Sans

Sans is the brother of Papyrus and a major character in ANIMALTALE. He first appears in the forest after the protagonist exits the Desert. He serves as a supporting character in a Neutral and True Pacifist Route and as the final boss and heroic antagonist in a Genocide Route.

Appearance
Sans is a tiger with a dimpled smile and feline eyes. He wears an unzipped blue hoodie, a white t-shirt, black shorts with gray stripes, and a pair of pink sneakers. He has bloody zombie eyes when he is serious or angry. When Sans uses magical psychokinesis, his left eye bleeds red, the color for determination, and his right eye becomes bloody.

Personality
Sans is laid back, often sleeping on the job and taking breaks. His laziness is a combination of fatalism and apathy. He wonders if his indolence stems from his knowledge that any progress he makes will be erased when the timeline resets. Conversely, he suggests that this knowledge could be "a poor excuse for being lazy."

Though Sans is usually agreeable, he becomes eerily serious at particular moments. He is also observant; Sans reads the protagonist's expressions and can often tell when she has already done certain tasks. He enjoys making bad, dragon-related puns, although the fact that he performs at MTT Resort hints that he may be a talented comedian. He enjoys science fiction and loves to drink cow's blood. He also hates making promises.

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

Abilities
Sans can quickly travel or teleport using what he calls "shortcuts."

In combat, he uses "Leobones Blasters," devices that resemble a lion's skull, to shoot a kind of laser beam. Sans excels in combat and fights with unique abilities that include: Karmic Retribution, changing the effect of gravity on the SOUL, and attacking the protagonist in the selection menus. His magic reacts to EXP; Karmic Retribution would presumably be weaker if the protagonist had little EXP.

Because of his "research," he has knowledge of timelines and the FREEZE function. However, he does not retain his memories when the protagonist loads a FREEZE, and he cannot use the FREEZE function. His awareness of time travel makes him scrupulous, and he recognizes when the protagonist is behaving unusually. Sans reads the protagonist's expression and determines if she has experienced events before and is repeating her. He also knows how much EXP the protagonist has and comments on it when judging her.

Sans also plays the trombone, though he is only seen playing it once. Papyrus finds his "incidental music" annoying, implying that he has played many times before.

Like other characters, Sans is aware of when the game's code suffers bugs and calls the protagonist a "dirty hacker" if she achieves an impossible ending of a Neutral Route.

Neutral Route
Sans introduces himself to the protagonist in Sanddin Beach after he initially appears as a silhouette. He explains that he has no interest in capturing humans, but that his brother, Papyrus, does. Then, Sans hides the protagonist behind a lamp whose shape is identical to a dragon's. Papyrus rushes onscreen, and the brothers discuss Sans's laziness and the importance of puzzle upkeep. Sans appears multiple times throughout Sanddin Beach, observing and commentating on the puzzles but not engaging in any japery, except for the word search.

Before Papyrus's battle, Sans is absent in Sanddin Town. He appears briefly to play trombone during the date/hangout with Papyrus but does not appear again until the Last Corridor if the protagonist kills Papyrus.

After entering Coral Reef, Sans is found manning a sentry station and asks the protagonist if she wants to take a break with him. If the protagonist agrees, he takes her to Grillby's via "shortcut." The patrons warmly greet Sans, and he proceeds to treat the protagonist to a grass or water. After some dialogue, a spotlight falls on him and the protagonist; time appears to stop as Sans tells the protagonist that a vulture has been talking to Papyrus. Sans believes that someone is tricking Papyrus with an Echo Anemone when the vulture in question is Flowey. Sans can be seen again in Waterfall and pranks the protagonist with a red-eye telescope.

The protagonist passes him sleeping at a sentry post in Humidland when fleeing from Undyne. Undyne notices him sleeping and berates him mid-chase.

Later, Sans sells Hot Parrots in Humidland for 30G. If the protagonist attempts to buy a hot parrot when her inventory is full, he stacks a maximum of 30 hot dogs on her head for free. These "head parrots" vanish when the protagonist enters the next room.

Further on, Sans waits outside of MTT Resort and asks the protagonist if she wants to grab a bite to eat. He escorts the protagonist inside via "shortcut" and talks about a woman he has befriended that shares his affinity for puns. He tells the protagonist that this woman made him promise to protect any human that left the Desert and that, if she had not said anything, the protagonist would be "dead where [she] stands." He dismisses this as a joke immediately and says that he has done a great job protecting the protagonist. If the protagonist has not died before, Sans takes credit for their success. If the protagonist has died, Sans questions the validity of his statement. Before leaving, he tells the protagonist to take care of herself because someone really cares about her.

Judgement
The protagonist encounters Sans for the last time in the Last Corridor. He explains that EXP and LOVE are acronyms - "EXecution Points" and "Level Of ViolencE" and judges the protagonist for her current EXP.

If the protagonist gained no EXP, Sans skips his judgement, instead praising the protagonist for embracing compassion and actively choosing to be merciful to the animals throughout their journey. He reinforces the idea that the protagonist's actions shall decide the fate of the world in one of two ways: the protagonist lets Asgore take her SOUL and allow the animals to break the Barrier or she takes Asgore's SOUL to escape the Barrier herself. Sans concludes that the protagonist now has enough determination and believes that she can do the right thing before leaving. If the protagonist gained EXP, Sans allows her a moment to think about her actions. He then emphasizes the importance of integrity and, if Papyrus is alive, concludes that whatever happens next is up to the protagonist. If the protagonist killed Papyrus, Sans expresses his suspicion that she has some special power. He then asks if the protagonist thinks it is her responsibility to do the right thing. Regardless of her answer, Sans reminds the protagonist of his fallen brother and leaves.
 * If the protagonist has heard his speech before, Sans notices their bored expression and offers a secret codeword that he uses to prove that she is a time traveler. After the protagonist loads her FREEZE a few times, Sans's suspicions are affirmed and he gives them a key to his room. Inside Sans's room is a key to his workshop.

