cool!)***

~ https://youtu.be/S_Fas0QkWic ~

Exhibit C: Papyrus will not kill you.

Everyone that’s played or seen a play through of Undertale knows that Toriel will purposely miss you if your HP is 3 points or below. However, you can in fact still die to Toriel of you do it right (or wrong I guess). The fact that Papyrus is literally the only monster you physically can’t die to in game unless you hack or have a glitch shows again the crazy amount of control Papyrus has over his attacks. He can even alter the amount of damage an attack has while he’s attacking. He knows precisely how strong each bullet should be and how much you, the player, can take. He purposely holds back so that you can have a chance at beating him. He knows exactly what he’s doing.

Exhibit D: Papyrus is 20 times stronger than Sans.

This is an under-appreciated fact that isn’t thought of so much (at least from what I’ve seen). Sans only has one attack and one defense while Papyrus has 20 attack and defense. This means that Papyrus is literally twenty times stronger than Sans. The implications of this are HUGE. We can also add Gaster Blasters to the equation. Papyrus has a special attack that is never seen in game, taken by the Annoying Dog (Toby Fox) and replaced with a cool. If you abort a genocide run at Papyrus’ battle and then go to talk to him in his room, he will mention how his attack would have surely “blasted”. This is very deliberate wording, which implies that Papyrus can, in fact, use Gaster Blasters.

There is also the fact that Papyrus’s stats change based on what route you choose. In genocide, he has 3 attack and defense. This creates the theory that perhaps Papyrus can change his level at will. I do enjoy the implications of this theory, though it’s also just as likely that the stats are lower due to his soul being weakened from fear (since a monster’s soul and magic are intertwined and can be affected by factors like emotions).

Exhibit E: Papyrus can literally bend the laws of physics.

Dawg I swear I had evidence i just gotta remember 😭 plz believe meeee 🙏😭

3.) Papyrus's sleeping habits.

In the UT fandom is a head canon that only Sans has nightmares. However, if you go to Hotland to one of the conveyer belt rooms

Papyrus will comment on how a conveyer belt with lasers sounds like his least favorite nightmare. This implies that Papyrus could have nightmares and often. (You could also use Flowey’s “Your Best Nightmare” theme and how Flowey is connected to Papyrus, but this is more artistic speculation than actual evidence in my opinion.)

This also lines up with the theory/head canon that Papyrus is an insomniac. The first glimpse we have of Papyrus not sleeping normally is in the Snowdin forest when you encounter the electricity maze. Papyrus comments to Sans, "YOU LAZY BONES! YOU WERE NAPPING ALL NIGHT!" to which Sans replies, " think that's called... sleeping.” This shows that Papyrus was likely up all night. And given his tone and the context, this is not the first time. We get another example of Papyrus not sleeping properly when we learn of his first encounter with Undyne. He woke her up at midnight to talk to her and stayed right in front of her door - awake and presumably with some energy - until morning. There are other examples of Papyrus's sleeplessness in the phone calls with Undyne. Calling back to the electricity maze, Papyrus once again comments how Sans is "NAPPING HIMSELF INTO AN EARLY GRAVE" by sleeping for at least 7 hours a night (the recommended amount of sleep per night).

Undyne makes a similar statement to Sans’ by asking Papyrus, "Wait, isn't that just called sleeping?" leaving Papyrus slightly annoyed that Undyne is taking Sans’s side. Another Undyne/Papyrus call tells us that Papyrus himself says that he is too busy to sleep.

Now you could say it's just Papyrus being stubborn and putting in 110% like he normally would, but that's another thing. He ALWAYS puts in 110% all the time. If Papyrus thinks sleeping at night is lazy and staying up all night is okay, then it would make sense for him to not sleep that much. Pairing this with the nightmares theory, I believe Papyrus is an insomniac.

(There is also evidence for Sans being an insomniac, or at least a former insomniac, too. But we’re not talking about Sans right now!)

