Papyrus

I WILL BE THE ONE! I MUST BE THE ONE!
I WILL CAPTURE A HUMAN!
THEN, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS...
WILL GET ALL THE THINGS I UTTERLY DESERVE!

Papyrus discussing his plans with Sans

Papyrus (JP: パピルス) (/pəˈpaɪrəs/ pə-PY-rəs) is Sans's younger brother and a main character in Undertale. He wishes to become a Royal Guard to attain fame and friends; to this end, he patrols Snowdin and prepares many of its puzzles in hopes of capturing a human. Papyrus is also the game's second boss.

Profile

Appearance

Papyrus posing.

Papyrus appears as a tall skeleton, with a skull more vertical and geometric than his brother's skull. Being skeletal, many of his expressions incorporate a toothy grin. His eyes resemble vertical slits; his skeletal pseudo-brows form most of his expressions, as well as the corners of his mouth. He has eyeballs which show at times when he is experiencing strong emotions. Papyrus is relatively taller and slightly slimmer than his brother.

Normal ("Battle Body")

For most of his in-game appearances, he wears his "battle body", an outfit that he created for a costume party. It consists of an orange-red cape, a white chestplate with a gold trim on the bottom, and blue briefs with a golden belt. A symbol that resembles that of Starman from the MOTHER series adorns the chestplate. He also wears red coquelicot gloves, each with a yellow trim, and red boots.

Befriending (Cool Dude)

Halfway through the date/hangout with Papyrus, he changes into his "secret style": a backward baseball cap, a t-shirt that reads "COOL DUDE", small shorts with buttons, gloves with striped trim, knee-high socks, and sneakers. He also wears basketballs on his shoulders, likely Mettaton's MTT-Brand FashionBall.

Alphys date (Jogboy)

The first and only appearance of Papyrus's "JOGBOY" outfit.

During the "date" with Alphys, Papyrus arrives wearing a sweatband, shorts, and a t-shirt that reads "JOGBOY", with hearts on the pauldrons. He still wears his boots, gloves, and scarf.

Personality

Papyrus is flamboyant and brash, which is reflected by him speaking exclusively in capital letters. He presents himself as confident and charismatic, and seems to be egotistical, referring to himself as "THE GREAT PAPYRUS". However, Papyrus is also hard-working and kind at heart, remaining considerate and forgiving even after the protagonist beheads him on the Genocide Route. He is occasionally oblivious but can be cunning, as seen when he uses reverse psychology to trick Undyne into befriending the protagonist. He is thought of to be somewhat naive by other characters, but not exactly ”dumb.” He shows great bravery as even in the face of potentially imminent death, such as on the Genocide Route, where he drops his guard and chooses to spare the protagonist in hopes of driving them down a better path.

Papyrus believes in others just as much as he believes in himself. He has so much faith in his abilities that he waited outside of Undyne's house all night and begged her to accept him into the Royal Guard. Seeing his persistence, Undyne offered to train him, but instead gave him cooking lessons. His confidence in himself and others is so great that he interprets direct insults towards him as the protagonist trying to make themselves look bad so he can hurt them more easily, rather than the possibility that they dislike him.

Papyrus's room.

He cooks spaghetti from time to time, though many characters seem to think that he is not very good at it. A potential explanation for this is the fact that Papyrus has never tried his own spaghetti, only cooking it because, as far as he can tell, "EVERYBODY ELSE LOVES IT!!!". He also learned how to cook from Undyne, who is not very good at cooking, as shown when the protagonist befriends her. According to Flowey, Papyrus's favorite food is "that oatmeal with the dinosaur eggs".

Papyrus loves puzzles and japes, as shown by the numerous puzzles he prepares for the protagonist as well as his collection of "complex tomes about puzzle creation". He takes offense to people attempting to skip or otherwise ignore his puzzles. Though his advanced puzzles may demonstrate his intellect, Papyrus also enjoys children's books and is somewhat childish with the decoration of his room. He collects action figures and disdains anime despite not having watched it before. He also believes that skeletons are warm and cuddly, while ghosts are spooky. Papyrus watches Mettaton's TV shows and admires him so much that he would move to Hotland, a region that he hates.