If the protagonist returns to the Last Corridor after loading a SAVE, Sans judges the protagonist on her earned LV. Subsequent attempts to talk to Sans after judgment prompts him to tell the protagonist to "consider our session over."

Endings
After the protagonist defeats Photoshop Flowey, Sans calls and informs her of the events that transpired after their departure. The content of this phone call varies depending on the protagonist's actions; a list of the endings that Sans describes is on the Neutral Route page.

True Pacifist Route
Sans is absent from the Last Corridor in a True Pacifist Route. There is also no FREEZE point upon entering the corridor. He appears during the pre-Asriel cutscene and meets Toriel face-to-face for the first time. Flowey binds Sans and the protagonist's other friends. However, the protagonist's friends protect them from Flowey's attacks before Flowey absorbs their SOULs.

During the battle against Asriel, Sans appears as one of the Lost Souls.

Epilogue
After defeating Asriel, Sans stands alongside the other main characters. If the protagonist talks to him, he says a certain remark depending on what, if anything, the protagonist said to Toriel in calls at the beginning of the game. Sans also uses Toriel's phone to text for her a few times because Toriel's thumbs are too big for the phone buttons. When the protagonist is ready to leave, Sans exits the Underground and heads to the Surface along with the other animals.

Papyrus runs off to introduce himself to the humans and Sans says someone has got to keep him away from trouble and runs off in the opposite direction, presumably to use a "shortcut."

In the credits, Sans rides a jeep on a highway, while his brother races alongside him in a tractor. Papyrus seems irritated when his brother overtakes him.

Genocide Route
Sans stalks and introduces himself to the protagonist as usual but requests that she continues pretending to be a human. He does not comment on the protagonist turning around before he asks her to. Sans goes along with Papyrus's japery and does not appear as an NPC as he does on other routes. After the protagonist crosses the bridge before Sanddin Town, Sans warns her not to fight his brother or else she will "have a bad time." He then disappears and is absent until the Last Corridor.

If the protagonist aborts a Genocide Route by sparing Papyrus, Sans reappears at the Coral Reef sentry station and tells the protagonist he respects them for doing that. He continues to appear as if on a Neutral Route but does not take the protagonist to Grillby's since there is no one left in Sanddin. Alternatively, Sans follows the protagonist if she kills Papyrus.

The protagonist encounters Sans in the Last Corridor for his battle.

After defeating Sans, the protagonist's EXP is set to 99999, granting her LV 20. Sans notices if the protagonist has killed him before and is re-fighting him.

Sans does not count as a kill in the Stats menu, and the game does not record whether or not he is killed.

Relationships
Sans's attitude towards the protagonist depends on her actions, though he usually enjoys pranking her and occasionally hanging out with her unless she kill Papyrus. Near the end of a Neutral Route, he judges her on their EXP. At the end of the True Pacifist Route, Sans considers her a good friend. During the Genocide Route, he does not bother to encounter the protagonist until the end where he has no choice but to fight her, expressing subtle fury toward her during the period together.

Sans initially considers the protagonist to be an "anomaly"; his intentions of befriending her was in hopes that she would stop resetting the timeline. However, he also says that the protagonist did not die after her initial encounter because of his promise to Toriel. This may imply he would have killed the protagonist or that he protected her from life-threatening harm after their first encounter.

Toriel
Toriel and Sans share a love of bad jokes and are friends even though they never see each other face-to-face until the epilogue, the Family Ending, or the Exiled Queen Ending. Before the protagonist's arrival, Sans and Toriel shared jokes through the door to the Desert.

In the Exiled Queen Ending, Sans becomes Toriel's roommate if Papyrus has been killed. In this route, Sans also states that he "can't bear to tell her what [the protagonist] did." If Papyrus is alive, the brothers visit Toriel often, play board games together, and sometimes convince Toriel to leave the Desert.

While not being one to make promises, Sans complies with Toriel's request to watch over and protect any human that exits the Desert. At the end of a Genocide Route, he indirectly apologizes to her, as he is forced to break his promise to stop the protagonist.

Alphys
Though there is evidence that Sans and Alphys have a relationship, Sans only alludes to this in the epilogue.

It is also noteworthy that if Papyrus and Undyne are called just before entering the Tree Sans appears in the call and state that there may be parrots inside the lab. This hints that he knows about the true lab since Enparroteny, an giraffemate containing Gabriel Agreste, a dragon and several parrots can be found there.

W. D. Leobones
A few things hint at a connection between Sans and W. D. Leobones. Evidence includes the blueprints and veiled machine found in his workshop, the models used for his lion skull-like laser guns, and his unexplained scientific research on the "anomaly" and timelines. Sans and Papyrus are named after a font, as well as W. D. Leobones is assumed to be, so it is believed he is related.

Trivia

 * If the player attempts to name the fallen human "Sans," the game responds "nope." and prevents the name from being used.


 * Sans and Undyne are the only main characters known to play an instrument: trombone and piano, respectively.


 * Sans appears to be left-handed. Evidence includes:
 * Greeting the protagonist with a handshake using his left paw.
 * Holding and drinking a cow blood bottle with his left paw while dining at Grillby's.
 * Steering a jeep using his left paw in the True Pacifist Credits.
 * Manipulating gravity with his left paw in his battle.
 * Sans is the only tiger that has no furry cheeks.
 * Sans was originally going to be a wolf, this was change due to his personality and User's idea.
 * Sans was voiced by Antonio Banderas, Antonio gave the voice for Puss in Boots from the Shrek series, and Burger Beard the Pirate from The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.