#undertale fandom census
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[Image Description: an Undertale chat box with the name "PAPYRUS", in all caps and Papyrus font, in its center. On its left is a talksprite of Papyrus sweating anxiously, and on its right is a talksprite of Papyrus wearing sunglasses. End I.D.]
The Great Papyrus is the most popular Undertale character among the fans surveyed here. 19.6% of responders chose him as their favorite. That’s a total of 519 fans! (Wowie!!)
Not all Papyrus fans are unified on his characterization, however. The most obvious divide was between fans who call him a “cinnamon roll” or “precious baby,” and those who find these takes infantilizing. A lot of people like the friendliness and optimism of this character, while others recognize this but highlight his maturity too. Fans who worry about his infantilization seem most concerned with how he can be portrayed as naive or dumb by the fandom. A portion of fans specifically mentioned this naivety as a point in his favor, though the marginally more popular take seems to be that he is not naive, regardless of how he first appears. This fandom divide seems to relate to Papyrus’s autistic or ADHD coding. Many fans relate to him as ADHD and autistic themselves.
Fans also related to him in his desire for friends. Many responders think of him as a friend and a comfort character, so at least in one way his wish has been fulfilled.
The phone calls were a major reason that fans said they felt connected to Papyrus. Thanks to these calls, he has the most dialogue of any character in the game. His humor and dialogue were often highlighted as favorite qualities.
While fans may disagree on some aspects of Papyrus’s personality, it is clear that his fans all value his optimism and kindness. His fans do not see his kindness as weakness. Many talked about the complexity of his character and the strength it took for him to show mercy to the player character, even when the player doesn’t show it in return. He believes in himself, and he believes in you! This kindness and trust has inspired his fans to be kinder themselves.
Papyrus fans were also drawn to his mysteriousness. Several responses pointed out that he is a more mysterious character than Sans, who is also often loved for his mystery. As shown in the phone calls, Papyrus will put on fronts depending on who he is around, making it even more difficult for fans to uncover his secrets. Some people in other sections of the survey found this frustrating, but Papyrus fans tend to see it as another point in his favor.
Among the greatest proportion of responses were from fans who couldn’t choose a favorite trait, or who just love everything about Papyrus. While these responses may be less lengthy, they are still as full of love as the essay-length answers. These responses tended to say phrases like “cool dude” or “Papyrus my beloved” or “THE GREAT PAPYRUS.”
(You were overcome by writing about such a handsome skeleton. He understands.)
Highlights: (under the cut)
Honestly Papyrus just feels like joy. Funny, incredibly kind, with a few mysteries/weird quirks about him that are fun to ponder over. I especially love how he often acts proud and self aggrandizing without putting others down, and in fact sometimes uses that to lift his friends up alongside him. You don't see this take on proud characters often.
Papyrus is strong. Strong in body, but also morally strong. He knows what is right, what it means to be merciful and kind, even in the face of danger or death. Some think him naive. And yet, even facing death and seeing the dust of those he knew, he did not falter or turn from his ideals of mercy and change for the better.
BECAUSE HE IS THE GREAT PAPYRUS
His optimism and his overall personality is endearing! You're always having fun with him :D
He's meeting all of my standards.
Papyrus is very under appreciated, and overlooked, and it's very frustrating to me—he's a complex character but people treat him like he's a baby!!! I like him because he's kind of goofy with how he talks and he's just very charming and kind.
He's weirder than Sans, and it wasn't acknowledged for years because he acts oblivious and dumb, even when he's clearly not. Quite frankly, I find it iconic. Also, his entire personality helps a lot.
I'm ND, trans, and projecting!
OK SO he's just a friendly guy!! A dude who likes cooking for his friends!! We love a hype man!! Also smart as hell and I feel like fanon majorly overlooks this. Making good, fun puzzles is HARD and setting up a flamethrower to go off wirelessly is complicated. Like even if that bridge puzzle didn't go off the components were complicated. Love that cool dude!!!!
I heavily relate to Papyrus as a character and consider him my favorite fictional character of all time. He is a very well-written and thought out character with several quirks and layers in his personality. It is headcanoned by some (myself included) that Papyrus may possibly be on the Autism Spectrum due to his nature, his interactions with others, and overall how he displays himself to the world we see.
I could talk about Papyrus forever, and you have made a grave mistake in allowing me to do so. He is a charming, strong spirited, well intentioned, complex character that is often wildly misinterpreted, and I think originally this is why I was drawn to him. He is presented as one thing and in fact acts as one thing (though not the same way as presented by fandom), and in reality when you look closer than you are meant to he is not, in fact, any of these things. It was intriguing to me. Secondly, and rather contradictorily, another thing that drew me to him is that he is very true to himself, when it comes to idiosyncrasies and moral values. It's true that he does not offer much in the way of personal backstory and feelings, but he offers very much indeed in the way of personality. What a guy! He wears silly crop tops and bright colors, he speaks in a manner specific to him that sometimes doesn't make sense, he cares about something or someone and goes whole hog with it -- he's passionate, damn it! I love him and his weirdo, goofy self with all my heart. He cares about other people to a fault, too. He would sacrifice everything to help someone, and his belief in the potential of both others and himself is indomitable. When faced with the responsibility of a kingdom, his friends gone, his brother lying to him, and himself all alone without a reliable support system, he recognized what he was facing and still bucked up and became determined to get through it. When faced with a murderous, over powerful enemy, someone who had killed many of his friends and fellow monsters, someone who had repeatedly been rude and borderline aggressive and showed no signs of stopping, he saw that they were having difficulty and offered to help and to care for them, and didn't regret his decision or change his opinion on what they needed and their potential for change, even when quite literally killed by them a moment after. Even in death, even directly after a betrayal like that, he never stops believing that they can get better, that anyone can be a good person if they want to be. That's important, I think; that concept of giving people the chances they need to grow and to change. I have a tattoo of that moment on my thigh, it's that important to me. I guess I really like Papyrus because even though he is fictional, watching him out there makes it easy to believe in people, in our inherent goodness and desire to love each other. He makes it easy to see that we can change, that no matter what you've done in the past or who you currently are, no one is inherently a bad person, and no one is incapable of learning how to be a good one. It is just a step by step process that we have to take day by day.
[Image Description: A wordcloud shaped like Papyrus. His gloves, boots, and cape are red; his Battle Body is blue, yellow, and white; and his bones are white. Some of the most visible words are: Kind, Love, Good, Cool, Relate, Funny, Friend, Mystery, and Papyrus. These are the words that responders mentioned most in their essays about him. End I.D.]
Read the full list of responses shared with permission by clicking this link! (The document is 25 pages long, so you may want to make a copy to prevent lagging.)
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He deserves it 😌
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yo anyone got any undertale fics that tackle the complexities to surface world politics in the future? (Assuming it subscribes to the 100 years theory) What are Alphys and Undyne up to post-pacifist?
my only criteria is that sans is not the main character and it doesn’t have any of the Nasty (bad ships, misgendering ect.)
