Well, this is gonna be an interesting day. And I won't deny that it's one I've actually kinda been looking forward to.
Sans Chance: 2%
Alright, let's look at what's going for and against him, here:
Positives:
+Undertale is well known and popular
+The game has recently received a port on the Nintendo Switch
+Sans is very much important to the game
+Sans has boatloads of powers that could be incorporated into a moveset; no question on an inability to fight uniquely in some way
There's also the fact that Sakurai has played through Undertale and enjoyed it, though all that
might do is make him
think about Sans in Smash. Not seriously consider it, or go the extra mile to make it happen. He may not even like the idea, if it's even come to his mind, for all we know. It's not something that considered a concrete positive for the skeleton.
Negatives:
-He's from a single third party game
-He's from a (single) Indie game
-Nowhere near as famous as most of the other third parties in Smash, arguably even Bayonetta (whoever is more recognizable depends on who you ask, though)
-No precedent for a third party characters with any of the above three aspects getting into Smash as a fighter
-There are other characters from Undertale hat could potentially be fighters instead of him
-The game is quite controversial, if mostly because of it's fanbase
-The Switch Port is extremely new, so it may have been too late to influence a decision for the roster. That, and there's really no indication that it means anything but that Nintendo and Toby Fox got on good enough terms to work out porting the game to Nintendo's newest console.
Regardless of how popular Undertale has gotten in the past few years, Sans' odds are hardly better than those of any other moderately popular Indie game character. Unless this entry in the Smash series breaks some completely new ground on third party characters (everyone else we've seen has held some importance to gaming as a whole, with maybe one special exception), there's no logical reason to say Sans is anywhere near likely to become apart of the roster. Smash itself will be taking a radical change of direction if a character like him gets in, or at least, if multiple characters like him get in. Even so, he's still not even remotely likely.
Want: 65%
I heard about Undertale back in early 2015. Was surprised to see a sudden surge of fanart of cartoon skeletons, evil flowers and fish ladies show up around the net. At the time, I heard nothing but praise towards the game. Curiosity got the best of me, and I eventually bought the game during Steam's Christmas Sale that year, then later played through it early into 2016. Honestly? I can say I loved the game through and through.
Undertale is a game that can really make you think. About both video games as we know them, and the general idea of how you treat other or how your actions may affect them and yourself. The story itself is really well written, and I found myself enjoying the charming characters enough to grow attached to them, and there were a few points in the game where I'll admit I even cried a bit. Very,
very few other video games I've played in my life have had that effect on me, so far. Other stories from other video games have made emotional, too, I've felt saddened and remorseful watching and playing them, for sure, but few others have ever brought tears out of me as a result.
Sans himself is a very compelling character. If you play the neutral or pacifist routes, you find that Sans is a very much a comic relief character, but there's also plenty of both subtle and clear hints that he knows more than he lets on, and can do things you wouldn't have expected him to be able to do. You just never find out
what or
why. Playing the genocide route reveals much of this, but at many heavy prices. Sans himself points out some of these consequences and questions why you've done what you have. I won't say much else because of spoilers, in case anyone here wishes to play the game, so I'll leave it at that. All I'm saying is, you'll feel things you probably won't expect to, and once you realize the truth, you'll likely feel for Sans, too. Big time.
It's hard to say who the "face" of Undertale really is, but Sans is a character who is recognized by people who haven't even played the game by this point, and is the one you'll probably see brought up the most around the net. Given that, his importance to the story and lore, and that the dude's actually got tons of powers, of course it makes sense that he'd be one of the first picks, and aside from Papyrus, he'd be my personal pick, too. Maybe it goes against UT's lore, but I'm sure they'd find a neat, if minor way to incorporate his story and characteristics into Smash, too (maybe question a few details of his character and life in his trophy description, perhaps?) in addition to making him one heck of a fun fighter to play as.
So in short, yes, I actually would be happy to see Sans being in Smash. With how unlikely he is and how Smash has never done such a thing before, I can live without him, quite obviously, but I really enjoy Undertale and Sans has tons of potential as a fighter, so I couldn't say no. As long as we didn't start getting a bunch of random third parties in along with him, I wouldn't complain, far, far from it.
I understand that both Undertale itself and the things the game does are not everyone cups of tea, it goes without saying that you're entitled to your opinion. Personally, however, I must say that I don't exaggerate when I say that I adore Undertale, and through it's a controversial game, it's one I like enough that I will continue to defend it if it's being cast in a totally negative light simply because of it's fanbase. My want score is not affected by my own distaste for the weirder and/or nastier fans it has, either. I don't think it's fair to think less of a fictional creation because of some it's fans; you can't fault it entirely for how
they act. I definitely like the idea of Sans in Smash, but among the factors that keep my want score lower here, his fanbase is
not one of them.
You may not have a even a semi-decent chance at all, Sans, but you're not unwanted.
Tom Nook Prediction: 10%
For as long as he's been around in the AC series, most people around here either doubt him, or think of Isabelle as being much more likely. I'm in that same boat.
Nominations: Tetra x5
