WMG / Sanders Sides

WARNING: Untagged spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk.

---

Future Sanders Sides

At the end of "Accepting Anxiety" part 2, Roman lets it slip that there are other Sides inside Thomas' psyche. What could they be?

• Thomas' ethics. In the behind-the-scenes video Thomas and Joan said that Logan and Patton are named after Logos and Pathos, two of Aristotle's ingredients for persuasion. They left out Ethos, though, the appeal to ethics. Possibly named Ethan, as it fits with the pattern.
• Thomas' sexuality. As in, not that he's gay, but the part of himself that longs for physical attraction (as opposed to Roman, who is all about the romantic side of relationships). This is the side that makes Thomas talk about his butt a lot on tumblr. Possibly named Eric (derived from Eros, the Greek god of physical love).
  • Confirmed in a way — Remus represents Thomas' darker, unfiltered thoughts and impulses, including those of depravity, perversion and lust. Case in point, Remus' introductory video has him licking the face of a Mark Ruffalo stand-in and making frequent innuendo.
• Thomas' anger. A side that we usually don't see because Thomas tries not to get angry in public or online, but this is the aspect that holds all of Thomas' rage over injustices in the world and anger at cruel people.
  • Maybe part of Anger's arc would be Thomas learning he has to let him do his thing more in order to keep him in check.
  • Also, either Virgil will view Anger as a kindred spirit, being a fellow "negative" side that's often misunderstood or ignored, or even he'll be freaked out by him.
  • Dealing With Intrusive Thoughts seems to lean in this direction - when Logan loses his cool with Remus and shouts (an unusual display of emotion from him, no less), his eyes flash orange, the color assumed to be given to the remaining Side, and the episode ends with a pair of orange colored eyes set against a black background.
• A side representing Thomas's depression, the exact opposite of Virgil who is just as dangerous to Thomas, if not more.
• Envy. A side who constantly compares everything Thomas does to other, more successful Youtubers or entertainers who make similar content. He'd probably wear a mask of some kind that covers his face.

Future Dark Sides

• Roman - Vanity, Arrogance, Procrastination
  • I'd also like to propose Envy. Roman already is vain and gaudy, but Envy leads one to ignoring what they have in favor of comparing themselves to others. As an intense form of desire, Envy's a natural counterpart to Ego; where Roman represents Thomas' hopes, dreams, and fantasies, Envy could embody the bitterness and rivalry towards others who have achieved the same dreams. Roman also strives towards originality as the personification of Thomas' creativity, whereas Envy could lead one to steal ideas, and spite or rip others off for personal benefit. Plus, green would provide symbolic color contrast to Roman's red.
  • Procrastination would be almost identical to Sleep (or ‘Remy’ as some fans have dubbed him) from a couple of Thomas’ vines, always moving on to something else more exciting in order to not be doing what he’s supposed to be doing (i.e. Letting Thomas sleep). On the other hand, Procrastination could randomly and abruptly swing to being extremely lazy and not wanting to do anything. He would seem initially very trustworthy and promising to help doing stuff later while suggesting extremely fun things to do or trying to get Thomas and the other sides to take an unnecessary amount of “me time” and rest, but get very snappy and nervous when pestered. This could progress to a reaction almost similar to something Anxiety would induce, but instead leading to panic about ignoring responsibilities.
  • All Jossed: It's the more disturbing side of Thomas' imagination, which can be considered a mix of Impulsiveness and Mania below. Roman is Thomas' creativity through a moral filter, while the Duke, "Remus", is the unadulterated and intrusive remainder.
• Logan - Rage, Confusion, Ignorance, Impulsiveness
  • Impulsiveness is the following of impulses, which often turn out to be illogical but can sometimes turn out to be instincts warning one of things. Impulsiveness would be constantly trying to convince Thomas to do self-destructive things via call of the void, like throwing his phone out of a high-story window or just sort of jumping out of a moving car for no reason. Impulsiveness would be extremely persuasive to the other sides especially, his influence making everyone more complacent to his "ideas".
    • Sorta Confirmed: He's Roman's counterpart, but Remus is the embodiment of Thomas's often impulsive intrusive thoughts, complete with him specifically using "jump out of a moving car" as an example.
• Virgil - Apathy, Complacency, Mania
  • As mentioned in the above WMG, Depression also works. Depression and Anxiety tend to go hand in hand; as one goes up, the other often goes down. Apathy is also one symptom of Depression, as is hopelessness. The fatigue and lethargy governed by Depression would also oppose the sleeplessness and stress Anxiety exhibits. While Anxiety was initially seen as an antagonist holding Thomas back, his criticism and worrying over Thomas' safety are often taken constructively; Depression is often mistaken by the masses as "sadness" which itself is seen as natural, but Depression can be actively destructive, and can push people to self-harm or worse when paired with Anxiety. And of course, in contrast to the bright colors worn by all of the Sides, Depression leads one to seeing life as bleak and colorless, even gray.
  • Mania is defined as excessive enthusiasm and is characterized by euphoria, over-activity, and excitement which can lead to reckless actions as people caught in it can’t or won’t see the consequences of their actions. Where Anxiety is constantly keeping the other sides and even Thomas in check by fear of possibilities, Mania would be constantly pushing everyone to do all sorts of (possibly dangerous) things by inducing an almost hysterical over-happiness.
  • Alternately, Virgil doesn't have a counterpart, because he previously was a Dark Side.

