This Misconception Probably Comes From The Save Points Displaying The Text 'Determination.' On The Genocide

This misconception probably comes from the save points displaying the text 'Determination.' on the genocide route only. Plus the genocide boss battles are insanely difficult. Sans' battle requires you to move around with no end in sight for an entire 13 minutes before he is the one that gives up.

But although the genocide route definitely requires Determination to complete, it doesn't give you any, because you have nothing to hope for. Nothing to dream of except another dialogue box.

Also I have a wack headcanon that the eye of any Sans displays the colour of his two dominant traits: In this case Justice and Patience. The original Ask!Dusttale says "one day he gained determination to remember the resets" (The AU doesn't give any reason for this) so now Determination has become a major trait. As Dust started killing monsters, he lost the yellow of Justice, letting the red of Determination take its place. Killing monsters did not give him more DT, it just removed Justice.

Killer has no explanation lol. Still like him though.

It's really funny to think about Dusttale and Dust-adjacent AUs and how they use wacky "LV = power = Determination" logic...

and then there's Undertale's Mercy route, where the human can heal themself, reduce the damage they take, form healing items, SAVE their friends' souls, and straight up refuse to die outright to someone that's essentially a god through their own determination...

all without having to harm anyone.

No one in Undertale knows your name

Just think about that for a second. The entire pacifist run, no one ever asks "Oh, by the way what's your name?" while you're dating and befriending them. Toriel just adopted you without even considering this question for a second. If you were to never leave the ruins you would probably spend your whole life being called "my child".

Flowey just stalks you through the game thinking you're Chara and NEVER HEARS ANYTHING THAT WOULD MAKE HIM QUESTION THAT ASSUMPTION.

Sans does not know anything either. On genocide this man has not heard the word "Chara" in his entire life. How would someone who popped into Snowdin with his bro one day know Asriel's story? This guy manipulates reality in your face and does not know your name.

Every time I see the art of Sans that's uncomfortably realistic to how he'd look in-game, my world trembles.

Like, I'm so used to the fandom making him just this cute little guy, you know? Just a cute little guy with a few nihilistic issues and pranks glore.

And then you find art that destroys your perception of Sans just being a cute little guy because no, a mofo skeleton that doesn't stop smiling and somehow winks without any muscles and threatens to kill you only to offset it with a joke is not whimsical, it'd be fucking uncomfortable to any normal child who's, at most, maybe twelve or thirteen.

And I don't mean how some of the fanart portrays Sans in the genocide route; covered in blood, glowing eye ablaze, ready to put some kid in the dirt, or even during the dinner date in the Pacifist route when he threatens to kill Frisk where they stand with his eyes all blacked out. But rather, as just an unsettling character when he's just STANDING there; an uncanny person (if you can even call him that) with too many secrets to fully trust and too many pranks to take him seriously, quirky theme song be damned. He doesn't even have to do anything for the vibe to be off, for you to be uneasy.

It's hard, but fairly common, to make Sans of all people threatening with all of his unexplained powers and knowledge, or to make him seem scary at the cost of him not seeming like Sans (cough cough, Horror tale), but I feel like it takes just as much effort (if not a little more) to make him uncanny without relying on horror or the intensity of the genocide route, but rather keeping up that quirky upbeat persona that he has and still having his design by default make someone uneasy. Not afraid necessarily, but something you'd put an eyebrow up for questioning before you shrug off the weirdness and move on.

I'm honestly in such a dilemma rn because while I like the depiction of Sans just being some cute little skeleton guy who may or may not be canonically two feet tall and just so HAPPENS to have crazy scientific knowledge on random shit while also knowing how to cheat the RPG system Undertale is built around, him being intimidating not because he's trying to be, but because he's naturally uncanny rules too, so I can't decide.

Maybe he's just a weird middle-ground somewhere. I'm still looking for more art that portrays him as both and not either or though, like, yeah, he's this short little skeleton guy who doesn't take life seriously, but also is a freaking weirdo just because he can be.

Here,

Found this thing in the pantry

I’m slowly finding more of them.

Anyways, he kept eating all my stuff, so he’s your responsibility now.

He likes uh.. tons of food. Give him like, a pound of cheese and it’ll be gone within seconds.

Good luck

Thought I'd try the tumblr thing that's been going on recently

What do you think happened to mysteryman when we interacted with him?

Did he teleport? Did he get strewn across time and space even more? Did he just fucking die?