u/Weary-Support-7383

So obviously we currently know very little about Gaster in Deltarune (if he even exists), and this theory is more of a fun little idea than something that could actually be true.

That being said, I want to think about what being "shattered across space and time" actually means. My interpretation of that is Gaster was in some way "split" and sent to multiple or possibly all existing timelines. In undertale there is a secret room that can only be accessed by modifying the game, which contains the Mystery Man sprite that disappears when you interact with it. Maybe this is whatever portion of Gaster was left behind after he fell into the core, as it clearly seems unstable and not the "full grandeur" of the great royal scientist. No one else in the undertale timeline seems to remember Gaster except for the Goners, so clearly falling into the core did more than just split him and send him into different timelines. In Deltarune, we have the FORGOTTEN MAN, who notably speaks in all caps. This is another character who is deliberately shown to not be remembered by anyone, and also disappears after you interact with him. These similarities are obvious, and have already been discussed a lot, but if my theory is to be believed, why wouldn't there be an "original" Gaster in the Deltarune timeline?

Well, we also don't see multiple copies of Sans in either Deltarune or Undertale. Sans is heavily implied to have traveled between the two timelines, and yet we only know of one copy of Sans. (I could go on a whole sub-theory about how there are multiple copies of Sans and that's how he seems to teleport between rooms but I won't) So given this information, there are three possible conclusions I could come to. One: There just wasn't a Sans or Gaster in the alternate timelines to begin with. It is possible that Sans and Gaster only exist in one timeline, but honestly this seems like a boring solution. Two: The alternate versions of Sans and Gaster just don't live in hometown. Again, this seems boring, so I'm gonna ignore it for my head cannon. Three: Traveling to another timeline destroys the alternate copy from that timeline. This, in my opinion, is the most interesting possibility, that in moving from one timeline to another, the original copies were destroyed, or even "forgotten". This could also be used as an explanation for why Papyrus seems so clueless in Undertale whereas Sans seems to know far more than he should. Perhaps Sans traveled to the Undertale timeline without Papyrus, destroying his Undertale variant, and he was left to care for the Undertale Papyrus. This would mean that the Papyrus that exists or existed in Deltarune (if there was/is one) did not come with Sans to the Undertale timeline, which is already something I personally believed.

Another interesting idea that comes from this train of thought pertains to the identity of the Forgotten Man. While I still believe that it is Gaster, perhaps it isn't the Gaster from Undertale. If only a fragment of Gaster after he fell into the core came to Deltarune, what would happen to the original copy? Maybe instead of being completely destroyed, they would be "forgotten" and relegated to a space just outside of the timeline. And this could also be the case for Sans, because really there is no evidence that anyone is being destroyed in the first place. With this being the case, the Forgotten man could just be the original Deltarune copy of Gaster after the fragment of Gaster from Undertale arrived. (This "arrival" could also coincide with other important events such as Kris's original soul (aqua) being swapped for the player, or hometown being cut off from the rest of the world.)

With all this information Laid out, this still leaves us with another question. Who or what is the voice that speaks to us in the beginning? Well, yet again, the answer is Gaster. I always thought that the background used in the intro was really interesting, and there have been many theories as to where this vessel creation takes place. I think my favorite theory, and the one that this theory lines up with the most, is that it takes place somewhere in or beyond the lake. In the chapter 5 weird route, it is heavily implied that the the space under or beyond the lake is "out of bounds", with the bread Sans gives you being a reference to an Earthbound exploit (Which is also a huge nod to Sans clearly already knowing more about this than he should), and the whole "insert disk 7 side b" screen. The background in the intro (as well as all the other things in the game that use that texture) is actually an edited image of water, leading some to believe it's referencing the lake. Although Gaster is split across many different timelines, maybe in this "out of bounds" area which could exist between timelines, all his different pieces are able to function as a whole, allowing him to enact his plans from outside of the timelines. In entry 17 from Undertale, it is reasonable to assume that Gaster is recording research on a dark fountain. This entry and the circumstances around it gave me a lot of questions; why is this entry "forgotten" (hidden in the same way that the Mystery Man and the Goner followers are) despite there being other entries that were likely written by Gaster (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6VKAbU3fGM), why is it written entirely in Wingdings, and who is Gaster referring to when he says "what do you two think?".

I'll answer what I think is the easiest question first (honestly none of these questions are easy, and I'm kinda just spitballing here). There are a few reasons that could explain why Gaster speaks in wingdings, but I personally think that its completely possible that this is just how Gaster speaks. It's also quite possible that these entries were written by an assistant of Gaster. In the video I linked previously, it's made pretty clear that entry 17 is more likely a video recording than a text entry. We know already from Alphys and Sans that its plausible that Gaster speaks differently than he writes, hence why the entries written by Gaster in the true lab are in plain text. This also conveniently provides an answer to the first question, which is that this was the only entry created directly by Gaster himself and not his assistant. It is also possible that this entry is hidden because it was not created by Gaster before he fell into the core, but after. After all, this entry strangely seems to be on a completely different topic than all the others, hinting that it might be recorded at a completely different time. As to the "two" that he's talking to, if this entry truly is recorded after he fell into the core, these other two people would likely have to have similar knowledge/experience with moving between timelines, and given the many existing connections between the two, it's quite possible that one of the two people is Sans. While I did say before that I don't personally believe that Papyrus traveled to the Undertale timeline with Sans, its also reasonable to think that the other one could be sans, given the relationship between the trio.

Anyway, thanks for reading my silly little rant, and please note that this is less of a theory and more of a fun idea that I think would fit lore-wise. I also only just started (and finished) both Deltarune and Undertale last week, so don't be too harsh if I missed something or got something confused.

NileRed did what?

Accept [[PIPIS]] and get a free [[HYPERLINK BLOCKED]]

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Too much downforce ):

Still not enough downforce...

Just a wee bit heavy

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Ultimate gaming setup

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Fun little Gaster theory

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I think my plane had a siezure

wah happend to my plane ):

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