The ones mentioned above will have a green and orange theme colors, respectively.

We know that Thomas is gay, and that there will be more Sides. He even once said he was a full rainbow all the time.

• Something that could foreshadow this theory is one of the latest "Sanders Sides" official merch posters. It features cartoon portraits of Roman, Patton, Thomas, Logan and Virgil. While Thomas' portrait is framed with a full rainbow, the others are with different individual colors of the rainbow each, Roman in red, Patton in blue, Logan in indigo and Virgil in purple. These color codes had already been established, but what is new is that in the "Sanders Sides" logo in the poster each letter of the word "Sanders" has been colored with one of the colors of the rainbow, S in red, A in orange, N in yellow, D in green, E in blue, R in indigo and S in purple. If the seven colors are present in the official logo, that means that the Sides would sport the seven colors of the rainbow when they're all revealed. If Deceit is yellow as already established, only orange and green would be left to be assigned for the remaining Dark Sides.
  • The merch poster in question is here.
    • Confirmed for green.
• Another possible foreshadowing comes from a new piece of merch released in November 2019, the first ever piece of merch dedicated to character Thomas, a t-shirt with a portrait of flowers, which features seven flowers of each of the colors of the rainbow, which would represent each of the Sides, including an orange flower representing a possible future orange Side. Theories like this one have been discussed about the meaning of each particular flower related to each Side, as people has seen parallelisms between each flower and the Side it represents. These theories try to guess the possible identity of the future orange Side, based on the meaning of the orange flower featured on the shirt, with various results, like anger or wrath, stubborness, and more.

Dark Sides and Light Sides with complementary theme colors act as Foils to each other.

This is extending off both the "orange-green" theory above and this theory. This would explain why Virgil and Deceit appear to be effective foils to each other and treat each other the way they do, since Virgil has purple as a theme color and Deceit has yellow. This would also mean that the Dark Side acting as a foil to Roman (red) would have green as a theme color and the Dark Side acting as a foil to Patton (blue) would have orange. Since Logan has indigo, which is between blue and purple, one could argue that both Deceit and the orange Dark Side could act as foils to Logan. This may also give another reason why Logan and Virgil are less easily fooled by Deceit than Roman is - their theme colors are more opposite to yellow than Roman's!

• Alternately, Deceit IS meant as a foil to Logan, with Virgil having no counterpart, since he used to be one. The Orange Side will only mirror Patton.
• Alternatively alternatively, Virgil is Patton's foil. Patton is Morality. Virgil is that morality taken to paranoid levels.
• Building on this, two out of the other three Dark Sides minus Deceit would each wear orange and green, respectively. The strongest one, would wear black and gray, and during the finale Thomas will wear white. They would have all the rainbow colors, and Thomas did say that he has the color of the rainbow... And when white light meets a prism, guess what color it turns into. Also, the reason that the strongest one would wear black and gray is because not only would he contrast with Thomas and the rest, it is said by Patton before that "you always see rainbows best after a bit of rain".
  • Confirmed so far with red and green (Roman and Remus).

Virgil is based off of the Misleading Comments guys from Thomas's vines

If Roman is based off the prince vines, Patton is based off the dad vines, and Logan is based off the teacher vines, then it makes sense that Virgil is also based off of one of Thomas's vines, the misleading comments vines making the most sense.

• This theory is supported by the 2017 Christmas Special end credits scene; the Sides hold a Secret Santa for each other, and Virgil's gift to Patton is a card with a Misleading Compliment on it. ("You make me want to die...With laughter!")

Virgil was a Dark Side at one point.