Papyrus's other skills include consistently high-caliber artistic prowess, from things such as being able to paint a rock formation to look exactly like a bridge and creating a snow sculpture to look like a muscular version of himself to the various puzzle designs he creates for the protagonist. He also has a photographic memory for phone calls, and the ability to perform physics-breaking acrobatics.

Papyrus appears to be unconcerned about his own death, stating "AT LEAST I STILL HAVE MY HEAD." right before dying, and seems more concerned about the direction of the protagonist's life on the Genocide Route. In a Cell Phone call, he mentions that he would like to meet Death.

Papyrus casually breaking the laws of physics.

Papyrus is implied to be deeply lonely; he wants to join the Royal Guard in order to be popular and loved by the people of the underground. This desire to be favored among the crowd runs so deep that Papyrus will change his opinion on any given subject on the spot just to gel in with the majority. He does not get much attention from the people of Snowdin compared to the much calmer and more amiable Sans, which is further evidenced by the two's mailboxes: Sans's is packed with junk mail while Papyrus's is empty, with the latter claiming that it is "[HIS] EMPTINESS, NOT YOURS." Shortly before the protagonist fights him, Papyrus exclaims that he "[DOESN'T] EVER WONDER WHAT HAVING LOTS OF FRIENDS IS LIKE". His desperation for companionship allows Flowey to manipulate him into calling the protagonist's friends to the barrier.

Etymology

Papyrus's name is derived from the typeface in which he speaks, Papyrus. This is a reference to Helvetica, a webcomic about a skeleton named after a font. His name is also likely a reference to papyrus, a type of paper on which Ancient Egyptians primarily wrote.

Main story

History

At an unspecified point in time prior to the events of Undertale, Papyrus and his brother asserted themselves in Snowdin, with Papyrus building and maintaining puzzles in Snowdin. Sometime after that, Papyrus became friends with Undyne and began having cooking lessons with her. At some point, Flowey started talking to Papyrus in moments where the latter was alone.

Neutral Route

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT!?
THIS WAS ANOTHER DECISIVE VICTORY FOR PAPYRUS!!

Papyrus after The Gauntlet of Deadly Terror

Papyrus's first appearance in Snowdin, as Nyeh Heh Heh! plays.

Papyrus first appears in Snowdin, where he arrives to check up on his brother. After learning that Sans had not made any progress over eight solid days, Papyrus, unaware of the human hiding nearby, berates Sans for not recalibrating his puzzles. He then rants that he will capture a human and become popular. Further in the forest, Papyrus meets the protagonist for the first time, though he initially confuses them for a rock.

Papyrus attempts to antagonize the protagonist with puzzles and japes, but eventually warms up to them, almost refusing to fight them out of pity. Though he initiates an encounter, he places the protagonist in his toolshed if he reduces their HP to 1 instead of killing them. The protagonist can easily escape the shed since the door is always unlocked from the inside, but after taking the protagonist to the shed for the second time and beyond that, Papyrus tries to make the shed more appealing by cutting up pieces of a hot dog and adding it to the bowl of kibble for them to eat.

Ultimately deciding that the protagonist is friendly, Papyrus lets them continue into Waterfall, advises them on how to exit the underground, and offers either a hangout or a date back at his house depending on if the protagonist flirted with him during his battle.

When the protagonist makes their way into Waterfall, Papyrus attempts to sway Undyne from killing them; Undyne refuses to yield, however, and Papyrus finds himself obligated to help her. He calls the protagonist and asks them to confirm what they are currently wearing. Papyrus is loyal to both Undyne and the protagonist by employing a ruse that backfires regardless of what the protagonist does.

Papyrus escapes the protagonist's hangout with Undyne.

Papyrus calls the protagonist while Undyne is chasing them and says that they should all hang out. If befriended, Papyrus is waiting outside her house and can be talked to as early as during the chase. After the protagonist chooses whether or not to give Undyne water in Hotland, they can go to Undyne's house, and Papyrus offers dialogue based on the protagonist's actions after his call. If the protagonist gained no EXP, Papyrus gives the option to hang out with her. He flees from the hangout early on, after using reverse psychology to get Undyne to befriend the protagonist.