4. Papyrus is pretty smart.

The fandom paints Papyrus in this innocent and ignorant little cinnamon bun way, when in reality, he actually knows a lot more than we think at first glance. He is very psychologically complex (which I know is a strange way to word it but it's the best way I can describe it) and very very interesting.

Exhibit A: Papyrus is hilarious.

This is a weird way to start this section BUT hear me out. Puns. That’s supposed to be Sans’s thing, right? In the skelebros introduction sequence, Sans is the one making all the funny jokes and Papyrus hates them. But look at the intro again. Papyrus is smiling at the puns. At the end before he leaves, Papyrus actually makes a skeleton pun himself, saying, “PUT A LITTLE MORE BACKBONE INTO IT!! NYEH HEH HEH!” This pun is often over looked by those in the UT community. But this is also not the only pun Papyrus makes. Sans makes a total of 6 puns while Papyrus makes a total of 14, over double that of Sans! I’m bringing all this up to say that sometimes the playful word humor of Papyrus often gets overshadowed by Sans, but really, both brothers are funny in their own ways!

(I also want to talk a bit about Papyrus’s physical jokes just because. Things like having different and silly clothes and jumping out windows are so fun and entertaining! I just really love him ;v;)

Exhibit B: Papyrus may know about the space time shenanigans.

I think the best example of this section is when you unlock Sans' room. When he finds you in the dark, he says, and I quote, "IS SANS PRANKING YOU ACROSS TIME AND SPACE AGAIN!?" This literally proves that Papyrus has some awareness about RESETS and that a situation similar to this has happened before.

Another interesting thing that goes with this is the fact Papyrus is friends with Flowey, who happens to have a lot of experience with timeline RESETS. Flowey could have easily told Papyrus about the alternate timelines and things like that during his runs and at the beginnings of ours. During the Grillby hangout with Sans we do learn that Flowey gives Papyrus "predictions".

Even if he doesn't exactly remember the timelines themselves, he still must have some understanding that they exist.

Exhibit C: The fact that Papyrus changes his personality based on who he is around.

Yes, this is a canon fact proven by the Undertale art book. There are also plenty of examples of this in the actual game.

An obvious one is when you call Papyrus and Undyne in Grillby's. We all know Papyrus's stance on grease and how he finds it gross, but once Undyne starts spouting her love of greasy food, suddenly Papyrus finds such foods to be quite tasteful. It's obvious to us that he is lying, but Undyne doesn't seem to notice and it's interesting that he does this anyway. People often change the way they act around certain friends or people, that’s normal. But the way Papyrus does it is more extreme. Like he’s never really being his true self.

The most interesting part of this is the way Papyrus acts around his own brother, Sans. At first glance, it looks like Papyrus is just the innocent and funny younger brother that knows nothing of the world. At least Sans seems to think so. In the first encounter Frisk has with both Sans and Papyrus, Papyrus explains what will happen when he captures you but conveniently leaves out the part where you die and have your soul taken because he "doesn't know". Take note that he says this around Sans. Now, after Papyrus's battle, Papyrus starts explaining how to get out of the Underground. He mentions that only someone with a powerful soul can get past the barrier and that's why Asgore wants to capture a human and kill them to take their soul to break the barrier. In Waterfall when you have Papyrus's number, Papyrus recognizes that Undyne wants to murder Frisk. He knows she wants to take their soul. But wait, didn't Papyrus just say he had no idea what happened to a captured human when he was with his brother? But that's exactly the point. He was with his brother.

There’s also the “Laboratory Labrador-y” situation. In a Papyrus call outside Alphys’s lab where Sans is present, Papyrus gets confused about what a lab is and Sans has to try explaining. But call inside the lab and, lo and behold, Papyrus knows plenty about labs and their scientific applications, even calling out that Sans would love the real science fiction! Speaking of Sans, notice how he isn’t present in the phone call?