• He was the closest thing to an antagonist in the series for a good while, to the point where prolonged exposure to his room corrupts the other Sides.
• He's the only side other than Deceit to wear noticeable makeup, and on both characters it's designed to amplify their respective aspects. Virgil wears eyeshadow to resemble dark eyebags, like he never sleeps due to being anxious. Deceit looks reptilian like a snake, an animal commonly associated with deception and lying.
• His name doesn't match the other three, ending with the letter L instead of N. This could hint at the Dark Sides having names that end in L.
• When Deceit finally reveals himself, he's staring right at Virgil, who returns the stare. The whole exchange has a very "hello, old friend" vibe.
• Deceit almost gives Thomas a panic attack by claiming to have been his morality the entire time. Panic attacks are something that feed into anxiety (read: Virgil), which implies Deceit is capable of heightening Virgil's anxiety. This implies that Virgil may have a severely antagonistic relationship with Deceit, to the point of some kind of We Used to Be Friends situation between them...
  • A strike against this: Joan told that Deceit was originally the second one to be revealed, but that it made more sense to have him as the first.
  • And if Virgil is revealed to be a (former) dark side afterwards, Deceit is still the first one revealed.
• Both he and Deceit appear suddenly instead of doing a Lead In.
• His room corrupts the other three main sides, but Patton’s room only affects him. This implies only Dark Sides are affected by non-Dark Side rooms, and vise-versa.
  • Confirmed in "Dealing with Intrusive Thoughts".

Deceit's name

• Lionel
• Guile
• Robert, Louis, Steven or Stevenson
• Jekyll
• Harvey
• Russo or Russel (as in Ruse) or Webster/Web as in (Web of Lies)
• Derek (similar sounding to direct and could be both a Meaningful Name and Ironic Name for him)
• Lyle
• Something that sounds like 'Patton'
• Something tied to mythology, possibly derived from 'Apate' (which also sounds like Patton)
• Possibly, also linked with mythology, Dolan (derived from the Greek God Dolos)
• Lou (as in Illusion/Delusion or Lucifer)
  • Or derivates like Lucian, Lucius, Louis
• Lars
• Iago
• Dennis. It sounds like "denies" or "denial", which plays into how he's mainly hiding things from Thomas himself, plus it would allow one of the sides to refer to him as a "menace"
• Possibly Ethan, as derived from Ethos just as Logan and Patton's names are taken from Logos and Pathos. While Logos is an appeal to Logic and Pathos is an appeal to emotion, Ethos is an appeal to the credibility of the arguer, which fits his initial masquerade like a glove.
  • Plus, one could see it as him trying to disguise his name, to sound like one of the Light Sides, ending in an or oh, just as he does with his appearance.
• Ovid, for a Historical In-Joke tie-in with Virgil and for its similarity to "ophidian" (snake-like)
• Lucifer, straight up Lucifer. Probs too on the nose since the namesake is considered the "Father of Lies". Also not likely since the series has avoided any direct mention to anything related to Christianity. But there is still a chance there.
• Preston, since Deceit is said to be the side of self-preservation, his actual name might be more closely related to his overall function than the aspect of what he is.
• Janus. The two-faced Roman god of beginnings, endings, and doorways. If Virgil and Remus are any indication, the Dark Sides seem to have something of a Rome motif going on, and he is, quite literally, two-faced. Plus, Janus was an ally of Romulus, and Roman is, seemingly, the Side most valuable to Deciet's manipulations, through false compliments.
  • Confirmed in Selfishness v Selflessness Redux.
• Something boring and normal, with no actual meaning, like Steve or Carl.
• Lee
• From this theory, which utilises the reference in Patton's outfit to To Kill a Mockingbird in Selfishness v Selflessness, Horace also seems to be a likely candidate.
• Alternately, ALL of them. Less obliquely, Deceit will "reveal" his name several times, only for it to turn out he was, ya know, lying, as he names a different one in his next appearance. We may never learn which, if any, is his "real" name.
  • Follow-up: His real name will be revealed, completely unceremoniously, when Virgil, exploiting his talking in reverse thing, asks him "what's NOT your name?", thus forcing him to say his real name in response.
  • Confirmed to be “Janus” in “Putting Others First”.

Deceit will be extremely dangerous to Roman.

Roman has already said that Deceit is kind and seems to be taking Deceit's "compliments" at face value. Logan seems to know this as well. It looks like the series is setting itself up for an arc based around how lying and creativity don't mix without hurting people.

