I might not be one of those who have Sans as one of their favorite characters, but frankly i truly feel like there is something unique in the way Toby Fox wrote Sans' character compared to the others.
Something about the way Sans was written is incredibly difficult to replicate for a fan.
What i mean is, for instance, let us say for the sake of example that i decide to sit down and try to imagine or even write down a short scene involving Sans. (Like you might see in a fancomic.)
Despite having done so much research about the character, the way he works, talks, acts, etc... It will take me far longer to do this for him than with any of the other characters. Like, three times as long !
And even then after all that, it usually doesn't quite feel quite right...
It speaks like Sans, it acts like Sans, its character is accurate to Sans', but it is like it misses something. A sort of more profound "Sans vibe" that is incredibly difficult to convey even if you write the character "accurately".
This is something that happens on a much wider scale, too. I've talked to several people who have reported feeling the exact same way whenever they looked at comics or other fan content featuring Sans. Especially the pacifist/neutral routes Sans.
People may replicate Sans' character with varying canon accuracy, but it nearly always feels like it is lacking a part of Sans' charm when you compare those ones to the very few official Sans content that pops up once in a couple years from Toby's hand.
Toby Fox really seems to be the only person able to write Sans "that way" in a very consistent manner.
Sans is the only character in the game that gives me this feeling...
Here's some helpful tips to write Sans:
- Sans doesn't react to ANY puns except smiling when Papyrus gets irritated at a pun Toriel made
- Sans doesn't have nightmares, he sleeps 7 hours a night
- The Pie that Sans attempted to make was a Butterscotch Pie, not a Quiche
- Sans does not directly experience resets, he's only aware of them because a machine told him there were resets. He thinks you are the cause of Flowey's resets.
- Sans is exceptional levels of lazy, he is too lazy to care about most things.
- Sans doesn't read a bedtime story to Papyrus
- Sans is very social and likes to hang out in large groups of people
- Sans purposely encourages the idea that Papyrus is childish/simple
- Sans is a liar about everything
Obviously after that list I shall make one about Papyrus:
- Papyrus tells more puns than Sans
- Papyrus gets angry at Sans for slacking off, not only the pun he tells, the pun is part of his slacking off
- Papyrus cares about everyone he knows/meets, and remembers specific details about them
- Papyrus knows what death is, and wants to meet death
- Papyrus and Undyne know what a Quiche is, either one of them could have abandoned it.
- Papyrus also cooks lasagna, and knows every other type of pasta, not just spaghetti
- The annoying dog eats his cooking
- Flowey mentions his favourite food is the Porridge with eggs in it, but he doesn't mention Papyrus eating it
- Papyrus can use Gaster Blasters
- Papyrus has nightmares
- Papyrus doesn't know how to sleep or refuses to? He is too busy to sleep after all (HE'S TOO BUSY TO JOIN DELTARUNE TOO AAAAAA)
- Papyrus implies knowing how events/ingame mechanics work, and also implies the ability to use a save file. "IS SANS PRANKING YOU ACROSS TIME AND SPACE? I HATE IT WHEN HE DOES THAT!" - Sans can only prank you because you can load and save over and over to get the key to his room. How does Papyrus know this?
- Papyrus is not social at all, he spends a majority of time inside his house
- Papyrus purposely encourages you being suspicious of Sans
- Papyrus is a liar about everything
Also a fun fact!
- Undyne avoids talking directly to Sans, and when he speaks, she stops
- Fighting is part of Monster Culture, the monsters have no intent to hurt/kill you. They fight/attack every other monster as well
