Sans Undertale wins Tumblr Sexyman 2022 bracket
Monday kicked off 2022’s installment of the semi-annual Tumblr Sexyman bracket, a competition where Twitter user Tumblr Sexyman OTD creates a bracket of fictional characters who face off in a series of Twitter polls to determine who is king Sexyman of that year. This year’s competition came down to Undertale’s Sans and Mob Pyscho 100’s Reigen Arataka, with Sans ultimately snatching the crown.
For those who are less online, a Tumblr Sexyman is a character that fandom spaces on Tumblr have gone rabid over. These male characters are usually tall, white looking, dress well, and have a dark or evil side to them. Notable Tumblr Sexymen include Danganronpa 2’s Nagito Komaeda, Bill Cipher from Gravity Falls, the Tom Hiddleston version of Loki, and Megamind.
Sans is a skeleton from iconic indie darling Undertale. He differs from the formula a bit in that his usual outfit is a hoodie, baggy shorts, and slippers, but he’s about as white as they come (on account of the bones) and definitely has a dark side to him. Sans started his climb for the crown by facing off against Overwatch’s Junkrat. He proceeded to take down Black Hat from Villainous, King Dice from Cuphead, Bill Cipher, and finally, Reigen Arataka.
Undertale creator Toby Fox reacted to the news by posting a short piece of fiction going behind the scenes of how Sans and Reigen reacted to reaching the finals of this competition. After cheating to get this far, Reigen apparently decided that the only way for him to win it all was to collude with Sans. Surprisingly, the skeleton agreed and the two held a series of debates where Reigen proved Sans was unattractive. The Mob Psycho character also put extreme effort into his appearance, all of which lost him points, because as Sans points out, being unattractive is a core part of being a Tumblr Sexyman.
In the end, Sans won by one vote, and Reigen was shocked, as he knew that even Sans voted for him. Mob then revealed that he was the deciding vote, going with the skeleton to try to force Reigen to have self-confidence and not care what other people think about him.