writing my take on it in Thorns and I want to have a more general census of the usual take the fandom has? any help would be great thank ya’ll in advance
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/r/fanfiction's Favorite Fics Read in 2017
Here are /r/fanfiction's favorite fics read in 2017, based on replies to the 2018 Community Census
Ace Attorney| 逆転裁判
A Long Way to Fall (explicit)
Attack on Titan/進撃の巨人
Release (mature)
Avatar: the Last Airbender
Sparrowkeet (explicit)
Batman
Minimum Height Requirement (teen)
Captain America
They're gonna send us to prison for jerks (teen)
cascades. (mature)
Steve & Natasha go to Ikea (not rated)
Demobilization (explicit)
Criminal Minds
Indispensable (teen)
Death Note
Thus Spoke Zarathustra (teen)
Digimon
The Teacher of All Things (teen)
Don't Starve
Ashes in the Dark (explicit)
Dying Light
Latchkey Hero (mature)
Final Fantasy XV
Unbroken Night (teen)
Fullmetal Alchemist
Dismantle the Sun (mature)
Know the Difference (teen)
Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire
Dreams of Fire and Light (teen)
Ghost Hunt
The Ghost of Giffords Library (teen)
Half-Life
Cabin in the Woods (teen)
Uprising (teen)
Harry Potter
Cambiares Podentes (explicit)
Mount unto the Stars (mature)
The Debt of Time (mature)
Enticingly (mature)
Earthbound Spook (teen)
For Love of Magic (mature)
The Sum of Their Parts (mature)
The Changeling (teen)
Draco Malfoy and the Quest For Power (mature)
Harry Crow (teen)
Limpieza de Sangre (mature)
Harry Potter/Marvel Cinematic Universe/Percy Jackson crossover
Lokison (explicit)
How To Train Your Dragon
A Thing of Vikings (mature)
James Bond
Ordinary Numbers (teen)
Kingdom Hearts
Why the Sun Sets Red (general audiences)
Kingsman
"My hero wears Oxfords" (general audiences)
Life is Strange
LARP is Strange (teen)
Brooke's Guilt Trip (teen)
Marvel Cinematic Universe
The darkest hour is just before the dawn (teen)
Motion Practice (mature)
Sleep Sisyphus (Guard your Star) (teen)
Mass Effect
Razor's Edge (mature)
Another Realm (mature)
My Chemical Romance RPF
L for Lucky, M for Mine (explicit)
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
MLP Loops (teen)
Original Fic
Each To Each (mature)
PlanetSide
Alpha squad (teen)
Powerpuff Girls
More Than Human (mature)
Rick and Morty
The Floor is Lava (teen)
RWBY
RWBY Loops (teen)
RWBY/The Gamer crossover
The Games We Play (teen)
Sonic the Hedgehog
My Arms are Blue! (teen)
Star Wars
Reconditioning (explicit)
Supergirl
My Youth Is Yours (teen)
Supernatural
where the weeds take root (explicit)
Ghost in the Machine (teen)
You Can Keep Holding On (explicit)
Supernatural/Criminal Minds crossover
with understanding (explicit)
Teen Wolf
I Still Believe (explicit)
Tokyo Ghoul
A Stitch in Time Saves What's Mine (explicit)
The Legend of Zelda
Calm Waters Run Deep (teen)
The Walking Dead
To Leave the Best Untold (explicit)
Undertale
basement's basement (explicit)
Yuri on Ice
Spilt Coffee (general audiences)
Zootopia
The Savage Dark (explicit)
Multifandom
Overtagged Seagull drabbles (teen)
Others
The North Remembers series - there are a number of fics with this name, not sure which is the correct one, possibly this (mature)?
Storm - not sure which fandom or fic is the correct one, I saw the Captain America fic with this name mentioned on the subreddit the other day, so possibly that one (explicit)?
Slow It Down - not sure which fandom or fic is the correct one
Vanishing Act - not sure which fandom or fic is the correct one, possibly this JoJo/Persona 5 fic (not rated)?
stet - not sure which fandom or fic is the correct one, possibly this Star Wars fic (mature)?
The Parting Glass - not 100% sure of the fandom or fic, but I think it's probably this Elder Scrolls fic (explicit)
Misconceptions - not sure which fandom or fic is the correct one
Better then - not 100% sure which fandom or fic is the correct one, but probably this Life is Strange fic
Myths of Unova - This fancomic? Is it for the Pokemon fandom?
The road to recovery - not sure which is the correct fandom or fic
Delete/Edit - not sure which is the correct fandom or fic
The Long Journey - not sure which is the correct fandom or fic
The Biology Project - not sure which is the correct fandom or fic, possibly this Twilight fic? (mature)
Rain Soaked Tears - not sure of correct fandom or fic, possibly this Soul Eater fic?
Let me know if I made any mistakes, and feel free to give me the correct info for the fics I wasn't sure about so I can edit them in properly.
submitted by /u/ClimateMom
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from FanFiction: Where Magical Ponies battle Imperial Titans http://ift.tt/2lEqAAs
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* heya. is anyone there…?
* well, i’ll just leave a message…
* we had a great time hangin’ out with you, kiddo.
* even though it’s been six years…
* it still feels like we just met yesterday.
* thanks for not forgetting about us.
SANS!! WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO?
*oh, nobody.
WHAT? NOBODY!?
CAN I TALK TO THEM TOO???
*here, knock yourself out.
WAIT A SECOND…
I RECOGNIZE THIS NUMBER!!!
THESE ARE ALL THE COOL HUMANS WHO VOTED FOR ME!!
THANKS TO YOU, I’M THE MOST POPULAR MONSTER IN THE GAME!
*G-game? What are you talking about?
DON’T WORRY, DOCTOR ALPHYS! I’LL HELP YOU BECOME SUPER POPULAR TOO! NYEH HEH HEH!
*That w-was’t what I asked…
*You know about alternate universes best, darling! Didn’t you bring them up in my quiz show?
*Y-yes, but… w-wow, I didn’t think it would actually happen! U-um… do you think these humans in this universe write fanfiction about me?
*They’d better!! I bet they write stories where we get married and have the coolest life ever!! Fuhuhuhu!
DOCTOR ALPHYS? ARE YOU ALRIGHT?
* Just d-dying and going to anime heaven.
* My child? This is TORIEL. You have been remembering to go outside, have you not?
* We are grateful you have spent so much time with us, but please, put your health first.
* I have prepared a healthy snack for you. But, I do not know if I can send it through the phone…
* Not with that attitude! NGAHHHH!!!!!
[You hear snails thwap against the receiver.]
EXCELLENT WORK, UNDYNE!
NOW, HUMANS!!
WE HAVE TO GO FOR A LITTLE WHILE, BUT DON’T WORRY!
YOUR VERY COOL FRIENDS ARE ALWAYS WITH YOU!
BECAUSE WE ARE RECORDED FOREVER ON THIS VOICEMAIL.
AND! I THINK? WE ARE COMING TO A NEW GAME TODAY??
SANS, DO I GET TO SHOW UP THIS TIME???
* i did ask the kids to hang out with you. hope they take their promises seriously.
WOWIE!! I CAN’T WAIT FOR OUR FRIENDSHIP HANGOUT!!!
I BETTER HANG UP SO YOU HAVE TIME TO GET READY!!!
* See ya, punks!
* Oh, we’re hanging up a-already…?
* See you in my fanclub, darlings!
* Be good, alright?
(Click…)
...
DON T FORGET
WE ARE WITH YOU
IN
THE DARK
#sans#toriel#papyrus#mettaton#alphys#undyne#gaster#undertale fandom census#happy deltarune chapter 2 release as well :)#this is ok to reblog
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[Image Description: an Undertale chat box with the name “Chara” in its center, between a sprite of the red SOUL on the left and a Dating Hub CRIME measurer and a FRIENDSHIP level on the right. End I.D.]
Chara is the third most popular character in the fandom, with 196 responders (7.4%) choosing them as their favorite; however, their fans are divided on how to interpret them.
In the past, Chara was more often known as a villain, pushing the player on in the no mercy route. Some responders still made comments like “stabby stab” or “crazy ass” about them in their responses, but overwhelmingly more fans say that Chara is misunderstood and does not deserve to be demonized. Even if other Undertale fans still demonize Chara, it would make sense that those who choose Chara as their favorite would have a more sympathetic view of them. One fan with this view said, “They aren't a bad person. They're just a child who needs love.”
Of course, fans still connect them with the No Mercy route, even if it is in a different direction. “If shown the Darker path through No Mercy, something about them becoming a supremely powerful world-erasing Child God I just find incredibly cool. And the way they hold the Player accountable for their actions, the headcanons people have developed… [...] it goes beyond simple words.” While fans still enjoy connecting Chara with the No Mercy route, it’s interesting how there has been a shift away from Chara being the villain, towards Chara using their power to punish the player for going too far.
A third group of fans take an interesting approach in that they like Chara both as a murder child and as a tragic character: “there are so many different ways you can interpret their character, whether as the mastermind behind the genocide run, the flavour text narrator, or just a sad kid who wanted to help their family and the underground.” This wide room for interpretation is a major thing that Chara’s fans love about them.
Much like with Asriel/Flowey, fans like how Chara’s backstory is revealed gradually and throughout different routes of the game. “I love how their presence is so overt but exists almost entirely in subtext and implication you have to piece together. I loved going through text again and finding out more about them,” one responder said.