• Deceit did seem to be very good at keeping Roman wrapped around his finger in both episodes he featured heavily in.
  • Confirmed, in a way. After Selfishness vs. Selflessness, Roman became more defensive against Deceit than he was before. when he'd be mistrustful, but easily led with kind words, and goals that aligned with Deceit's own. When Janus admits to making mistakes, and equivalates himself with Roman in Putting Others First, the damage has already been done, and, when Roman looks to Janus for reassurance on a statement from Thomas that he believed was a lie, Janus's silent nod of a response was interpreted in the worst way possible, because Roman was already expecting the worst.

We're going to see Roman's room next.

In the first Sanders Sides video, the Sides appeared in the order of Logan first, Roman second and Patton third. And of course, Virgil appeared the latest out of them all. They followed this pattern when their names were revealed. We saw Virgil's room first and Patton's room second, so they may be using the reverse pattern for revealing their rooms.

• Related to the above WMG, we may visit Roman's room as part of the Deceit vs. Creativity arc.
• It might also be in a two-part video, as was the case with Virgil and Patton's rooms.

Virgil and Deceit weren’t friends

Rather, Virgil was working for Deceit. Let me explain. So, this theory is under the assumption that Virgil is a former ‘Dark Side’. Then, Deceit, on his own or on the orders of another Dark Side, ordered Virgil to infiltrate the videos and get in good with Thomas and the other three main sides for an unknown reason. This is why he seems so malicious in earlier vids he appears in. However, after being shown kindness by Patton, and seeing eye-to-eye with Logan, he had something of an identity crisis, which is part of the reason he decided to ‘tag out’ in Accepting Anxiety. After learning about Virgil’s potential upsides, he rejected his identity as a Dark Side and stopped following Deceit’s plan. Now, Deceit is here, and he wants to further the plan when Virgil couldn’t.

Virgil isn't a former Dark Side.

Joan has stated that Deceit was the first dark side. On top of this, this troper isn't sure the "dark sides" are even dark/evil because Thomas isn't dark or evil. It's possible they're dark in the sense of being rejected by the main sides (Roman, Logan and Patton) and therefore being out of the spotlight.

• Jossed in "Dealing With Intrusive Thoughts".

Depression won't be a Sanders Side.

All of the Sanders side represent something Thomas possesses. Patton exists because Thomas has emotions and morality, Virgil exists because Thomas has higher than average anxiety, etc. Depression is less about something you have and more about what you don't have due to it. Thus, depression would probably not be a Dark Side, but instead would be expressed with issues with the current sides (such as Patton struggling and Roman suffering creatively) like we saw with nostalgia.

Deceit and Roman are way more related than what we would expect.

Lies are made up from fiction, and imagination and creativity are the source of fiction. So, in essence, Deceit and Roman would come from the same corner of Thomas' mind, Deceit being a corrupted and twisted version, or "son", it could be said, of Creativity that came out evil, which would explain how Deceit's influence is so strong on Roman that he could not identify his false compliments.

Virgil and Deceit's relationship is a darker, more sinister version of Logan and Roman's.

Because they are nearly the opposites of each other, like Roman and Logan; 1. Their colors (Virgil: Purple, Deceit: Yellow) contrast each other, and 2. Being anxious would normally be one of the biggest cause to stop lying while lying to oneself would stop a person from feeling anxious, much like how dreaming and understanding reality can cancel each other out. And finally, 3. Both are essential for survival, but their roles are the opposite; while Anxiety over-emphasizes on the negative, Deceit over-emphasizes on the positive. Let's not forget how they conflict during the first episode Deceit appears.

If Depression ever appears as a Dark Side, Virgil will suffer.

Since depression can normally hinder a person from doing anything, going through anxiety in such a state will be one of the worst combinations. Plus, Virgil had shown concern and panic when Thomas was feeling depressed at the start of Moving On. So if Depression does show up, Virgil will think that he'll lose the one thing he could do to help Thomas(Motivating him to take action), and break down in panic and guilt. Thomas and the other Sides will work together to beat depression, and snap Virgil out of his breakdown.

Deceit is gonna try to sow discord between Virgil and the other Sides to try to lure him back to the Dark Sides.

Deceit is gonna try to isolate Virgil from the other Sides using his impersonating powers, trying to sow discord between the Sides and trying to make them fight with each other and eventually making them reject Virgil so that he returns to the Dark Sides on his own volition.

• This could be the reason why Deceit told Remus to go out and wreak havoc on the sides by introducing himself to Thomas

Theories if Envy turns out to be a side.

