Archive:W.D. Gaster: Difference between revisions

Gaster has been a popular figure in the ''Undertale'' community, the mystery behind his existence sparking a large investigation by members of the community into the truth around him.<ref name="RPS">{{cite web |url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/undertale-patch-secrets |title=Undertale's Patch Is Full of Secrets |work=[[Rock Paper Shotgun]] |last=Dingman |first=Hayden |date=January 23, 2016 |accessdate=April 1, 2024}}</ref><ref name="Fanbyte">{{cite web |url=https://www.fanbyte.com/legacy/cosmic-symbolic-shapes-games |title=Geometric Realities: Cosmic and Symbolic Shapes in Games |work=Fanbyte |last=Fisher |first=Luca |date=June 22, 2022 |accessdate=April 1, 2024}}</ref> ''Kotaku'' writer Heather Alexandra suggested that he could be a long-lost relative of Sans and Papyrus, citing design notes that allude to a character related to Papyrus and claiming that this could be Gaster.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://kotaku.com/undertale-creator-shares-notebook-full-of-early-concept-1790978697 |title=Undertale Creator Shares Notebook Full Of Early Concepts And Art |work=[[Kotaku]] |last=Alexandra |first=Heather |date=January 9, 2017 |accessdate=April 1, 2024}}</ref> Players have speculated that the 'W. D.' in Gaster's name could stand for "Wingdings", which furthered the connection to Sans and Papyrus, who are named after [[Comic Sans]] and [[Papyrus (typeface)|Papyrus]] fonts respectively; Nathan Grayson also believed that strange symbols found in Sans' lab may also be in Wingdings.<ref name="Kotaku"/> Additionally, a common interpretation of the 'shattered across time and space' line suggests his existence was spread all across space and time.<ref name="Kotaku"/> In reference to the NPCs found through file modification, some believe that they are fragments of Gaster speaking about the experience of existing across time and space.<ref name="Kotaku"/> Writer Mattia Podini discussed the presence of techniques he suggested were used by Toby Fox to manipulate players into responding to certain details in a certain way. For Gaster, he suggested that he served as an example of players experiencing [[apophenia]], the perception of meaningful connections between unrelated things. He argued that many things players took for granted to be true about Gaster, such as his appearance, character connections, and other background details, were not confirmed to be true.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/7-nudges-manipulative-techniques-present-in-undertale |title=7 Nudges & Manipulative Techniques present in Undertale |work=Game Developer |last=Podini |first=Mattia |date=April 15, 2021 |accessdate=April 1, 2024}}</ref>

==References==