There’s lots of text to look through for fans who subscribe to the theory that Chara is the narrator of the game. Proving this theory goes beyond the scope of this essay, but it is believed widely enough to be regarded as canon by nearly all of Chara’s fans. If this theory is true, then Chara is with you throughout the whole game, making them feel even more relatable and comforting. A few fans even relate enough to them to kin them, either currently or at some point in the past.
Their trauma and how they are misunderstood seem to be two qualities that make Chara relatable. “I personally see them as a misunderstood, neurodivergent, nonbinary kid (like I was when I first played Undertale) who loves the Dreemurrs,” one fan said. The fact that there is so much left unknown about Chara leaves room for fans to project onto them as well.
While most of Chara’s fans do not demonize them, they also acknowledge that Chara is complex and not perfect. “We ought to remember Chara for who they were: not an evil villainous murderer, or a perfect golden hero, but a child, a child who made mistakes, a child who was mistreated by humanity, a child who loved their family and their kingdom. Just a child, who was the hope for both humans AND monsters.”
Much like with Asriel, Chara’s fans wish they could save them. While there is no ability to physically revive Chara within the game, they clearly live on in the hearts of those who love them, both within the game and out.
Highlights: (under the cut)
I think they deserve better. They aren't a bad person. They're just a child who needs love.
I kinned them so extremely hard from the ages of 13-16 and now they live in my brain forever.
I do wish there was more about them in the game, but for now, we ought to remember Chara for who they were: not an evil villainous murderer, or a perfect golden hero, but a child, a child who made mistakes, a child who was mistreated by humanity, a child who loved their family and their kingdom. Just a child, who was the hope for both humans AND monsters.
Their whole concept as the Narrator of the game and travelling along with Frisk (and the player) is very neat to me. Shame that fandom often interprets them wrong as a sadistic murderer :-( They're a kid who suffered and did what they thought was right at the time, despite being flawed
There is a lot to puzzle out about them, and it’s very rewarding to do so! I’m glad that the fandom consensus about them has gradually shifted away from the evil incarnate demon child image from the end of Genocide. They were once just a spunky kid who ate pie with their hands, knitted a big sweater, tried to talk like an adult, and liked to mess with their brother; they sacrificed themselves for a bad plan and a childish hope that would have never worked in the first place.
In Neutral and Pacifist paths, I prefer to view them in their past and present as kind and well meaning, if sarcastic and a punster at times. While if shown the Darker path through No-Mercy, something about them becoming a supremely-powerful world-erasing Child God I just find incredibly cool. And the way they hold the Player accountable for their actions, the headcanons people have developed... there's so many reasons, I don't think I could do it justice by just writing it down... it goes beyond simple words.
I love their vibe as villain but I'm sure they are not the villain here
Their backstory is so heartbreaking as there are so many different ways you can interpret their character, whether as the mastermind behind the genocide run, the flavour text narrator, or just a sad kid who wanted to help their family and the underground.
Stabby stab
I also love how they serve as the ultimate test of whether or not you've absorbed the pacifist route's lesson. You only see them in person at their worst, and the game never gives you a direct opportunity to show them Mercy, to forgive and comfort them like you get with Asriel/Flowey. It is entirely up to you to look at who they are and why they are that way, to take responsibility for the part you played, and to decide that, despite the harm they've caused to their family and your friends, this deeply damaged child deserves sympathy too.
I love what they represent - the partnership between player and character, and the lust for power when in an RPG-like mindset. They are their own character, certainly, and are more complex than that, but the idea of their death and reincarnation is executed in an amazing way.
Chara is not perfect by any means but they seem like someone who truly cares and wants to do good and holds themself to a high standard which is both admirable and tragic given the circumstances.
[Image Description: a wordcloud shaped like a red SOUL. Some of the most visible words are: Chara, Game, Story, Person, Child, Human, Character, and Love, which represent the most common words in the essays responders wrote about them. End I.D.]
Read the full list of responses shared with permission by clicking here!
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[Image Description: an Undertale textbox with “INTRODUCTION AND DEMOGRAPHICS” in all caps in its middle. To its left and right are a radar screen and an egg, sun, and "WED" from the Dating Hub. End I.D.]
Our sample size consisted of a total of 2651 responses. We did not set any sort of age restriction to take the survey, and no other qualification than self identifying yourself as part of the Undertale fandom.
[Image Description: a pie chart titled “AGE OF UNDERTALE FANS”. In clockwise order, the results: 31%, or 812 responders, are 13-17 years old; 44% or 1160 are 18-24; 15%, or 398, are 25-30; 6%, or 158, are 31-40; 0%, or 6, are 41-50; 3%, or 91, preferred not to answer, and 1%, or 25, are 12 and below. End I.D.]
The age group most represented is composed of people between 18 to 24 years old (also known as emerging adults), corresponding to 44% of all participants. They are followed by teenagers aged 13 to 17 years old (31%) and young adults aged 25 to 30 years old (15%)
(Many more demographics under the cut.)
[Image Description: a pie chart titled “GENDER OF UNDERTALE FANS”. In clockwise order, the results: 374, or 14%, are male; 1144, or 43%, are female; 789, or 30%, are nonbinary; 167, or 6%, identify as ‘other’, and 177, or 7%, prefer not to say. End I.D.]
In terms of gender, most people identified as female with a total of 43%, followed by nonbinary with 30% and male with 14%. A significant amount of people responded with “Other,” explaining their identity (or questioning) more in depth.
[Image Description: a pie chart titled “UNDERTALE FANDOM AND LGBT+ IDENTITY”. In clockwise order, the results: 1949, or 73%, identify as LGBT+; 293, or 11%, do not identify as LGBT+; 280, or 11%, are questioning; and 129, or 5%, prefer not to say. End I.D.]
Considering the great amount of LGBT+ representation present in Undertale, we decided to ask people whether they identify themselves as part of this community. The majority, 73%, has declared to be a part of it. It is relevant to add that 5% chose not to say, and 11% were questioning. It is possible that media containing well developed representation draws more people to it; many people said that the reason they liked certain characters was being able to feel represented as a minority.
[ID: a pie chart titled: “LOCATIONS OF UNDERTALE FANS”. In clockwise order its results: 1788 responders, or 67%, are from North America; 420 responders, or 16%, are from Europe; 141 responders, or 5%, are from Asia; 94 responders, or 4% are from South America; 83 responders, or 3%, are from Australia; 11 responders, or 0% are from the Pacific Islands; 22 responders, or 1% are from “Other” locations; 92 responders, or 4%, selected ”Prefer not to say.” End of ID.]
The internet has made the game known all over the world, which motivated us to look into the way its fans are distributed around the globe. It is important to consider that since this survey is in English, people were more likely to respond to it if they understood the language, whether it is their native language or not (like Vessel #1, who’s writing this paragraph). It would be interesting if other communities did a similar exercise in the future by translating the survey.
Having said that, we present the results. To get these numbers some of the answers were distributed into their corresponding existing group, and at least three new categories were created.
North America: 1788 votes
Europe: 420
Asia: 141 votes
South America: 94 votes
Australia: 83 votes
The most represented area is North America, which is no surprise considering it’s composed by a majority of native English speakers. It should also be noted that considering Toby Fox is from the US, it makes sense that people with a similar cultural background would more likely hear about Undertale and join the fandom. Europe follows with 420 votes, which could be due to their usage of the English language either as a native language or a frequently taught second one. Asia has a similar situation, however, if we take global population estimates (e.g: 141 per 4.561 billion in the case of Asia compared to Europe with 420 fans in an area with a population of around 746 million people), we can see that the density of Asian fans is drastically lower. After that we have both South America and Australia with a similar amount of votes. In those cases, knowledge of the English language may also factor into the density. Common social media used around the world could also be a factor but we do not have enough data to draw any conclusions.
92 people preferred not to specify and 50 people answered the survey with “Other”, giving their explanation. A few of these responses were put in bigger categories (Canada is in North America, for example). Besides them, the most notable group were Pacific Islanders, making up 11 people, 3 more than Africa. Due to their sizes, further investigation is needed to know if this is a replicable result or just the product of the places the survey was able to reach this time.