• He will be The Faceless ,constantly wearing a mask
• He will be great at impersonating the other sides, maybe at the same level or better than Deceit
• He is jealous of the other sides and wants to be like them
• Rather than having his own body/voice, he simply appears as one of the other sides or imitates their voice as he is desperate to be like them

Deceit's name is... (1/2)

...Deceit. That's it. He only gave that name to himself so that others wouldn't question him about it- or get discovered by Patton or Logan, but he's actually representing something else. He's just keeping himself shut about what each of the Dark Sides represents, and that includes himself. And...

• A point either for or against this: In "Selfishness v. Selflessness", when Patton asks if Deceit is his real name, Deceit replies "yes". This could also be evidence against because, ya know, DECEIT.
  • Jossed: Virgil tells the other Sides "you literally know him as Deceit". He says "you", not "we", which means Virgil knows his real name and it's different from Deceit.

That includes Virgil, as well.

And Virgil knows about all this and whatever he is, keeps his mouth shut.

Deceit has a double personality

Deceit's persona is inspired on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Joan already let something go about how the meaning of the double head that appears on Deceit's logo is a spoiler of something to come. It could be that Deceit, like Jekyll and Hyde, has a double personality, one made of full lies, which is the one that showed up earlier, and another one of brutal honesty, which is yet to be uncovered.

• Or the other personality is the one focused on Thomas's self-care. Deceit is self-preservation and if you don't care for yourself and your own needs, you're failing at preserving yourself.
• Alternately, one is the side we've seen that gives bald-faced lies and is incapable of speaking a true thought, and the other represents half-truths and lies of omission, the mixing of truths to give the lies credibility.

Virgil is the one Dark Side with no counterpart...

... Because Thomas lost Virgil's opposite some time ago.

• "Dealing with INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS" implies that Virgil may once have represented Paranoia, which could mean his opposite previously was related to Thomas' sense of security and faith in others. A few betrayals and breakups later, that security is lost, and that paranoia becomes validated and turns into Anxiety.

Roman and Remus share a room.

They are brothers, after all, and Joan said at one point, in response to fan questions, that they couldn't do a "Roman's room" episode until another Dark Side had been revealed.

• Follow-up idea: Roman invented "Daydream Mode" specifically so that Thomas could enhance and focus in on his creativity, the function Roman's Room serves, without Remus's involvement. Furthermore, a later episode will involve Remus getting jealous, and showing off his version: NIGHTMARE MODE.
  • Potentially we have already seen NIGHTMARE MODE. During the song from Dealing with Intrusive Thoughts.

There are no more dark sides to be revealed

As that would mean that before Virgil’s switch Thomas would have had more dark sides than light sides and at the end of the day Thomas is a good person.

Or

If there are four of each, that one current dark side used to be light. My vote? Puritanical side.

• Jossed. In a VidCon Q&A Joan confirmed there were two more Dark Sides in the works after Deceit, and before the end of Selfishness V. Selflessness, Virgil tells Thomas not to let Deceit or any of his friends stick around as long ever agin. Friends plural.

Pre-split Creativity used a lance as his weapon

Once he split into Roman and Remus, the lance split too, becoming Roman's sword and Remus's morning star.

The picture of Thomas electrocuting his brother was actually drawn before Remus split off from Roman.

It just seems like it makes sense.

Pre-split Creativity's name was Aeneas.

The mythical leader of the Trojans to the land that became Rome.

• Alternately, pre-split Cretivity's name was Regulus, a Roman name meaning 'prince' or 'king'. Roman and Remus share the naming theme of Roman mythology, and they could have each 'taken' part of Regulus' name when they split; Remus taking the name itself, as the two names sound very similar, and Roman taking the meaning of the name, and crafting himself a prince-themed identity.

Deceit is trying to scare Thomas off his quest for self-knowledge.

Deceit's unmasking robbed him of a lot of his power, since he controls Thomas's self-delusions and that was a major delusion shattered. He tried to recoup some of that power by getting Thomas to embrace a more dishonest approach to his relationships with others, but that failed—Thomas was horrified by the outcome of his trial and (through Roman) handed himself a karmic punishment in order to ensure that he wouldn't go down that road. So now Deceit is attempting a return to the old status quo. By encouraging the other Dark Sides to flaunt themselves in Thomas's face, he hopes to frighten Thomas into accepting self-delusion once again.

Virgil was Paranoia, and it has been foreshadowed right from his first appearance in 2016.

