Since he made his first appearance on his blog, let's talk about WD
(WD is specifically Gaster's sci-fi/space variant.)
WD does share a few traits with classic Gaster, but a lot of things have been adjusted in accordance with the AU.
First of all, this is not a Spacetale or whatever you want to call it where monsters were exiled to space instead of the mountain. This is a simple space AU.
Monsters and Humans still exist and still quarrel and fight; almost certainly with wars over the years but nothing so extreme as in Undertale.
There's also a third classification which is simply "Alien," referring to non-human, physical creatures. (As opposed to Monsters, which are still non-human magical creatures.)
Again, the exact relationships between these are complicated and probably worthy of a few books and outside the scope of this post.
WD can speak normally as opposed to his classic version; in this AU, wingdings is a reference to exactly what it is in real life: an esoteric font used to print symbols. Its not exactly a strange name; the time and era results in a lot of abnormal names, many people picking from a large variety in order to try to be more unique.
WD's past starts just the same as it normally does; a person who just wants to help improve society, and working on technology under King Asgore was the best way to do it.
At this point, his name was simply Wingdings Gaster, Doctor if you want to be polite, as he has no shortage of credentials to his name.
His specialty was engines and warp drives; making ships as efficient and powerful as possible. His CORE technology is still commonplace in a variety of ships across the universe.
Warp drives were his biggest interest, however; the technology existed prior to him but had a lot of potential for improvement and he felt the benefits would be monumental.
And for years, everything was fine. He gained a reputation as one of the Federation's brightest, pushing warp technology beyond what was thought possible.
Until one day he vanished.
It was a routine experiment--practiced and safe, even with a backup drive should the new one prove unstable. Gaster and four of his co-workers departed on a newly built ship.
The experiment shouldn't have taken long; they were expected to return in about ten minutes.
They never did.
The strange occurrence resulted in no shortage of theories about what happened, but the accepted outcome was that there was simply an unrecoverable error and the crew perished on the trip. As much as attempts are made to minimize such chances, it was always a possibility.
Most days, Gaster himself doesn't remember what happened. He remembers waking up, face down on the cold floor of the ship, laying in a sticky, black substance, emergency alarms blaring. The other crew members were gone and the ship was severely compromised.
Something was wrong and there was no evidence what.
In his terror, he never returned to the place he called home.
That was a long time ago. How long depends on the flexibility of my partner, but typically several hundred years ago; which as per canon isn't abnormal for monsters.
After the ACCIDENT as its simply called, he changed. Both physically and mentally, and while he still holds the name Gaster, he rarely if ever uses the name Wingdings, instead shortening it to the initials WD which would become known intergalactically.
This Gaster is larger than his past self; standing at just over six foot five, and though he's still, well, bony, he's noticeably thicker than before.
His mental state is tricker to pin down. He's still compassionate, caring, and loving; and his primary interest is helping people, but unlike other versions of himself, he has absolutely no qualms wiping out dozens of people at a time if he deems it necessary. He's fair and just, but has absolutely no sympathy for those that willfully attempt to deceive, cheat, or steal from him, and rarely offers second chances. He clearly sets the terms of his agreements and expects them to be followed, lest consequences strike true.
What happened? What caused these changes?
Truthfully, these are questions that WD himself refuses to dwell on, answers that he doesn't want to have. But, sometimes, in the corner of his mind, he remembers that day; being struck down without mercy, pinned to the wall of the quivering ship and screaming in agony as something forced itself into his SOUL. Sometimes he wonders if he's really the scientist known as Gaster, or if he's the parasite wearing his shell.
While standard Gaster is a person that was pushed to the eldritch and is trying desperately to be normal again, WD is instead a person that has fully embraced the eldritch and has no problems using the power that comes with it.
He's uncertain of the exact reason he never returned to the Federation. Maybe its because he knew he was different now and knew they would react poorly. Maybe its because he was aware of the corruption and didn't want to contribute to it anymore. Maybe something new was growing in him, a thirst for chaos, a hunger for danger.
Whatever it was, his empire started humble as most do. After all, he was just one person, even if he did have vast powers to simply create things and destroy them just as easily.
He reached out to the isolated planets; the far off places, the backwater worlds that had been deemed unworthy by the Federation, left to fend for themselves. He came to these worlds, he offered them technology beyond their wildest dreams; he offered them opportunities, a chance to be equal to the giants in the universe.
And for what?
A single condition: If I need your help, you will come.
Of course, some places were too skeptical, too cautious, too xenophobic to accept his offer. That was fine; there were hundreds, thousands more. There were those that greedily accepted his offer, those that thanked him with tears in their eyes. There were those that saw him as a god.
He wasn't trying to be a god.
He was just trying to be a decent person.
His faith and optimism was too high. It didn't take long before people attempted to take advantage of his gifts; now, people using his technology to defend themselves was understandable and even intended, but he did not condone people starting wars with his machinery.
It wasn't a problem, though--with a tsk and a snap of his fingers, each of those ships they sought to abuse exploded without a single warning.
He added another condition to his deals: Do not start conflict with my tools.
What started as a one-man operation slowly grew; becoming a haven for all sorts of individuals that were on the run or looking to start a new leaf.
WD started as a callsign to identify himself outside official transmissions, but over the years, it became associated more with the entire enterprise.
Most, if not all, of his parts and equipment are serialized somewhere in the format of WD-XXXXX, clearly designating equipment that came from his business.
WD is traditionally known as a criminal arms dealer--but in his eyes, its a vast oversimplification of the situation. For one, to be criminal, you have to be under some sort of legal system, and he is his own legal system. He prefers the designation of independent supplier. The fact that his business goes against the Federation's regulations is beyond his concern as he's not part of the Federation. That being said doing business with him is illegal in all Federation aligned organizations and planets. He doesn't care and will still do business with these individuals--with a disclaimer that under their jurisdiction, they're breaking the law.
As the enterprise grew and the amount of clients grew with it, it became necessary to adopt a more formal structure, hiring mechanics and assistants to process, analyze, build, and ship the orders they receive.
As such, the vast majority of orders never personally come into contact with Gaster himself--either mass-produced or handled by the assistants for more custom work.
The orders that Gaster himself takes up tend to be odd or technologically demanding; very specific tech meant for a very specific job and highly specialized for the specific contract in mind. The nature of the work results in a lot of negotiation and close contact with the client--a situation that has lead to some unfortunate "accidents."
Projects that Gaster himself takes on usually have the following mark on them:
Colloquially, these projects are referred to as ODs or "omega-diamonds" or, for the ones who want to be cheeky, OGs for Original Gasters.
Somewhere along the line, he created Sans and Papyrus; as children or assistants; maybe a bit of both--whichever it is, he does love them both very much, even if Sans has gotten a bit skeptical of what Gaster really is and Papyrus decided to join the Federation.
(Gaster and Papyrus still love each other very much and are still on the same 'side,' Papyrus was simply attracted to the idea of the Federation; unbothered by the fact his father is one of their wanted criminals. Funnily enough, Papyrus has explicitly stated on numerous occasions that WD is his father--people just don't listen. Undyne usually just tells him to knock it off.)
It's definitely not the life Gaster would have imagined having some years ago, but he can't say he's not satisfied. He works on fascinating projects, meets interesting people, and in his own way, helps the world.
(As for the encroaching darkness inside of him...well, he'll worry about that another day.)
Links
WD's Federation File
Dr. Gaster's Portrait
About the Voidling
Narrative
Territories / Associated Locations
Appearance
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