[Image Description: a pie chart titled “YEAR FANS FIRST EXPERIENCED UNDERTALE”. In clockwise order, its results: 937 responders, or 35%, experienced it in 2015; 687, or 26%, experienced it in 2016; 231, or 9%, experienced it in 2017; 181, or 7%, experienced it in 2018; 123, or 5%, experienced it in 2019; 145, or 5%, experienced it in 2020; 88, or 3%, experienced it in 2021; 231, or 9%, don’t know when they experienced it, and 25, or 1%, have never experienced Undertale. End I.D.]
We asked about the exposure to the source material. After all, to be a fan of something, you should know about it. The biggest proportion of fans experienced Undertale for the first time in 2015 and 2016, with those two years amounting for more than half of our sample. As for people who have only started playing during this year, they represent 3% of all participants.
[Image Description: a pie chart titled “YEAR FANS FIRST EXPERIENCED DELTARUNE”. In clockwise order, its results: 1585 responders, or 60% of those responding, experienced Deltarune in 2018; 275, or 10%, experienced Deltarune in 2019; 213, or 8%, experienced it in 2020; 126, or 5%, experienced it in 2021; 115, or 4%, don’t know; 253, or 10%, have not played but want to; 77, or 3%, have not played and don’t plan to; and 7, or 0%, do not know what Deltarune is. End I.D.]
Many people are familiar with Deltarune as well. Most of them played the first chapter of the game as it was released in 2018, and other people followed in the next few years. Among the people that didn’t play, 253 manifested interest in playing in the future, while 77 stated they knew of the game’s existence but did not plan on playing it.
[Image Description: a pie chart titled "HOW FANS FOUND UNDERTALE". In clockwise order, its results: 870 responders, or 33%, saw someone play it online; 576 responders, or 22%, were introduced by a friend; 539, or 20%, saw fancontent first; 195, or 7%, read reviews or recommendations on social media; 63, or 3%, came through the Kickstarter before release; 50, or 2%, came through a different fandom; 34, or 1%, came by following Toby Fox, Temmie Chang, or other collaborators; 221, or 8%, came through another way; and 101, or 4%, don't remember how. End I.D.]
33% of responders found Undertale by watching someone play it online. The next largest categories were those who were introduced by friends or saw fancontent first, comprising 22% and 20%, respectively. These statistics are indicative of the love that fans have for Undertale: they want to share the game with others, whether by creating and sharing fancontent, or just by talking about the game positively enough to inspire others to give it a chance. In the “other” category, many fans mentioned specific fanworks or AUs as their reasoning for giving Undertale a chance. Other common answers in the “other” category were through the soundtrack, through memes, through connections to Homestuck, and through curiosity about the infamous fandom. One humorous response that stuck out said, “I was searching for the word ‘sand’ and had wrote ‘sans’ by wrong.”
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* It's not long now.
*The posts will start in twelve hours.
* You should be smiling, too.
* Aren't you excited?
* Aren't you happy?
* Undertale Data will show their results.
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THE SURVEY WAS CLOSED
* Greetings everyone. As you can see, the time has come, and we have stopped receiving responses about an hour and a half ago.
*So, let us say a few words.
We owe you a HUGE thanks.
You really did an amazing job answering the survey. Without you, we NEVER could have gotten this far.
But now, with your help... We've collected our data. And we've got 2651 responses!
Boy, we're so excited for the results! We can see how great they are.
Awww, you're feeling left out, aren´t you?
Well, that's just perfect! After all, we want to share them with you.
Come back on September 15th!
.
THANK YOU
FOR YOUR TIME
YOUR ANSWERS
YOUR WONDERFUL
WORDS
WILL NOW BE
ANALYSED
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[Image Description: an Undertale chat box with the name "Mettaton" in its center, between two Mettaton EX talksprites. The first is pursing his lips, and the second is sticking his tongue out and smiling. End I.D.]
OH YES! Mettaton was ranked fourth favorite character among fans, with 138 votes, amounting to 5.2% of responders.
Many of Mettaton’s fans love the queer representation he provides. He is heavily trans coded, with a backstory revealed through his diary entries and phone calls. “Mettaton closely resembles the trans experience. It was very uplifting for me,” one Mettaton fan responded. For many fans, this was one of their first times seeing a transgender character, and many queer fans see themselves in him. Several other fans say that they appreciate his lack of a canon love interest, and headcanon him as asexual.
Fans also cited his confidence as one of his best traits. It is also impossible to miss his flamboyance. “I just tend to enjoy smug, cocky, flamboyant, and possibly narcissistic characters with hearts of gold,” a fan said. Another take on him used the phrasing “extremely confident, charismatic, and exuberant personality, and he is overall very charming.” Another popular character trait of his is his humor. “Also the way he talks is HILARIOUS,” one fan said.
A lot of Mettaton fans said that they loved his music and his acting as a tv show host, which he would be thrilled to hear. (Maybe if they’re lucky, Mettaton will let them join his fan club for free.)
At the same time, Mettaton does have insecurities. A large portion of fans pointed out his fear of coming out to his ghost family as one of the most relatable things about him. This makes even more fans see themselves in him, whether it is because they are closeted or because they are afraid to share something else about themself with the world.
Some fans brought up Mettaton’s arc in the Queen Alphys and No Mercy routes, where Mettaton NEO fights to buy time for the monsters to escape, even though he knows it’s likely he won’t survive. He also shows other signs of selflessness, which provides an interesting contrast with his more visible narcissism. As one fan pointed out, his generosity or selflessness is present on every route: “He’s kind and supportive of people he barely knows, like the employees at his hotel and the lion he gives his dress to. In the neutral route, after Frisk proves themself to be strong enough to protect humanity, he sacrifices his lifelong dream to be a star on the surface because he doesn’t want to disappoint the monsters who love him and he cares about making the Underground a better place. He sacrifices his life in the genocide route so he can save Alphys and the monsters she evacuates with. In the pacifist route, instead of going straight to the surface like he always wanted, he goes back for Napstablook.”
Of course, many fans find him hot, though some point out that it is in an aesthetic sense and that they are not actually attracted to him. “I mean, yeah, he's hot, but I don't think I ever really had a crush on him or anything.” His attractiveness is treated as more of an inherent fact about his character than a subjective opinion. (Mettaton would be inclined to agree.)
Between his infectious charisma, the queer representation he provides, and his backstory dealing with fear of rejection, a common theme among his responses was a sense of inspiration. Even though he is affectionately called “problematic” and “evil,” by many of his fans, his flair for drama and the way his entire story is an allegory for being transgender gives many fans hope that they can one day be as confident in themselves as he is. That’s what he would want for his LEGacy, darlings!
Highlights: (under the cut)
He's unique, he's lovable, he's annoying and rude and narcissistic at times, he learns and grows just like every fantastically written character in this game, he has a fantastic arc, he has a wonderful design, and I wanna know where he bought his boots.
Legs
The whole thing lol I can’t pin it down to a simple answer, but if I had to try? I like his charisma.
hot robot. legs 4 days.
I love his design a lot but mostly I like his character development, the different layers you get to discover in the different routes and his charismatic personality. The fact that at first he seems to be an egocentric ambitious egotistical star but then you get to discover how good he was with everyone or how he was willing to even sacrifice himself so more monsters could be saved in the neutral and genocide routes make him very "human" and enchant me.
Leg hot
Flamboyant, center of attention, sexy, little bit evil, just like me
Leg
The AU potential for mettaton is astounding. I created a half-ironic semi-AU with just Mettaton derivatives with my friend and we are still having a ball with those characters like 4 years later. also mettaton hot
Legs 🦵
Comfort character also very trans
Hot hot letlg leg so hot you fry an egg
Funny, Handsome, compelling backstory
I fell in love with Mettaton as soon as you first meet him in game as the rectangle. then he got legs. endgame for me.