There are hints that could be Foreshadowing that when Virgil was a Dark Side, he was paranoia, and not only the name calling that Logan almost made on him in Dealing with Intrusive Thoughts or Roman's "parano-vigilant" in Fitting In (Hogwarts Houses). There are hints that date back to Sanders Sides Q&A. He said there that if he opened a YouTube channel it would be about conspiracies and cryptids, which are topics with a lot of fuel for paranoia. Even if we go back to his very first appearance in Taking on Anxiety with Lilly Singh, most of the things he tells Lilly to make her anxious are paranoid thoughts like "I wonder what your friends are saying about you right now" or "Let's go over all the things you did wrong today..." Heck, the very first time he made Thomas anxious just seconds after first appearing on-screen was by instilling a paranoid thought on him: "What are you doing different? What are you doing wrong? What are you forgetting to do...?"

Virgil's concept will change once more...

We know he changed from some Dark Side concept, probably Paranoia, to Anxiety. We've also learned that how Thomas thinks about the Sides changes their being, as seen with Remus. One could theorize that, later in his arc, as he rejects his prior Dark Side nature and Thomas thinks of him as a positive force, will change names once more, solidifying himself as a Light Side by taking on a more overtly-positive concept to personify: "Vigilance" seems the most likely. This will either follow or precede him gaining his own Dark Side counterpart.

Virgil actually underwent an opposed version of what happened with Roman and Remus.

Once, there were two sides: Vigilance among the Light Sides, and Paranoia among the Dark. The Dark Sides tried to persuade Vigilance to join them, but he ended becoming friends with Paranoia. Later, as Thomas's understanding of his fear changed, they fused, becoming one being: Anxiety, the Virgil we know today, a Side neither fully Light nor fully Dark. An invert of what happened with OG Creativity.

The entire concept of "Dark Sides" is Patton's fault.

Think about it. The Dark Sides are the parts of Thomas' personality that he represses because he thinks they're inherently bad, regardless of how evil they actually are. Deceit, for instance, is viewed as a villain. But Thomas and the other sides tell white lies all the time. Remus is something Thomas just kind of has to tolerate, and not an indication that Thomas is a terrible person like Virgil and Patton think he is. Patton is Thomas' moral compass. He's the one who decides what's right and what's wrong. Patton would be the one to put that fear in Virgil's head in the first place.

Basically, Patton deciding that the certain other sides are bad for Thomas is what made him cut them off from the rest of his mind in the first place. That's why both Deceit and Remus seem to take extra joy in freaking him out - it's petty revenge.

Roman and Remus were the first two Sides to have names, beyond what they embody.

Before the split between the two, The Sides just called each other by their titles. But once Creativity split in two, they needed a way to distinguish them. At first, they were just known as "Prince" and "Duke" Creativity, but Princely had the idea of giving himself the name of Roman. The Duke followed suit. Patton gained his name next, as he was down with it, and Logan begrudgingly followed. Virgil only chose a name shortly before the Sanders Sides series started, hence why the others didn't know it.

There's no such thing as a "Dark" or "Light" side.

Referring to parts of yourself as wholly "good" or "bad" is just another way of repressing yourself. In Dealing With Intrusive Thoughts, we learn that Roman and Remus were originally the same, before Thomas's repression of his own thoughts and feelings caused them to split, like a pair of monozygotic twins.

• In the same episode, Patton is revealed to be the main cause of Thomas's problems with Remus, as a result of Catholic beliefs that became harmful. Morality, as an extreme, could become a severely puritan Side that fully focuses on Black-and-White Morality, which will ultimately be harmful because nobody is perfectly moral, and it's an impossible standard to live up to. Looking at it this way, Morality could also be a "Dark Side".
• Essentially, none of the sides are essentially good or evil, or light or dark. They are simply more or less intense than the others.
  • Comment: However, light/dark and good/bad are not necessarily synonymous. Dark can be used as a synonym of "hidden", in the sense of hidden to Thomas, and in that sense, there are certainly Light and Dark Sides. It is never said that the Dark Sides are inherently bad, except by Patton, and he's only expressing his opinion about good and bad, which may or may not be accurately reflecting their true nature.