If Papyrus is killed by the protagonist, his head slides off from his body before the latter turns into dust. The former subsequently turns into dust as well. His death changes the dialogue of various characters and affects further appearances of Sans during the game:

• The people of Snowdin Town comment on feeling like someone is missing from their town, and some feel unsafe because of his disappearance.
• Papyrus does not talk to Undyne during the protagonist's first encounter with her. Before the boss fight against her, she cuts off her long speech because of his death, claiming that he never misses a meeting with her and that his brother is also missing as well.
• Sans stops appearing throughout the game until the Last Corridor. Near the end of his judgment at the Last Corridor, Sans suspects that the protagonist may have some sort of "special power" and questions if they should use that power to do the right thing. Regardless of their answer, he reminds them about his dead brother and ends the judgment there.

True Pacifist Route

THAT'S RIGHT, HUMAN! YOU CAN WIN!!
JUST DO WHAT I, WOULD DO...
BELIEVE IN YOU!!!

Papyrus

Befriending Papyrus is required to complete the True Pacifist Route.

Before the protagonist can fight Asgore, Papyrus is one of the main characters who intervene and stop the battle. He then meets Toriel for the first time, becomes annoyed once she tells him a pun and reveals that Flowey guided him to call all of the protagonist's friends to New Home. Flowey then restrains Papyrus and rest of the monsters present before trying to attack the protagonist; however, Papyrus, the rest of the protagonist's friends and other monsters defend the protagonist from Flowey's attacks, with Papyrus stating his faith in the protagonist.

In the ensuing fight against Asriel, Papyrus appears as one of the Lost Souls whom the protagonist can save.

Epilogue

In the credits, Papyrus is overtaken by Sans, who is riding a tricycle, much to his anger.

Much to his dismay, Papyrus discovers that there is no need for the Royal Guard anymore, proclaiming this to be "THE WORST POSSIBLE ENDING." He also comments that Toriel is a "HUGE DORK."

In the credits, Papyrus is seen driving a red car along a highway. Later, Asgore is shown trimming a hedge in the shape of Papyrus's face - something that Papyrus wanted to happen once he became a famous Royal Guard.

Genocide Route

FIRST: YOU'RE A FREAKING WEIRDO!
NOT ONLY DO YOU NOT LIKE PUZZLES.
BUT THE WAY YOU SHAMBLE ABOUT FROM PLACE TO PLACE...
THE WAY YOUR HANDS ARE ALWAYS COVERED IN DUSTY POWDER.
IT FEELS...
LIKE YOUR LIFE IS GOING DOWN A DANGEROUS PATH.

Papyrus confronting the protagonist on the Genocide Route

The protagonist approaches Papyrus.

Papyrus engages in much of the same antics that he does on the Neutral Route and the True Pacifist Route, with the exception of often noting the protagonist's unwillingness to complete his puzzles.

Papyrus does not notice the protagonist's presence upon their first meeting, only acknowledging them when Sans points them out to him. Even then, he does not realize they are a human at first. He remains oblivious to the protagonist's motives even as their inevitable battle draws near.

When Papyrus finally confronts the protagonist, he orders them to stand still multiple times, to no avail. He denounces them for their atrocities, but eventually resorts to reason and tries to convince them to stop. He perceives the protagonist's undeterred advance as a friendly gesture. As a result, he welcomes them with open arms, and offers to spare them immediately.

If the protagonist spares Papyrus, the Genocide Route is aborted. Papyrus is relieved at their decision and congratulates them, while also mentioning his own fears of failure to stop them. Papyrus then dismisses past events and does what he would usually do on the Neutral Route.

If the protagonist attacks Papyrus, they deplete his health in one hit. With only his head left, Papyrus reiterates his belief in them before disintegrating.

In battle

For an in-battle description, see Papyrus/In battle.

Relationships

The protagonist

Despite wanting to capture the protagonist, Papyrus cares about them and eventually ends up dating/hanging out with them if the protagonist does not kill him. He turns the protagonist down if they choose to date, as he realizes he does not feel the same way about them. Papyrus still hangs out with the protagonist even if they had been on the Genocide Route up until sparing him.

The protagonist remains friends with him throughout the game and gains the ability to call him on the Cell Phone almost anywhere.