Mettaton was my first exposure to a trans-coded character, and he has a special place in my heart for helping me realize that I'm trans myself
Funny hot legs robot man
He’s kind and supportive of people he barely knows, like the employees at his hotel and the lion he gives his dress to. In the neutral route, after Frisk proves themself to be strong enough to protect humanity, he sacrifices his lifelong dream to be a star on the surface because he doesn’t want to disappoint the monsters who love him and he cares about making the Underground a better place. He sacrifices his life in the genocide route so he can save Alphys and the monsters she evacuates with. In the pacifist route, instead of going straight to the surface like he always wanted, he goes back for Napstablook.
fancy boy good boy long leg
backstory/relationship with other characters in the game, his charismatic personality, his well explained and at point motivations and of course, legs.
[Image Description: a wordcloud shaped like Mettaton in box form, holding a microphone and waving. The words are pink and light cyan colors. Some of the largest words are: Robot, Game, Trans, Love, Leg, Out, One, and Mettaton, which are the words most commonly used by responders when writing about him. End I.D.]
Read the full list of responses shared with permission by clicking here.
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[Image Description: an Undertale textbox with "CHARACTER PREFERENCES" in all caps in its middle. To its left and right are a radar screen and an egg, sun, and "WED" from the Dating Hub. End I.D.]
[Image Description: a pie chart titled "Favorite Undertale Main Characters". In clockwise order, it shows the results: Too Many To Choose with 657 points (25%), Papyrus with 519 votes (20%), Sans with 495 votes (19%), Chara with 196 votes (7%), Mettaton with 138 votes (5%), Flowey with 111 votes (4%), Undyne with 104 votes (4%), Napstablook with 91 votes (3%), Asgore with 73 votes (3%),Frisk with 59 votes (2%), Toriel with 60 votes (2%), , Alphys with 57 votes (2%), Asriel with 63 votes (2%), Mad Dummy / Mad Mew Mew with 12 votes (1%), No Main Character with 16 points (1%), and . End I.D.]
If you have been keeping up with today’s posts, you may already be familiar with the popularity trends among the main characters. In case you have not, a brief recap: Papyrus was the most popular character with 519 votes (20%), followed closely by Sans with 495 votes (19%). In third place was Chara with 196 votes (7%). Interestingly, Chara received nearly four times the amount of votes that Frisk did, despite them both being nonbinary human children.
Asriel and Mad Mew Mew were added to the survey late, and it is impossible to calculate how many people would have chosen them compared to other characters, since this question required a single answer. However, hypothetically, they would have received about 3.5% and 0.7% of the votes, respectively. It’s likely that any who truly wanted to pick them would have chosen either Flowey (in Asriel’s case) or the “too many to choose” option, but of course this cannot be confirmed.
[The rest of the section is under the cut.]
Overall, female Undertale characters were chosen less often as favorites. The lowest ranked characters were Mad Mew Mew (16 votes, 1%) and Alphys (57 votes, 2%). Frisk (who is not female) followed with 59 votes (2%), but a drastically higher proportion consume and create content including them, as we will get to in the next section. Then the fourth lowest was Toriel with 60 votes (2%). Even Asriel, who was added into the survey late, surpassed Toriel, as did Asgore. Asgore in particular was surprising considering many fans’ divided opinions on his actions. The highest ranked female character was Undyne with 104 votes (4%), and she is surpassed by Flowey and Mettaton. While 61.9% of fans enjoy Alphys/Undyne content (as we will discuss in a later post), this enjoyment is apparently not enough to make these characters overall fan favorites.
Those who could not choose a favorite character because they had too many favorites comprised 25% of responders. In contrast, 12 responders (1%) said they care for none of the main characters. A few of these responders mentioned Gaster and Burgerpants as characters they would have chosen, and expressed confusion or offense that they were not listed as main characters. While twelve responders is too small of a sample to make broad generalizations, when we combine these sentiments with the results of the NPC question, it becomes clear that fandom has allowed these minor characters to become more developed than they originally were.
[Image Description: a barplot titled "Characters in Fancontent". From left (greatest) to right (least): Sans with 1886 who CONSUME content about him and 1337 who CREATE content about him, Papyrus with 1780 consumers and 1163 creators, W.D. Gaster with 1254 consumers and 672 creators, Frisk with 1213 consumers and 841 creators, Chara with 1077 consumers and 756 creators, Flowey with 918 consumers and 563 creators, Undyne with 894 consumers and 488 creators, Alphys with 796 consumers and 436 creators, Mettaton with 742 consumers and 399 creators, Toriel with 735 consumers and 415 creators, Grillby with 653 consumers and 318 creators, Asriel with 640 consumers and 336 creators, Asgore with 622 consumers and 316 creators, Napstablook with 519 consumers and 297 creators, the Amalgamates with 386 consumers and 181 creators, Muffet with 371 consumers and 215 creators, Burgerpants with 284 consumers and 111 creators, Mad Dummy / Mew Mew with 164 consumers and 67 creators, Bratty and Catty with 131 consumers and 70 creators, Other Canon Characters with 353 consumers and 323 creators, and None or N/A with 31 consumers and 549 creators. End I.D.]
Some of the trends among favorite characters carried over into the fancontent engagement statistics, but others were quite different. First of all, more people consume and create content with Sans than Papyrus, despite more people voting Papyrus as their favorite. Frisk also ranks much higher in this data, which makes sense since they are so central to the plot of Undertale. Unless a fic takes place before or after the game or in certain AUs, Frisk is likely to be present. While Frisk may not have been a first choice of a favorite, they are still very loved by the fan community.
In contrast, Napstablook, while scoring rather highly among the favorite character data (with 91 votes or 3% of all fans), is not as present in fanworks. They are surpassed by characters like Gaster, Toriel, Grillby, and Alphys, who either scored much lower on the favorite characters poll or were not listed as main characters at all. Napstablook appears to be a character that people enjoy the vibe of, but who is not central to the plot enough to be featured in many fanworks.
The questions about character preferences in fancontent included a wider range of characters. Here we can see that while Gaster does not count as a main character in canon, 1254 responders (47.3%) enjoy consuming content with him, and 672 (25.3%) create content featuring him. Grillby is also moderately popular with 24.6% consuming content for him and 12.0% creating it.
13% of fans said that they also enjoy consuming content with other canon Undertale characters, and 12% enjoy creating content with them. This may be a testament to the large and lovable cast of characters that Undertale brings to the table.
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[Image Description: an Undertale chat box with the name "sans", in lowercase and Comic Sans font, in its center. On its left is a talksprite of Sans winking, and on its right is a talksprite of Sans looking to the left. End I.D.]
NOTE: This is a long one, so part of the essay is under the cut.
While Sans may not have won the official title of most popular character according to the “favorite character” section of the survey, Sans is easily the most recognizable member of the Undertale cast. He has escaped containment and ended up in countless memes (“insert Komaeda x Sans,” one responder said), and individual AU versions of him are highly popular in their own right. It is likely that Sans did not score the highest in this category simply because of his overwhelming popularity, especially considering data from later questions in the survey. 71.1% of fans enjoy consuming content about Sans, and 50.4% also create content about him. In contrast, the next highest-rated character was Papyrus, with 67.1% consuming Papyrus content and 43.9% creating it.
A large portion of Sans-centered content takes place in AUs. This seems to create a divide among some Sans fans. Several like him primarily because of the variety of AUs, while others are upset by what they feel is a bastardization of his canon character. From the responses recorded, it seems like those who enjoy AU content of Sans are in the majority.
By far one of Sans’s most popular traits mentioned is that he is relatable. This may be connected to the wide variety of AUs and interpretations of his character—fans already see themselves in him, and it may be easy to project just a little bit more of their personality onto him.
[Rest of the analysis under the cut]
The particular traits of Sans that fans find relatable are his depression, his protectiveness of his brother, and the way he hides behind jokes. It’s notable that many of these traits are highlighted in his boss fight, which is another draw. A few fans mentioned that they did not care about Sans until his role in the no mercy run. This is understandable, as the fight adds lore to the Undertale universe as well as to Sans’s mysterious background. (And of course, because Megalovania is a banger.)
Speaking of Sans’s mysteriousness, though. This was a very popular trait to point out, probably the third-most after his relatability and sense of humor. There are many things that he says and does in canon that are given no or very little context, even when all routes of the game are combined. This of course leaves even more room for fans to fill in gaps in his past, come up with headcanons, and make Sans their own.