I could go on with tons more examples of this personality switch up, but I think the most damning evidence is the King Papyrus ending where, in front of his brother, Papyrus is all fine and dandy, but once Sans is gone, he outright says, "is Sans gone? You know... don't tell my brother, but...” and proceeds to lament about how much he misses Undyne and how being king is actually really hard and how everyone is starting to give up and it's making him sad. It's a really sad thing, but why wouldn't Papyrus tell his own brother his true feelings? Of course there are tons of theories and headcanons, like Papyrus pretending to be more useless so that his depressed brother can have meaning in his life, and Papyrus keeping secrets from Sans so he doesn't worry about him or something. It's all up for debate though.

Exhibit D: Papyrus and death.

As spoken about before, Papyrus obviously knows what death is and does still fear dying to some extent. But it’s still interesting to see his reaction to his and other’s deaths.

Now first I want to start off with the genocide run. If you abort the run by sparing Papyrus, he will acknowledge that he was a little afraid that you would kill him and continues on to talk about how he’s glad you had a change of heart. It’s sweet to see how his optimism is shown in this example and how he can see the best in people no matter what, even if it’s a little naive.

But there is a more interesting direction to his real concern in the matter. In a neutral run battle with Papyrus, if you kill him, he has this humorous quip. “ALAS, POOR PAPYRUS.” *Quoting Macbeth as his head falls off* “AT LEAST I STILL HAVE MY HEAD!” Then he dies. Um, dude. You just got your head punched off (because you totally used the worn glove). And you’re making a joke about it? Perhaps he’s in shock? Well, I believe the true reason behind his fear isn’t necessarily for his own life. It’s the life of other monsters in the Underground, and the wellbeing of the human. Papyrus’s life from his perspective can be compared to more of a tool that, if spared, can be the catalyst for the human to take a new, better path in life. Papyrus doesn’t seem to care much for his own life in this moment outside of other people. This is explored a bit more in other parts of the game too, especially for neutral endings.

A smaller example of Papyrus’ stance on death is in Hotland. On the stage after Mettaton’s play, if you go back and call Papyrus and Undyne, the two will discuss our dance with Mettaton and Undyne will bring up how it was nothing compared to the dance with death she and the human had earlier. Papyrus will make the off handed comment, “I WANT TO MEET DEATH...” Now of course, this is all part of the joke of death as a person, but it’s still a bit concerning to hear your friend say that they want to meet death. That ellipsis at the end of the sentence is also a bit off putting if you ask me.

Exhibit E: Papyrus is an optimist (and that’s not easy.)

No. Papyrus is not an idiot. He knows when people are lying to him, he knows about death, and he isn't completely blind to the terrible realities that can occur in the world. The truth is that Papyrus is just an optimistic person. He is kind and brave at heart. And I feel like that’s really underrated!

To be an optimist in a setting like the Underground is hard. Limited space, overpopulation, being imprisoned by circumstances out of the your control. A lot of people in the Underground have simply accepted the hopeless outlook to life and society that they’re just gonna suffer forever. But Papyrus? He knows things seem hopeless. But he will not give up. He will not fall into this hopelessness because life without hope, to put it simply, sucks!

Papyrus’s optimism is something that brings life to the Underground. Without it, things feel off. Even the neutral endings that have Papyrus dead are arguably some of the worst ones. Papyrus really cares and will do his best not to lose hope no matter the circumstances. That takes guts and courage and a ton of positivity. It’s honestly really amazing.

5.) Conclusion.

In conclusion, Papyrus is cool as heck. But seriously, I really love this guy (if you couldn’t already tell by the 3000+ word info dump/analysis I made). His characterization is really interesting and there are a lot cool quirks and facts to learn. Like all the characters, Undertale wouldn’t be the same without him. Papyrus is a great character and it’s nice to appreciate how well written and cool he is. If you made it this far, I just want to thank you for reading this. I think it’s cool that you like Papyrus too!

6.) Extra fun facts.

Papyrus only uses “warm up” attacks in his fight.

Papyrus has never eaten spaghetti. He just makes it for others because he thinks they like it. His favorite food is dinosaur eggs and oatmeal.

Papyrus’ symbol on his battle body armor is a reference to the starmen in Earthbound.

