lefthanded-sans:

I know it’s been said before, but I never get over the fact: Papyrus is *THE* most important and influential monster Frisk meets in the underground. The. most. important. Hands down. From his helpful actions to his moral philosophy, Papyrus is the one who makes the biggest difference.

A number of the other characters have impressive titles. Captain of the Royal Guard. Royal Scientist. King. Queen. Even “sentry” has a little bit of a dramatic ring to it. While that’s cool and everything, it doesn’t mean they’re going to take center stage and make the biggest impact. It’s Papyrus who makes by far the greatest difference, a character, who as far as our knowledge goes, doesn’t have some lofty position (does the kid even have a job? that cardboard sentry station sure doesn’t seem like a legitimate work station).

It is Papyrus who is the most integrated in the human’s journey through the underground. While Toriel cuts ties when Frisk leaves the Ruins, and while Alphys only becomes directly involved in Hotland, Papyrus is there ever-present from Snowdin on after.

It is Papyrus who offers his phone number and is willing to call the human or answer his phone, whatever room they so happen to be in. Papyrus is helping the human every step of their journey. Papyrus is the individual, by far, with the most lines of dialogue.

It is Papyrus who tells the human how to travel through the underground and reach Asgore.

It is because of Papyrus that Sans has the sentry station job. Without that job, Sans and Papyrus would never have met the human in the first place.

It is because of Papyrus that the human can befriend Undyne. Without Papyrus’ intervention, Undyne and the human cannot become friends. Hence, the human cannot get a True Pacifist Route and cannot bring everyone up happily to the surface.

And of all the possible main character deaths, Papyrus’ death impacts gameplay the most for the worse. The entire tone of the game shifts as soon as he dies. That doesn’t happen with the death of any other character, really. Even if Toriel dies, one can still find a lot of laughter waiting for them in Snowdin. But once Papyrus dies and you cannot date him, you suddenly cannot date ANY of the other characters, either. No longer are you able to make fun memories with Sans at Grillby’s, the MTT Resort, and the hot dog stand. Instead, Sans will completely disappear from Snowdin, his routine completely disrupted, him stalking you with the hood of his coat obscuring his face. Everyone in Snowdin will go from cheerful to worried and unsettled. Everyone – everyone – in the village, suddenly feels as though something is off and wrong. There will be no chance to meet with Undyne and befriend her, and thus no chance at all to have the date with Alphys, either. Undyne will be unforgiving and want all the more to wage war on humanity and kill you.

As soon as Papyrus dies, we get the grimmer Exiled Queen Ending as versus the Family Ending; the Exiled Queen Ending itself is darker if Papyrus dies versus Undyne because Undyne is now waging war against humanity, as versus Papyrus and Sans visiting Toriel’s house in the Ruins. When Papyrus is dead, the characters on the call are more blunt about the human’s wrongdoings, such as Sans speaking out bitterly to his brother’s or Toriel’s disappearance (in the cases where those characters are killed). I at least feel the Neutral Routes in which Papyrus dies tend to be a bit grimmer, darker, and more depressing than some of the endings where he survives.

It is Papyrus who is the hardest to kill in the Genocide Route. He is, for many players I know, the one people cannot get past. He’s the make-or-break for people. It’s because he does not stand to fight. He offers mercy, acceptance, friendship, and a second chance. Other monsters stand and fight – that makes one motivated to fight back. But what Papyrus does can make people pause, their conscience spark up, and make them reconsider whether or not they can handle the consequences of this dark route. 

And Papyrus? He’s? done? even? more? than? all? this? After all… Papyrus’ philosophy of causing no harm is ultimately what needs to be followed for the underground to go free! It is Papyrus’ distinct moral framework which needs to be adopted to win the True Pacifist Route.

For it’s Papyrus who demonstrates most clearly and most resolutely one does not need to kill to win. He outright refuses to kill the human, no matter how dangerous or dark they are. Even when he fights the human, he will not kill. Papyrus’ strategy of winning an Encounter but not causing lasting damage is ultimately what the human themselves needs to do to leave the underground. It’s actually the Papyrus philosophy of never kill that leads to the True Pacifist Ending. 

None of the other characters have this perspective. Sans is someone who would have thrown in the towel and given up; Toriel is someone who is upset when the human refuses to fight her and chooses Mercy (and makes no comment if you kill a Froggit in front of her face!); Alphys believes the only possible way for the human to leave the underground is to kill Asgore; Undyne outright threatens to kill the human; Mettaton combats the human; and Asgore dramatically takes away the Mercy option during his Encounter because he is so bent on the idea he needs to kill the human.

Papyrus’ idea of not killing anything – no matter what – is distinct, unique, and special. And this special, bold, heroic, virtuous, unyielding, ever-kind moral framework is the only way that everyone can find their happy ending. Some people might consider Papyrus naive by standing peacefully against the human in the Genocide Route, but I don’t think we acknowledge that the only way to truly save the day is by adopting his moral stance. No monster gets out of the underground unless kindness, mercy, and second chances are given to everyone.

Through and through, what Papyrus does is IMPORTANT. So, so important. He’s there for the human and guides them in critical moments throughout the underground. His connection with others allows Frisk to make new, important friends. His beliefs are what must be followed for the happy ending to be reached. This is an amazing character, through and through, who makes such a profound difference.

I’ve literally been given comic-drawing prompt out of this. MY LORD,