One mystery noted among others is how Sans knows about resets. This is a trait that makes him fairly unique among the Undertale cast, since Flowey (who is primarily an antagonist) is the only other clearly confirmed character who understands them. (Asgore's boss battle and Alphys’ notes on determination also imply this, but those are more easily missed.) Ironically, Sans is the most obvious about his mysterious knowledge, as long as you are familiar with the no mercy route. Some Sans fans expressed that this prevents his mystery from becoming frustrating or incomprehensible. Sans is mysterious, but not so much so that he cannot be understood.
The contrast between Sans’s mysterious traits and the laid-back persona he presents are yet another reason that his fans like him. Actually, there are many contrasting traits present in Sans: he appears lazy yet he is the hardest boss in the game; he seems depressed yet has a sense of humor; he is incredibly memeable yet has a solid and relatable personality. As one commenter said, “Get urself a man who can do both.”
Of course, you can’t discuss Sans without mentioning his jokes. Even if he technically makes fewer puns than Papyrus over the course of the game, his are emphasized by both the game’s structure and the fandom. The camera zooms in on him with a comical ba-dum-tiss after some of the first puns he says. Sans fans found his sense of humor hilarious, some even going so far as to say he gave them an appreciation for puns they didn’t have before. Others mentioned his practical jokes as what they enjoyed most about his humor: “ I'm never gonna forget that telescope trick, I KNOW it's not necessarily original but I hadn't expected it at ALL, and the whoopee cushion, and fried snow, and EVERYONE knows the hot dog one, just all these curve balls being thrown at the player made the game even more fun!”
Sans fans tend to find him attractive (either physically or in personality or both), with some stating that they have crushed on him. A brief sampling of such responses include “hot skeleton go brrr,” “Peak comfort character/big skeleton crush material, 10/10, would skeleton again,” and “it turns out skeletons are very sexy with their lack of flesh/only magical flesh.”
In addition to the written responses here, fans’ attraction to Sans is also implied by the results of the reader insert poll. Of the 42.2% of responders who consume reader insert content, 67.7% (778 individuals) enjoy Sans/reader shipping. This statistic does not include the many additional AU Sans or “harem” reader ships, which are also quite popular in their own right. As a basis of comparison, Papyrus/reader was the next most popular ship, with 50.9% (585 individuals). (Note that there was no limit to the amount of ships a responder could choose, so votes for one ship do not inherently detract from another.) Red was the most popular of the AU Sanses listed to ship with a reader insert, with 43.4% (499 votes), surpassing all monogamous canon character ships except Sans and Papyrus.
While there are many other popular Sans ships, as seen in the shipping polls, not many were mentioned in the text responses here. Only one responder specifically mentioned a ship, saying “I like him in dresses and having relationships with other sanses (sanscest).” In contrast, many Sans fans drew attention to his platonic relationships. “No Sans is complete without his family and friends,” one fan said. Naturally, Sans fans had a lot to say about his brotherly relationship with Papyrus. “He's not only funny, but his dynamic with papyrus is amazing, making them both memorable.” Fans had a hard time choosing between Sans and Papyrus as a favorite, and often lump the two of them together.
At the end of the day, all of these aspects of Sans add up to him being a major comfort character for fans. Whether he is a friend, a lover, a brother, or proxy for the fan to project onto, he brings laughter and comfort to Undertale fans to this day.
He’s still rootin’ for ya, kids.
Highlights:
funny, round, throwable, perhaps even.... kissable....
Relatable, mysterious, compelling, full of possibilities!
*intro to megalovania plays*
I think it was the realization of his importance to the story, along with the different interesting aus based around him that made me like him the most.
He is a round friend and I love him. His design is appealing, he’s charming, he made me laugh throughout the game, got me emotional several times, and even helped me come to the realization that I myself have depression (and as a direct result, get medication and have an overwhelming increase in my quality of life). All the characters are great in their own ways, but Sans is just special for me.
Probably over exposure of the fandom's obsession with him. I distinctly remember enjoying Frisk, Chara, and Undyne a lot more before engaging in the fandom.
Sans is portrayed as lazy and weak in the pacifist run, but in the genocide run his true nature and power are revealed. I think it's a very interesting twist on Sans. But also, his jokes are funny and I like how goofy he is.
Flowey is my other favorite but I can't pick two. The impact of Sans' story just stuck with me for such a long time. It's still heartbreaking to think about. I am!!! So mad!!! About what the fandom has done to my silly bone man who makes dumb puns and is very depressed!!!
Skeleton man go brr brr. Ah, just kidding. Not only is his design simple enough to be drawn by everyone, but his personality is complex enough to leave a lot to discover for the fandom. Where did he come from? What's his relations with people? Why is he so strong yet weak at the same time? There's a lot of mystery around him and possibilities and that's what I like. Also a good character because he's not considered a hero or a villain, which is something you don't see enough in video games.
I initially didn't really care for him, but once I watched a genocide run, he became way more interesting to me. Now I just think he's neat.
He's a comfort character. Sans feels like a dear friend, where I've seen many versions of him struggle and fight, or give up and continue to carry on. Or just seeing him happy or reading how relaxed and laid back he is in a story. He's not a role model, but he is a character with a lot of different stories to tell and paths to take. I love Sans, and all his alternate versions, for this reason. And no Sans is complete without his family and friends. Sans may be my favourite, but that doesn't mean I don't love every other character and their stories as well. I just have a preference.
No actually it's because he's surprisingly meta and deep. Relatable because of the fact he's got a lot of feelings that he just keeps hidden, or maybe he just doesn't care to show them anymore. He's also got a lot of room for interpretation of his character, and that's led to a lot of AUs of him which has always sparked my interest. Also the art sometimes do be kinda 😳
I just think his lore is neat. Yes give me time knowledge. Yes give me “super powerful but underplays it so people don’t expect much from him anymore”. Yes give me puns.
I could write a literal thesis essay on why I love the Bone Bros but I'm gonna save you the hassle lmaaaao. Sans and Papyrus, and their AU iterations, are just such versatile characters and I adore what the fandom has done with them. Peak comfort character/big skeleton crush material, 10/10, would skeleton again.
I honestly think the concept of a game character that’s aware of the resets and timelines is really interesting, and seeing the way he reacts to the players choices is one of my favorite aspects of the game. I also like how even though knowing about the resets causes him to have his own issues with motivating himself, he’s not a complete edge lord about it and isn’t totally angsty about it either, he can still make the player laugh with his jokes, and despite the resets he still cares for his friends, and can even grow to like the player depending on the route, so all of that makes it fun to analyze him as a character.
In some ways, he feels the most real out of all of the characters in the game. Part of that is just because I really vibe with his sense of humor, and his combination of depression and fierce protectiveness over his family is really relatable. But also he's the most responsive character in the game. He delivers a serious verbal (and literal) beat-down to genocidal players, while supporting pacifistic players. In some ways this runs the risk of feeling like the game itself is speaking through Sans, but because of how down-to-earth and relatable he's written, instead it serves to make the player feel seen and understood in a way rarely explored in RPG games.
[Image Description: a wordcloud in comic sans, shaped like Sans. His bones are white, his hoodie is blue, and his slippers are pink. Some of the largest words (all the words are lowercase) are: relate, pun, skeleton, man, love, try, feel, funny, au, and sans. These are just some of the words fans used most commonly in their essays about him. End I.D.]
Read the full list of responses shared with permission by clicking this link. (it's 23 pages long so you may want to make a copy of the document to prevent lag)
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[Image Description: a corrupted, glitching Undertale text box surrounded by distorted assets from the Dating Hub. In its center, in Wingdings, are the words “MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS”. End I.D.]
* Smells like bad graphic design.
[Image Description: a picture from the Vessel survey in Deltarune; it is corrupted and glitched. It's asking, “YOUR FAVORITE BLOOD TYPE?”. The Red SOUL has selected AB. End I.D.]
*Fans were unsure what to make of the blood type question.
*This is strange, considering all humans have blood, don’t they...?
*Perhaps they haven’t played Deltarune in quite a while, or at all!
