Personal Design Of UF!Papyrus, Codex Name “Aureus.” :D

Personal design of UF!Papyrus, codex name “Aureus.” :D

About him and the Underfell setting:

All monsters are required to begin military training as children. Every so often there are trials -- essentially deadly puzzles and obstacle courses -- and tournaments to weed out the weak and elevate the strong. These are subdivided by region and age; all adults of a region compete together, but younger monsters have multiple age brackets. After progressing far enough in the tournament, the fights stop being to-the-death and become about wealth, power, and status. In the adult competitions, the monsters who perform best are recruited to the Royal Guard.

Aureus oversees Snowdin Town as its chief commander (which, as all political positions are also military ones, makes him basically the mayor). He is very personally involved in both youth training and upkeep of the adult militia, and does his best to ensure his trainees and soldiers are capable of surviving. He wants to keep as many of them alive as possible.

Along with combat training, he designs his own puzzle trials that aim to simulate the official ones but do not actually kill the participants, so they can practice to perform better when their lives are on the line. Most of Snowdin Town deeply respects him, but he has trouble with closer interpersonal connections both because of his status and his larger than life personality.

He pushes people hard, and can be overbearing and controlling because he takes his responsibilities very seriously and tends to think people should just listen to him. He has a lot of people's lives on his shoulders... and the gravity of that makes him very assertive and sometimes uncompromising. But it really is all about trying to keep the people under his care safe. Although he looks intimidating, his usual demeanor is friendly and energetic, if somewhat forceful. He's just as genuinely encouraging as he can be demanding.

Aureus doesn't believe anyone is expendable. Everyone has something to offer if they're given the chance to learn and develop. The most heartbreaking thing for him is that not everyone is going to get that chance -- children who might otherwise be late bloomers aren't going to make it through their first trials; that’s part of why he pushes so hard. Even for the most skilled, however, simple mistakes can happen. Inevitably some people won’t make it through. Aureus can't save everyone... but he really does his damndest.

Because of how bleak things generally are, Aureus regularly organizes town festivals to try to keep up morale. Ruber (UF!Sans) helps him with this and is often the one to “break the ice” and get their neighbors into a festive mood, but Aureus himself is quite social and lighthearted at these events.

Snowdin is still considered pretty backwater and therefore low-status, but Aureus's personal friendship with Undyne helps him with requisitioning enough to keep the townsfolk mostly safe and fed, supplemented with Ruber's backchannel gains. Conditions are much worse for the "lesser class" monsters in the more densely populated regions of Hotland and New Home, where the class divide is a lot starker. Waterfall is decently propserous, as Undyne has a fondness for her home region, but even there, people are mindful of their status.

Snowdin's always been a little less rigid because it's so far away from the real centers of power that "anybody who's anybody" doesn't want to be there. There HAVE been bitter, abusive people in charge there before, but under Aureus's command and oversight, the town's culture is much more harmonious and focused on everyone working together to survive. And he is quick to remind people that “even someone from a backwater town can become a great war hero if they try hard enough!!!!”