THAT'S RIGHT, HUMAN! YOU CAN WIN!! JUST DO WHAT I, WOULD DO... BELIEVE IN YOU!!!
„
~ Papyrus encouraging Frisk before the latter fights Flowey/Asriel.
“
HOWEVER! I, PAPYRUS SEE GREAT POTENTIAL WITHIN YOU! EVERYONE CAN BE A GREAT PERSON IF THEY JUST TRY! AND ME, I HARDLY HAVE TO TRY AT ALL!!! NYEH HEH HEH!
„
~ Papyrus trying to redeem Frisk during the Genocide Route.
Papyrus is the tritagonist of the 2015 indie RPG Undertale.
He is a goodhearted-skeleton and brother of Sans. While he is antagonistic at first, should he be spared, he will support the protagonist on their journey, and he is one of the kindest of the characters they encounter.
His intense egotism and need for glory are only a facade he puts up to hide his insecurities about lacking friends, and in truth he's very selfless and cares deeply about others as opposed to just himself, not to mention he pushes aside those desires late into the game and doesn't want people to obsess about him. The only person he can truly be rude to is his brother Sans, and as described below, it's only because he's worried about him and it's clear they both love each other and don't want the other to be hurt.
While he may seem annoyed by his brother at times and dislikes his laziness, it is clear that Papyrus does care very much for Sans and wouldn't want anything bad to happen to him.
While he may have some aggressive moments, Papyrus clearly doesn't intend on hurting anyone or anything through his actions and he remains mostly friendly throughout the entire game.
He has proven himself to be a very determined person who never backs down on a challenge. An example of this was when he went to Undyne's house at night to ask her to be in the Royal Guard. While waking her up was inconsiderate, he did not know that he was disturbing her.
Furthermore, when Undyne closed the door on him, he stayed outside her house for the rest of the night, which convinced her of his dedication. Although she never actually lets him in the Royal Guard (out of fear that his kind and friendly nature will get him hurt or worse), she gives him cooking lessons instead and overtime, the two grow a strong bond.
Out of all the bosses in Undertale, Papyrus is the only one who is unable and unwilling to kill the protagonist, (While Toriel doesn’t want to kill them either, she can still do it by accident) as he just wants to capture them, which he does if they are on 1 HP. If the player wins or loses to him three times, Papyrus will show them mercy and allow them to continue onwards, even though it means not becoming a member of the Royal Guard like he aspires to be. This also makes him one of the few bosses that the player can't die to, the others being Asriel (as the player can't die and is revived each time they reach 0 HP) and Mettaton NEO (who is a zero-effort boss fight where he doesn't even attack and goes down in one hit).
If Frisk loses his battle, he only leaves them in his garage to keep them safe and regenerates their health from then on, showing his care for the human in contrast to most of the other monsters throughout the game.
It also should be noted that Papyrus isn't aware that Frisk will be killed if they are captured, since he thinks that Asgore will simply let them go instead of stealing their SOUL. He even admits he's not sure what happens after the protagonist is captured.
If he is spared and then befriends/dates Frisk, he will help the protagonist several times during their journey, even trying to get them to befriend Undyne if she ends up being spared, and depending on the ending can succeed in it. He also helps to prevent any fighting from going on between both Asgore and the protagonist in the Pacifist route.
In general, Papyrus is the one who is responsible for every event that needs to be completed to get True Pacifist Route, making him stand out as one of the most admirable characters in Undertale.
While Papyrus does optionally date Frisk, who is a child, this is a completely platonic date, and Papyrus only wants to be Frisk's best friend and makes it clear he’s not romantically interested in them.
It is mentioned that Papyrus can only see the good in people, wanting to help redeem them no matter what, as evident in the Genocide route.
Although he worked with Flowey to gather him and his friends to see Asgore and Frisk, it is worth noting that he didn't know Flowey was evil, and thought of him as a friend. When Flowey reveals his true colors, he protects Frisk from his attacks and tells them to believe in themself.
On the other hand, it makes him partly responsible for the breaking of the barrier, since Asriel did it with using souls he got thanks to Papyrus.
On top of that, while Flowey is a ruthless sociopath, Papyrus' kindness is so huge he genuinely likes the skeleton instead of viewing them as an idiot who he can manipulate. Flowey is mentioned to respect Papyrus for having a heart of gold, appears to have a genuine fondness for him, makes sure to be friends with him in most timelines (including the current one, where Frisk falls down into the Underground), has mentioned that it took him a while to get bored of Papyrus, and apparently got the skeleton to start a Flowey Fan Club in several timelines.
During the final fight in the Pacifist route, he supports Frisk, cheering them on while they fight Asriel.
In the Genocide Route, Papyrus refuses to fight the protagonist, believing there is still good in them. He gives them the opportunity to redeem themselves by granting them mercy and giving the player the option to do so.
If he is killed, he holds no anger towards the protagonist and instead says that he still believes they can change, showing that even on the brink of death, he still prioritizes the well being of others.
If spared, he implies he possesses Gaster Blasters and would've used them to fight and potentially kill the human if they didn't show mercy. That said, it is worth noting that due to the human being a genocidal serial killer who would've killed Papyrus with no hesitation, and already did so to many other monsters, it justifies Papyrus' act as self-defense so he could protect himself and his friends, which would make him a righteous Killer - and even then, it never actually happened anyway.
In the King Papyrus ending, he wants to get the monsters out of the Underground, freeing his kind, and to see Frisk again. This shows that Papyrus cares very much for his kind and his friends.
He also notices the amount of effort Sans is putting in to help run things and is both proud and concerned, which again shows how much he cares about his brother.
When dating/hanging out with the protagonist, he wrongfully concludes that they set off on their adventure all for Papyrus' sake. Instead of being glad when thinking he's that important to the protagonist, Papyrus is worried about their "obsession" with him and advises them to live for their own sake as well. This proves that, although self-centered, Papyrus isn't a narcissist and wouldn't want people to worship him to their own detriment.
While Papyrus isn’t as admirable as Frisk, he has far lower resources than them and sufficiently stands out for trying to redeem Frisk on the Genocide Route, (Succeeding if the player chooses to accept his mercy) directly allowing the events of the True Pacifist Route to happen, and having zero corrupting qualities.
Trivia[]
He is both the first Toby Fox character to be Pure Good, as well as the only Undertale hero to be Pure Good as all the others have corrupting factors or fail to stand out.
While Papyrus is Pure Good, he was originally supposed to be anything but. In the original plans for Undertale, he would've been named Roman, after the Times New Roman font, and would be presented as a fedora-wearing creep with zero redeeming qualities who's obsessed about a cartoon called My Little Boney.
Papyrus' counterpart from the alternate universe spin-off Deltarune does not count as he hasn't been seen in-person yet and thus doesn't have any heroic acts.
However, given the popular theory that Sans is the same person in both games, it has also been theorized that the same is true for Papyrus. Depending on where Deltarune goes, his Pure Good status may be put into question.
It's also theorised by some that Papyrus is the game's main antagonist in disguise, The Roaring Knight. Should this be true, as well as Papyrus be the same character as his Undertale counterpart, this could certainly ruin his status as a Pure Good considering the Knight's amoral and villainous acts.
Fanon Glitchtale: Papyrus DulcetRefrain: Sans Flowey Is Not a Good Life Coach: Sans Stronger Than You - Frisk Version: Sans DISBELIEF: Papyrus Undertale Yellow: Martlet
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Pure Goods