Sans

For Sans's perspective, see Sans § Papyrus.

Sans and Papyrus often appear together when presenting puzzles to the protagonist.

Sans is Papyrus's brother, and the two care about each other a lot. Papyrus often chastises him for being lazy and detests his many puns dropped throughout the game, but he is not above making puns himself and is shown to occasionally smile at Sans's puns. Papyrus often cleans up after Sans and prompted him to get a job as a sentry.

Papyrus is upset that Sans naps so much, mostly through the night, and mentions that it's impressive how much slacking off his brother can do. Though Sans reads Papyrus bedtime stories and is the sole provider in their household, Papyrus takes care of his brother as well and wonders what Sans would do without such a "COOL GUY" watching over him. Together, they made Papyrus's "battle body" as well as his cardboard sentry station in Snowdin.

The snails of the Blook family's snail farm remind him of Sans, which Papyrus explains as the snails being round, slow, and constantly emitting slime. Papyrus also recognizes that Sans is secretive and kind of strange.

Undyne

For Undyne's perspective, see Undyne § Papyrus.

Papyrus and Undyne are close friends. After Papyrus asked to join the Royal Guard, Undyne gave him cooking lessons instead, and they bonded. Because Undyne does not have the heart to tell Papyrus that she will never let him join the Royal Guard, Papyrus continues trying to impress her by capturing a human. Sometimes, Undyne grosses Papyrus out, but Papyrus looks up to her as a role model. Papyrus is also oblivious at times when Undyne is angry at him, though he is keen enough to know to present befriending the protagonist as a challenge to her.

Papyrus claims that Undyne "ENRICHES [HIS] LIFE WITH SHED-BASED PUNS", even though she has never made one before.

Flowey

For Flowey's perspective, see Flowey § Papyrus.

Papyrus sees Flowey as a good friend because the latter offers him predictions, flattery, advice, and encouragement. Papyrus also borrows some of Flowey's dialogue characteristics, and Flowey guides Papyrus to call the protagonist's friends to interrupt Asgore's battle with the protagonist.

Creation and development

Creation

Papyrus's original name was "Times New Roman" during development.

In the UNDERTALE Art Book, it is stated that Papyrus was planned to wear a fedora, be a creep with no redeeming qualities, and his favorite show would be "My Little Boney". This was changed since a mean-spirited character was unfitting to Undertale. His original design was also inspired by Dedan from OFF, a mean-spirited character similar to the character Papyrus was originally intended to be, but has underwent numerous alterations since then.

In an interview with Temmie Chang, she describes how she received messages from "Papyrus" while in class, which was when Toby Fox was working on developing Papyrus's personality.

Development

Papyrus posing while having a confused expression, by Guzusuru.

The UNDERTALE Art Book reveals that Papyrus's confused battle sprites were drawn by Guzusuru, but they were omitted as Toby Fox thought they looked "too good".

Concept art for Papyrus's battle sprite, by Temmie Chang and Toby Fox.

An old version of Papyrus's overworld sprite consists of him having the same eyes as Sans and a flared collar, which Toby referred to as a cape. He readjusted Papyrus's design due to it looking "too cool". However, depictions of Papyrus in the Undertale Kickstarter and the UNDERTALE Art Book depict Papyrus wearing a short cape. The cape depictions match the shape of the in-game sprites, some of which have internal names that start with spr_papyrus_cape. This implies that Papyrus may have originally worn a scarf before it was changed to a cape.

In Undertale's Japanese translation, Papyrus uses an old Japanese writing form. His text goes from right to left and the symbols are written vertically, referencing the Papyrus font's old and antique look. He also refers to himself as "ore-sama" (俺様), which is an arrogant first-person pronoun.

In a deleted tweet, Toby Fox said that Papyrus would use the term "aniki", a Japanese honorable term used for older brothers or superiors. There is a multitude of interpretations for this as it does not give a clear answer as to who is the older brother between Papyrus and Sans. However, in the official Japanese translation released in 2017, Papyrus refers to Sans as "niichan", a somewhat immature way of addressing one's older brother. In Legends of Localization Book 3: UNDERTALE, it is stated that during the translation to Japanese, rather than make a blind guess, the translator consulted with Toby for details. Thus, through the translation process, it was definitively revealed that Sans is the older brother and Papyrus is the younger brother.