Papyrus’s “Battle Body” is a Halloween that he thought was cool and never took off. He wasn’t invited to this party, Sans was and he took Papyrus along.

He is the founder and only member of the Flowey Fan Club.

Papyrus likes kiwi on pizza.

(Credits)

*These are the people that have inspired me to write this super long info dump paper about my favorite Undertale character*

Toby Fox (fwagradiation) [obviously]

insanelyadd

bettinalevyisdetermined

Useless Undertale facts

Lethotep

And special thanks to Dorked! That Papyrus character analysis video on YouTube was literally the reason for me writing this! Thanks :)

#undertale #papyrus #Essay #info dump #lore dump #undertale papyrus #skelebros #sans undertale #undyne #alphys #napstablook #mettaton #“Guys! I’m not neurodivergent #Also me:#*writes a freaking essay on how much I love Papyrus*#:3 #writing #original writing

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lofijellydreamer08643 · 2 years ago

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Things That Are Infinite: Those Starry and Misty Eyes

Long ago, when the sky was a bit closer to the ground, hidden within the great mountains of the land was a small village in a great, lush valley. Its inhabitants were simple folk, rice farmers, and fishermen. And one extraordinary child named Luna. The whole town loved her and her family. Her father was a great fisherman, and her mother was a wonderful tailor who tragically passed away when Luna was born. What made Luna so special was her ability to float during a full moon. Because of her gift, every full moon, she and her father would climb up a hill by the village outskirts and gaze out at the stars. Luna’s father would tell her stories about her mother and how she watched over them from the skies, and that one day they would go with her. He would tie the scarf his wife made him around Luna to keep her from floating away, and it was their tradition.

But after one particularly cold and rainy day, the visits to the hill became quite scarce. Luna’s father came out of his room less and less, and Luna had no idea why. She didn't want to go to the hill without her father, but he had grown so distant that he did not even speak to her anymore. A few months went by. Luna was worried. Her father had not come out of his room at all. She decided to check on him and found him sleeping in his room. She spoke softly to him and nudged him a bit, trying to get him to wake up. But when she touched his hand, she found it to be very cold. Too cold. The reality of the situation dawned on her as she realized that in front of her was the corpse of her dead father.

Overcome with shock and grief, Luna let out a terrible cry of anguish that could be heard all throughout the village. Immediately, the townsfolk rushed over to see what happened and, seeing the devastating scene before them, wept along with Luna. A funeral was held a few days later. When it came time to say goodbye to him in the casket, Luna couldn't even find the courage to look her dead father in the face. All she could do was cry into the scarf that was once her father’s.

The town mourned, and Luna fell into a deep depression. No matter what the people told her, no matter what they did, nothing could bring her out of it. She never realized how much joy her father gave her each day. Now she could never have that joy back. Luna stayed in her room for weeks. Neighbors would occasionally come by to give her food and check up on her, but other than that, the most contact she had with the outside world came from staring at the sky from her window. As the starry nights passed, something resonated within Luna. A distant thought that came to her. That gave her a sort of strange peace. A thought that grew along with the waxing moon.

The night of the full moon came, and Luna was totally at peace. The moon was at its perigee, which made Luna’s power stronger. She felt the sky calling to her. With her father’s scarf in hand and sandbags to weigh her down, Luna made her way up the hill that she and her father always climbed together. As she traversed the hill, all the memories of her life and her father came flooding back to her. All the stories he told her, all the moments they shared, until finally, finally, Luna reached the top of the hill. Clutching the scarf close to her body, she stared up at the enormous moon and sky above. She removed the bags and lifted up off the ground, closing her eyes and crying, tears floating all around her.

She cried and cried and cried for a very long time. When she finally opened her eyes, Luna found herself high among the stars. It was quite a beautiful sight to behold. All of them sparkling brilliantly, the colors blurring together from the tears in her eyes. As she took in the scenery, Luna felt peacefully empty. There were nothing but stars and her father’s scarf to keep her company. She drifted endlessly into the infinite void of space, her unceasing tears adding to the glimmering beauty of the night sky.

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