*Now would be a good time to rectify this, we suggest...
*(Don’t despair if you can’t soon, though!)
*(There’s a limit to the things you can do today. Accepting this is healthy.)
...
WILL YOU PERSIST? (Continue reading under the cut. No Deltarune chapter 2 spoilers in this post.)
[Image Description: A pie chart entitled “FAVORITE BLOOD TYPE” in Wingdings, against a glitched, crimson background. 388 responders, or 17%, voted A for their favorite blood type (A’s texture on the pie chart is a neon pastel bowling alley carpet). 765 responders, or 33%, voted AB as their favorite blood type (AB’s texture is several surprised Gasters). 240 responders, or 10%, voted B as their favorite (B’s texture is many Mettatons wearing blue dresses). 320 responders, 14%, voted C (C’s texture is many EGGs from the Dating Hub). 591 responders, 26%, voted D (D’s texture is several Ficus Lickers). End I.D.]
*Undertale fans’ favorite blood type was overwhelmingly AB.
*This is likely because... it stands out as the only type with two letters rather than one.
*Having twice as much blood may be beneficial to humans... though how, we cannot say...
*Well, I needn’t speculate.
*After all, it’s rude to talk about someone who’s listening.
[Image Description: A horizontal graph entitled “WD Gaster headcanons”. The title and vertical axis title are typed in pink-highlighted uppercase Wingdings; the data series consists of various pink, blue, and purple shapes, both conical and square; the background is dark; and the entire graph is slightly glitched.
From top (greatest) to bottom (least): 1666 responders chose the theory “Gaster is Sans and Papyrus's father, and is a good (or at least well-intentioned) person. This may include Sans and/or Papyrus working together with him when they grow up”. 1306 responders chose “Gaster attempted to study alternate timelines before shattering himself”; 1276 responders chose “Gaster survived the war of humans and monsters and is as old as Asgore and Toriel. They may have been friends in the past”; 961 responders chose “Gaster is not related to Sans and Papyrus, but either one or both worked with him in some scientific fashion”; 728 chose “Gaster is just a funny meme man”; 712 chose “Gaster is Sans and Papyrus’ father, and is a terrible and/or abusive person. This may include Sans and Papyrus being experimented on”; 429 chose “Gaster is Sans and Papyrus’ brother”; 170 chose “Gaster was Papyrus’ previous identity before he fell into the CORE”; 77 chose “Gaster is Sans or Papyrus’ boyfriend”; 59 chose “Gaster is Sans and Papyrus’ grandfather”; 159 chose “I know of Gaster, but have no interest in or headcanons about him; 144 chose “None of these options accurately reflect my headcanons”; and 15 chose, “I have never heard of Gaster”. End I.D.]
Doctor W.D. Gaster is a mystery even to us monsters who work with him. Is he a father? A brother? A lover? Since shattering across time and space, he is able to become everyone, and no one. The most popular belief is that Doctor Gaster is Sans and Papyrus’s father and that his intentions are good. (We certainly hope so!) This response received 1666 votes, which we find very, very interesting. This amounts to 63.1% of responders. The opposite option, that Doctor Gaster abused his children, only received 712 votes (26.9% of responders). This was surprising considering the popularity of AUs like Zarla’s Handplates comic.
Beliefs that Doctor Gaster studied timelines and was a friend of King Asgore and Queen Toriel are also very popular. Each of these responses was chosen by just under half of fans surveyed.
The theory that Doctor Gaster was Papyrus’s previous identity seemed to be a rather new development, and was intended to be an outlier. We were not aware that a decent portion of fans enjoy this belief, with 170 fans (6.4%) choosing it. In contrast, Doctor Gaster as the skeletons’ boyfriend or grandfather were less popular than expected, with 2.9% and 2.2% of responders choosing these options, respectively.
Despite being hidden from most fans in the game itself, only 15 responders (0.6%) are not aware of Gaster’s existence. He is pleased to know that he connected with so many of you.
He looks forward to seeing you again very, very soon.
(For those who wish to view the Gaster graph in table form for readability, click here.)
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[Image Description: an Undertale chat box with the name "Frisk" in its center, between a talksprite of Frisk's monotone face on the left and the EGG, a sun, and "WED", taken from the Dating Hub, on the right. End I.D.]
Frisk received a total of 59 votes, meaning that 2.2% of responders picked them as a favorite. However, these numbers only tell part of the story. In our analysis of which characters people create content of, Frisk was the third most popular, beaten only by Papyrus and Sans. This implies that a lot of fans care deeply about Frisk, but for whatever reason, they are not usually fans’ number one choice. This makes our data on them somewhat limited, but there are still some interesting repeated sentiments. They were also often brought up by people who claimed they liked too many characters to choose, so we analyzed those responses as well.
Many loved the ambiguous nature of Frisk’s character. The empty spaces in their characterization allow some fans to project onto them easily.
Some go as far as calling Frisk “a blank slate for the player,” although this is not technically true, as they are revealed to be their own person at the end of the True Pacifist route. This reveal was pointed out by a few responders, and many more love that their character raises interesting questions about how much of the game is based on Frisk’s choices, and how much is the player’s.
Frisk is also canonically nonbinary, which is very important to many responders. Our demographics analysis revealed that a very large portion of the Undertale fandom is nonbinary or questioning their gender, and it may be representation like Frisk that drew them into the game. Others noted being surprised by a nonbinary main character, and only realizing that being nonbinary was an option at all because of them.
There are also many fans who love to see the variety of fanon interpretations for them. Most commonly, fans pointed out the common headcanons that Frisk is nonverbal and/or autistic.
They tend to be demonized less than Chara, but many fans do find it interesting to explore their role as the catalyst for both the best and worst endings in the game. Many enjoy exploring the moral questions this brings up,
Many love that the few things that the game does reveal about Frisk show that they are a complex character with a distinct personality, although their backstory and motivations are never revealed. They are often seen as a cute little kid with an unhappy past, who makes mistakes even when doing their best, but, despite everything, continues moving forward.
Highlights: (under the cut)
I love how their personality is often portrayed in the fandom : very stone faced and ‘dry’ but silly, confident, and clever.
amazing child filled with compassion and determination
The interface between the player and Frisk makes for a fascinating moral question, about free will, and how much you can expect a child to do
Frisk was also my first real introduction to trans/nonbinary people, and some fanart/writing of them introduced me to what autism could look like outside of mainstream media. (I'm a trans and autistic teen, for reference.)
We went through what Frisk went through and felt at times determined and hopeless as them. They held us and we held them and after everything we’re still us.
i like the variability of interpretations for both them and chara. they can be sweet or an asshole (plus many many more traits) and it can all fit into canon!
Frisk may be more open to fandom interpretation, but honestly, that's probably why I like them the most. I like imagining a scrappy young kid doing their best, committing mistakes, living and laughing... I like the fanon character traits that have established themselves independent from what few canon facts we know. I like the few sprinkled-in tidbits we DO get. A character so malleable and yet with defining borders.
Because of the choices, everything Frisk does, can change the route of that world, and the little details that happen with their choices, I love that because, let everything open to happen, do you want to make friends with Toriel? you can, do you want to put hot cats on your head, well Sans do that for you, do you want to have a bad time? You can.
[Image Description: A wordcloud in the shape of Frisk’s full body sprite on a white background. Their face, hair, and feet are brown, their shirt is blue and purple, and their eyes and mouth are black. Their face has been left free of text. Some of the most visible words are: Frisk, Player, Love, Kind, Kid, Person, and Game, which represent the most common words in the essays people wrote about them. End of ID]
Read the full list of responses shared with permission by clicking this link.
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[Image description: An Undertale textbox with the name “Alphys” in the middle, between two of Alphys’s talksprites. The one on the left side is smiling and blushing, the one on the right shows a smile with half open eyes, more confident. End of ID]
2.2% of Undertale fans (57 responders) voted Alphys as their favorite character. Alphys fans find her relatable, though proportionally less so than fans of some other characters like Sans or even Napstablook. Specifically, many responders related to her anxiety and love of anime and/or other nerdy interests. Many also relate to her love for science. And of course, she is relatable as a canonically lgbt+ character. 73.5% of responders said they belong to the lgbt+ community, and the responses about Alphys show how important her sexuality is to them.