Outside of Undertale

Papyrus Q&A

Papyrus has Q&A interviews that were shared segments in the official Newsletter. The answering style is similar to the Undertale Q&A.

INTERVIEW: PAPYRUS, features 18 questions from the community, and Sans occasionally commenting in the answers. Toby originally shared the Papyrus questions URL on Twitter on May 30, 2023.

INTERVIEW: PAPYRUS (ROUND 2): 9 questions from the community, answered by Papyrus, and occasionally Sans. Flowey and Mad Mew Mew also briefly cameo. In this newsletter, he also comments that Papyrus received over 80,000 questions.

Deltarune

Main article: Papyrus

While Papyrus has not yet physically appeared in Deltarune, Sans mentions having a little brother. This brother is implied to be Papyrus through flavor text and the game's code. Sans mentions that his brother may be able to meet Kris once Asriel returns.

Gallery

• 
  Papyrus wearing a pair of shades.
• 
  Papyrus's Steam Trading Card.
• 
  Papyrus's official tarot card as Major Arcana V, "The Hierophant".
• 
  Papyrus spins away after presenting the Multicolor Tile Puzzle.
• 
  Papyrus Action Figure sold on Fangamer.
• 
  Papyrus plush sold on Fangamer.
• 
  Papyrus Nendoroid sold on Good Smile Company.
• 
  Bonus group postcard made by Gigi D.G. for Fangamer.
• 
  Artwork from Undertale's 5th anniversary.
• 
  Papyrus in his "Cook Dude" attire, as seen in UNDERTALE's 10th Anniversary Stream.

Trivia

• Papyrus is the only character whose dialogue does not begin with an asterisk.
• Papyrus's sad sprite when he talks in the Neutral endings has no animations.
• If the player attempts to name the fallen human "Papyru" (as the character limit in the naming screen prevents Papyrus's full name from being entered), the narration reads "I'LL ALLOW IT!!!" and allows the use of the name.
• Papyrus never moves during his battle, making him and Toriel the only bosses without animated battle sprites. Even so, he has animations during his hangout and in the characters' reunion prior to the battle against Asriel.
• Papyrus has a total of 2184 lines in the game, more than any other character, and almost as much as the game's narrator, which is at 2418 lines. Coincidentally, those numbers are anagrams of each other.
• While Papyrus's "special attack" is shown as a bone during his battle, it is possibly implied that the attack involved a Gaster Blaster.

Papyrus following the protagonist as they walk in and out of the kitchen.

• If the protagonist walks in and out of Papyrus's kitchen before the befriending event, he runs back and forth across the living room and offers differing dialogue based on how many times he did this.
• If the player's controller is disconnected in the Xbox version while dating Papyrus, under the "No Controller Connected" message is the following message: "You were excited about dating a very handsome skeleton and pulled the controller out by accident. I understand."

Papyrus speaking without his font or icon.

• There is a glitch where Papyrus speaks without using his font. Before the befriending event with Undyne, if the protagonist confirms the hangout from either side of Papyrus, speaks to the Mad Dummy, then walks up to Papyrus from behind, this glitch occurs. However, his font returns to normal after Undyne answers the door.
• Phone calls with Papyrus reveal the following information:
  • Papyrus has an imaginary store that sells flames. It is "A DREAM OF [HIS]".
  • Papyrus does not remember Napstablook's name and tries to guess it if the protagonist phones him outside their house. His guesses are "Spooky Bloo Bloo" and "Napper Hog". He also does the same with Flowey by calling him "FLOWERY" and Mettaton by calling him "HAPPSTABLOOK".
  • Papyrus would try eating the mushrooms in the room before the darkening lantern room and the lanterns in the darkening lantern room.
• Toby Fox has "deconfirmed" a piece of misinformation on the Papyrus article, which claimed that the character was inspired by Octopimp.

Version history

Version tag	Changes
v1.001	Fixed a glitch in which Papyrus's sprite would be present if the protagonist kills Papyrus, arrives to the scene in Waterfall in which Papyrus is supposed to give Undyne his report, then moves left.