Roman and Remus are not completely separated Sides

Roman and Remus are both parts of creativity, and even though they say they're different isolated parts of creativity, one welcome thoughts, and the other forbidden thoughts, it's possible that they're not completely isolated. In short, the split between them may not be complete. As there's a part of creativity that could be common ground for them, neither too light nor too gruesome, they use that common ground to influence each other. This is shown in how Roman sometimes goes too far in the nicknames he calls the others. Also, Roman has started being conscious of this, which would explain his insecurities and how he's started apologizing for this behavior, like when he called Logan Nerdy Wolverine and immediately apologized after getting mad at himself for doing it. Perhaps, his "freudian slip" of calling himself "the one and lonely" would be a remark coming from Remus and not himself. The "naked Aunt Patty" Roman said in "Sanders Sides 12 Days of Christmas" was clearly coming from Remus' influence, as Remus showed a sign with the same statement during the song sequence in "Dealing with Intrusive Thoughts". It is yet to be seen how Roman could affect Remus in this union, but if Roman is going too close to the dark side and doesn't like it, by logic, Remus sometimes would go too close to the light side, and he wouldn't like it.

The Dark Sides do not like each other.

It'd be a neat way to make them an even better foil to the main Sides; the main Sides are a loving, if squabbling family who care about each other, but often have trouble working together, while the Dark Sides work well together, but don't get along at all.

All of the Sides have "spirit animals", and they will be Foils to their owner's Dark/Light counterpart.

So far, we only know the animal spirit of two Sides: a snake for Janus and a frog for Patton, and these animals could be considered Foils to each other: Snakes crawl, are known for being venomous, are representative of Satan's temptation in Adam and Eve's fall from Eden and look dangerous, while frogs jump, are known for being poisonous, are representative of God's punishment in the Ten Plagues. There is also a fable that represents how Thomas perceives them: "The Frog and The Scorpion", where a frog's selflessness causes its death, and "The Farmer and the Viper", its variant where the scorpion is instead a viper.

Thomas is a dark side

His name ends in an -us sound like Janus and Remus.

• He's mentioned as being a real person and different from a side multiple times in-universe, so no.

Sleep's name would be Somnus.

If there were ever a crossover. Somnus ends in -us and he's been portrayed as a bad guy. It's not going to be Remy, it starts with R like Roman and Remus (and everyone else's name starts with a different letter, except the brothers) Plus, the writers seem to prefer using mythological figures.

• This is highly unlikely, even in theory. Sleep isn't "evil" in any way; he's just a finicky sassmaster. He also isn't part of the Sanders Sides universe, and Word of God confirms that he won't be joining them, so the Sides's names would have no bearing on his own.

Virgil was Logan's Darkside counterpart.

Going off the Theory that all Lightsiders have a Darkside counterpart, Remus and Roman, Patton and Janus, neither Logan or Virgil have a Darkside counterpart. Anymore, that is.Because what is used to deal with paranoid or anxious thoughts? Logic.

Janus isn't actually "Deceit," but rather "Denial."

This might not be something that has happened yet, it may be a gradual process; similar to how it has been speculated that Virgil was previously Paranoia and developed into Anxiety, when one of the Others begins to be accepted by the group, they change from their "Dark" form. Janus's role as Deceit has been exacerbated because he has been cast as "evil." Potential evidence:

• Janus is capable of telling the truth, despite his reputation as a liar. He merely denies certain points of view that others regard as "true."
• Janus prescribes self-care and selfishness, a form of denying outside interaction for the sake of one's sanity.
• In Putting Others First, when faced with the Trolley Dilemma, Thomas cycles through different options, each one named for a Side (Morality, Anxiety, etc.). Janus's symbol in the choice list is labelled as Denial.

Virgil isn't Anxiety's real name

So far, all the sides we've seen follow a naming pattern; the dark sides have names that end in 'us', and the light sides have names that end in 'on' or 'an'. Virgil is the only side who doesn't follow these naming schemes, and Patton even lampshades it when Virgil first reveals his name. ("But that doesn't end in an 'o-n' or an 'a-n'. Wouldn't it be something like... Virgan?") In this troper's opinion, it could be because, when he left the dark sides, he no longer wanted to be known by his old name (and if we're going by Dark Side naming conventions, it's safe to assume his real name might be Virgilius).Dealing With Intrusive Thoughts implies that Virgil may once have been Paranoia instead of Anxiety, and if so, it's entirely possible that he went by a different name as Paranoia, hence why the light sides don't know his name as Anxiety. He may have chosen a name that doesn't fit into the light and dark side's naming schemes because, at the time, he didn't see himself as either- he no longer associated himself with the dark sides, but Thomas and the light sides hadn't yet come to accept him.