An interesting phenomenon is how many responses referred to Alphys as a lesbian. This is technically incorrect, as she is bi, and is canonically seen to have a crush on Asgore before “s-stop[ping] going after furry boss monsters and, uh… just get[ting] to know a really cute fish” [pre-Asriel boss fight, pacifist route]. It is unclear if fans have just forgotten this fact because of the iconic nature of the Alphyne ship, if they never realized it in the first place, if they chose to ignore it, or if they substituted lesbian for the more accurate “wlw.” Some fans also just used the term “gay,” which may or may not be intended as an umbrella term. Regardless, the prevalence of these wordings among fans bears noting.
It is impossible to summarize the fandom’s relationship with Alphys without going into more detail about her relationship with Undyne. The most common description of their romance was “cute.” Some responders had a difficult time choosing their favorite between Undyne and Alphys. It’s notable however that a large proportion of responders did not mention Undyne in their responses, connecting to Alphys alone rather than as one half of a ship. Considering the popularity of Alphyne from the canon ship data (with 61.9% of responders enjoying consuming content for the ship), I had wondered if those who chose Alphys as their favorite would primarily see her as Undyne’s love interest, or as someone to project onto in a relationship with Undyne. As much as I also love Alphyne, knowing that Alphys is appreciated in her own right was very heartwarming to me.
Alphys fans referred often to her character arc. The True Lab sequence resonated with them. One fan even went as far to say it “helped [them] out of a dark place.” Alphys’s strong arc and depth of character may be “underrated and overlooked” according to some, but it is clear that Alphys fans appreciate the major impact that she has on the story of Undertale.
Highlights: (under the cut)
For being a nerdy, lovable character with huge flaws and mistakes shown, Alphys shows that no matter what mistakes you make, you're still loved by several people and there's no reason to give up.
I feel like her character arc is very underrated and overlooked. She inspires me to face my mistakes and become a better person. Also i just like how cute and nerdy she is
I love a gay scientist first of all. Any sci-fi type story set in Undertale has the potential to be funny, extremely depressing, or both, all of which I enjoy. Secondly, I really love fancontent that explores her psyche, the impact/creation of the amalgamates, and her relationships with Undyne and Sans (who is my second favorite character).
Because she’s such a dork, anime nerd and relatable. Plus love her relationship with Undyne, it’s too cute.
[Image description: A wordcloud in the shape of Alphys’s full body sprite. Her body is colored yellow while her dress is red with white dots. Some of the most visible words are: Alphys, Love, Anime, Cute, and Relate, which represent the most common words in the essays people wrote about her. End of ID]
Read the full list of responses shared with permission by clicking this link.
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[Image Description: an Undertale chat box that says “CANON UNIVERSE” at its center. Surrounding it is radar on its left, and CRIME measurers and a Friendship bar from the Dating Hub on its right. End I.D.]
[Image Description: A bar graph titled “CANON CHARACTER SHIP PREFERENCES”. From left (greatest) to right (least): Alphyne, with 1641 who CONSUME it and 435 who CREATE it; Soriel, with 802 consumers and 188 creators; Papyton, with 725 consumers and 150 creators; Sansby, with 644 consumers and 140 creators; RG01/RG02, 555 consumers and 48 creators; Nicepants, 515 consumers and 61 creators; Kingdings, 445 consumers and 74 creators; Grillster, 438 consumers and 97 creators; Dogamy/Dogaressa, 427 consumers and 38 creators; Frans, 342 consumers and 107 creators; Fontcest, 310 consumers and 136 creators; Charisk, 289 consumers and 77 creators; Sanster, 271 consumers and 85 creators; Chasriel, with 212 consumers and 41 creators; Sansgoriel, 204 consumers and 32 creators; Mettaton/Sans, 127 consumers and 22 creators; Other Ships, 735 consumers and 459 creators; No Ships, 340 consumers and 1581 creators; there were 141 consumers and 117 creators who preferred not to answer. End I.D.]
Alphyne (Alphys/Undyne), as the only major canon ship confirmed in the game, understandably had the highest number of votes in the consumption category, with 61.9% of fans enjoying content about them. They also ranked highest among the specifically stated ships in the creation category, at 16.4%. (As a reminder, ship content created could be in the form of fics, art, comics, videos, or other forms of media.) The “other ships” option, while having only half the votes that Alphyne did in the consumption category, narrowly beat out Alphyne in the creation category (at 17.3%). These two questions in the survey came before the reader insert and AU ships. The “other ships” option in the survey was specifically labeled as “rarepair or ship not listed here,” without clarifying that it still only referred to canon character ships, so it is possible that content creators voted for that option in reference to reader insert or AU ships. Of course, it could also mean that the total of all rarepair ships surpasses the one major ship in the game. It is impossible to tell for sure without gathering more data.
Regardless, Alphyne is still very popular, and deservedly so. Alphyne is unique as one of the first wlw romances in popular media. In the free-response questions about favorite characters and favorite things about the game, many fans brought up the impact that Alphyne had on them. One responder said, “I think Alphys/Undyne helped me accept myself as a lesbian.” The true pacifist ending of the game cannot be reached without Undyne and Alphys confessing their feelings, and the player themself helps them to do so. All of these factors likely contribute to the interest that fans have in their relationship.
Of the ships that are not present in canon, Soriel (Sans/Toriel) ranked the highest in both the consumption and creation categories, followed by Papyton (Papyrus/Mettaton) and Sansby (Sans/Grillby).
[More analysis of these ships under the cut. Also contains mentions of Fontcest.]
Soriel’s popularity is unsurprising given their interactions in canon. Sans’s friendship with Toriel cannot be missed on any route, as he talks about her in the ending phone calls, even choosing to stay with her in the Exiled Queen ending. He also mentions her at the MTT resort if you choose to have dinner with him, which is a scene that many fans of the game love. And, of course, there is the unforgettable pacifist ending, where they meet in person for the first time while Asgore cries in the background. While none of these interactions are inherently romantic, they certainly have a deep friendship that fans can choose to make into something more.
Interestingly, Papyton is the only one of these top four ships that has not had a direct interaction in-game, though Papyrus’s admiration for Mettaton can be inferred from tidbits scattered throughout his battle (MTT brand anime powder, etc.), his date (action figures of various sexy robots), and his phone calls (“HE’S MY FAVORITE SEXY RECTANGLE!”). This ship also may have the appeal of giving both Papyrus and Mettaton a love interest, particularly if fans also ship Alphyne and Soriel at the same time. Papyrus and Mettaton both have bold, flamboyant personalities that have potential to go well together in fanworks where they have the opportunity to interact.
Sansby ranked number four, being the only popular canon ship to include a minor character. Grillby is interesting in that he only says one line in the game (“...good job.”), yet he has a large fan following in his own right. Sans jokes with him, and even if Grillby does not respond verbally, there is room for fans to headcanon a relationship between them.
The fifth ranking ship depends on whether you choose to sort by the ships fans choose to consume, or the ships fans choose to create. Royal Guard 01/Royal Guard 02 is the fifth most popular ship for consuming content, but they only have 48 responders (1.8%) who enjoy creating content about them. They are memorable and enjoyable side characters, but fans have not latched onto them and given them backstories like Grillby. In sorting by ships fans create content for, Fontcest (Sans/Papyrus) was the fifth most popular (at 5.1%). This did not come as a surprise, since discarding reader and AU ships, Fontcest has the second most tagged fics on AO3 (after Alphyne). Since Papyrus and Sans are the two most popular Undertale characters by far, is it inevitable that some fans will ship them regardless of their status as siblings.
The popularity of Sans, Papyrus, and ships involving the two becomes even more apparent in the next section: reader insert ships.
Shipping Analysis Navigation:
1. Introduction, limitations, and methods
2. Canon Character Ships (you are here)
3. Reader Insert Ships
4. AU Character Ships (to be posted)
5. Overall Shipping Comparisons (to be posted)
#shipping#undertale fandom census#undertale#soriel#sansby#papyton#fontcest#alphyne#results#royal guards 01 & 02
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