[SPOILERS] Is Papyrus as strong as Sans?

[Glitterfiend]

Mega spoilers about genocide run and Gaster ahead. I'm also very sorry if I've made any grammatical mistakes, I tried my best (English is my second language). And also sorry if there were any other threads about the same subject, I searched Google with no success. Maybe I just suck at that.

I've read many theories regarding Papyrus and Sans (and Gaster). I know that Sans looks up to his brother a lot and I wonder if Paps has the incredible powers we've seen when fighting Sans. There are many hints that suggest it's true: Undyne's speech about Papyrus's strength is the best example. She tells us that "He's actually pretty freaking tough!", those are her exact words. Sans looking up to his brother may be just about his innocence and positive attitude, but what if it's also connected to their strength? We all know that in Undertale one's state of mind greatly affect his battle prowess - the bigger the bloodlust, the more damage can be inflicted. Sans, during his fight, has the pure intention of killing you - that's why he can show his full (or near-full) potential. Paps, on the other hand, never wants to hurt us or anyone else. His good nature prevents him from showing us even a fraction of his real strength. He's the only monster that won't ever let you die - if your HP dropped below 1, he would instead lock you in his shed. Even in genocide run he doesn't want to hurt you - the fight is started with him already sparing you, just like that. Could anyone tell me if I'm interpreting things wrong and provide more evidence, either supporting or disproving this theory? Sans and Papyrus are my favourite characters (especially Paps) and I'd love to know more about them.

[Cut out the unimportant paragraph, 'cause I nerded out like freakin Alphys and now I'm ashamed of it -_- ]

So, back to my original question: what do YOU think about Papyrus's strength?

Thanks for reading and have a nice day!

[>//The_FALCON]

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[CyperAleksi]

I wouldn't certainly put it past the game that Papyrus would have some kind of "hidden powers", which is something that many others seem to think as well.

That said, wouldn't put it past him not having any.

[Scorpix]

I ve created a quite interesting story.

Papyrus from the beggining was very mighty and "fearsome" warrior and that is why Sans keep saying that he is cool. Sans wanted to be also so cool, but he was too short and thin to became a warrior, so he decided to make some experiments. After some time he started to work with Gaster. They have discovered save/load system, but because of a lack of determination they weren't able to use it. So they started to try manipulate a timeline (teleporting, UI attacks) by using tricks and constructed machine which wasn't working (this one is Sans secret room).

Sans has become powerfull, but after Gaster's death he decided to stay at home with Papyrus.
He started to tell puns and become much more popular than Papyrus. His brother was still looking for a way to become a Royal Guard member, but Sans after getting information about load/save system decided to just do nothing at all.

Papyrus was much weaker, but have some power. Although this power was on Lesser Dog level.

[That Guy]

Maybe we'll see in the completed Hard Mode, well, if it's ever going to be finished

[Glitterfiend]

Originally posted by That Guy:

Maybe we'll see in the completed Hard Mode, well, if it's ever going to be finished

Sadly, Toby Fox stated that he's not going to put more content to this game and any new updates will be just bugfixes.

Scorpix, that's a nice theory! I didn't think of it like that - Sans being weaker than Papyrus and trying to match his level by experiments with timeline. I like that we can create our own headcanons and they're all equally probable.

[Crystalitar]

I truly believe that papyrus is also strong, he fly skips in the air and sumersaults out Windows, can moonwalk and his attacks are actually interesting.

I can actually just imagine some stuff papyrus does that could make a genocide papyrus battle pretty difficult

[Glitterfiend]

Originally posted by Crystalitar - NYEH:

I truly believe that papyrus is also strong, he fly skips in the air and sumersaults out Windows, can moonwalk and his attacks are actually interesting.

I can actually just imagine some stuff papyrus does that could make a genocide papyrus battle pretty difficult

I also think that the fight against him would be very interesting, if he could muster even a little hatred towards us. And that argument about him comically flying around the screen was perfect. I thought about it and believe he also has some control over space-time continuum, but he chooses to make fun of it. Or maybe it isn't as strong as Sans's or has a completely different mechanic.

[SHUFFLE𝗥𝗨𝗦𝗛̲̳̳̳]

I like to think the only thing keeping Papyrus from UTTERLY DESTROYING you was Toby (as the annoying dog) stealing his attacks.

[Glitterfiend]

Originally posted by Bɪʟʟ Cɪᴘʜᴇʀ:

I like to think the only thing keeping Papyrus from UTTERLY DESTROYING you was Toby (as the annoying dog) stealing his attacks.

Exactly! And I also like the idea of his different attack (the "non-bone" one) being Gaster Blasters or something equally overpowered. He might have chosen it in the heat of the battle, realized that it would devastate us and decided to correct his mistake.

[Ｍodding]

Judging by their stats, Papyrus is more stronger than Sans (but Sans is much more dangerous as he can "abuse" the fight system himself to make you take 1 hit per frame, teleport, etc).

[CynicalHex]

I guess it's up to the hard mode.. Since the no mercy run fight was 1 hit, but in pacifist run Papyrus did put up a fight, although not to the standard of Sans.

[Glitterfiend]

I completely forgot about character's stats, it all makes sense. Papyrus is physically even stronger than Undyne, that says a lot. We could say he's a warrior and Sans is a rogue in this game, or even that Paps wants to fight fair and square, while Sans uses every ace up his (or maybe their?) sleeve.

[Seraphita]

Papyrus is the younger brother and a little more silly. He's not as skilled and serious as Sans who, while friendly, will not stop at anything (almost) to defeat you if you're an evil monster.

[nagol97]

This is evidence I obtained through modifying my SAVE file, so take it as you will, but I set my stats to the maximum attack and defense, then gave myself the Locket and Real Knife just for kicks. I never received more than one damage from any attack from any character in the game EXCEPT for Papyrus. Papyrus did 3 damage per attack, even with the max defense value of 113 (14 for my level, 99 for the Locket). I think Papyrus is far stronger than Sans for these reasons. Honestly, I think the only reason Papyrus doesn't wipe the floor with you is his apparent naivety.

[Moka Evans]

frankly I think it depends on what you consider strong. knowledge is a powerful thing and sans clearly has more knowledge than papyrus, in addition sans has abilities papyrus does not. I went back called papyrus in the room above the snow papyrus and he informed me he always jumped the gap instead of solving the puzzle, he then proceed to say that sans just got across. when he says it its clear he has no idea how sans did it.
however papyrus has far more HP than sans which means all you have to do is catch sans off guard and you can beat him. with papyrus you'd have to work hard at it. you have to dodge his attacks and attack him multiple times in order to beat him. in addition papyrus is clearly a boss monster and much more powerful than the majority of monsters in the game. if this is what he's like when he's holding back than he must be fairly tough when going full throttle.
to be truthful I cannot come to a definitive conclusion on which is stronger since sans is more agile and knowledgeable while papyus is stronger physically. but yes I think papyrus is strong.