• Janus and Remus have also mentioned Virgil's reluctance to share his name, with Janus' lines in Selfishness v Selflessness being particularly suspicious:
  Janus: Oh, so you've never been reluctant to share anything with the group, then?
  Virgil: Don't.
  Janus: What? I just meant your name!
  Virgil, clearly angry/upset: DON'T.
  Janus: Maybe that's why it's so easy for you to recognise me for what I am. Like I said... it takes a liar to know a liar.

Sanders Sides Technical Difficulties Theory

EBU color bar testcard that is the base of this theory

Same color bar testcard featuring each Side with each color, including an unknown black Side in the shadows

This is a theory first released on Tumblr. Up until Remus' revelation, each of the Sides has been revealed to match with one color of the EBU color bar testcard that is used when technical difficulties arose on TV. The Sides would actually be the figurative technical difficulties that happen in character Thomas' mind and life. In order from left to right, white would be character Thomas, yellow is Deceit, light-blue is Patton, green is Remus, light purple is Virgil, red is Roman and blue is Logan. Following this theory, the next Side wouldn't be orange, like in the rainbow theory, but black.

• An alternate theory surging from this theory is that Virgil would actually be the black Side, based on how his season 1 outfit was all black, but he usurped the purple color to join the Light Sides. This would mean that the next Side would be the original purple Side and that a clash between these two Sides may happen when he shows up.

We will get an episode focusing on Roman and Remus's relationship

Joan will once again play a Side, but this time, they'll be Remus, which would save on editing time and also allow for interactions similar to those in Can Lying Be Good.

Remus also represents Thomas’ sense of humor

It’s curious that all of the sides seem to have good and bad sides to them, especially as Deceit has been shown to have his negative “deceitful” side and his positive “self care” side. It would be curious that there doesn’t seem to be a positive side to Remus. This theory states that Remus represents Thomas’ humor. To play with the royalty appearance of the twins, Remus could also represent the jester in a court, the only member of the court that was allowed to make fun of the king or queen, as well as point out flaws in their ideas and leadership through humor and sarcasm. From what we’ve seen of Remus, he seems to be constantly laughing and making fun of others, similar to a jester. While most of his jokes are gross and really only makes himself laugh, if Thomas learns to synthesize both his positive and negative creativity, perhaps Remus can evolve into the more harmless comedy to Roman’s drama. And that comedy seems to be something that Thomas needs amidst his struggle of understanding if he’s a decent person or not.

Joan is the Orange Side

Joan has shown up in the videos and related content, wears orange, and often encourages Thomas to do things or not do things. Their appearances could be just what they appear, but maybe there's something more meta to it...

• Jossed now that Joan has moved making it much harder for them to appear as a reoccurring character

The sides are going to have a very hard time dealing with the next Dark Side

No matter what they represent or what their signature color is I can confirm one thing for certain. The next Dark Side is gonna be a pain in the B-Hole to deal with maybe even more so than Remus due to one condition. Logan will likely be taken out of commission. Think about it every time a dark side first appears they take their counterpart out of commission (I.E. Janus taking Patton’s place and Remus knocking Roman out) so by process of elimination the next dark side will likely be Logan’s counterpart. Logan has been key in knocking the dark sides down a peg (from almost single handedly taking care of Remus to blowing massive holes in Janus’s arguments). So it’s stands to reason that once Logan is out of the picture the other sides are going to have a much harder time dealing with his dark side counterpart. This is sorta seen in POF where once Janus gets Logan out of the argument he’s able to dominate the argument to the point of pushing Patton to his breaking point (though this ends up being more helpful but imagine if someone who wasn’t intending to help Thomas got Logan out of the picture)

• Supported further by Logan's eyes flashing orange (the presumed color of the remaining Dark Side) in "Dealing With Intrusive Thoughts." Particularly based on Remus's reaction - he seems particularly pleased at the appearance of Logan's anger, as if, perhaps, he was trying SPECIFICALLY to invoke this particular side.

The Dark Sides have a Monkey Morality Pose theme.

Janus can make the others shut up, by letting them cover their mouths. He was also the reason why the Dark Sides' existence was able to remain unknown, because the ones who wanted to reveal it had to remain silent.

Remus appears while sprouting a lot of things that the others do not want to hear. A way to deal with him is stop listening to what he says, and not doing anything with it.

And now, Logan's eyes have glowed orange, and Thomas has posted a photo of orange eyes on his Twitter as well. There is also the concept of 'blinded by rage'.

There was a fourth monkey, 'Do no Evil', which was included at the earliest interpretations of this trope, but is not usually featured in modern works representing it.

• Virgil, being a former Dark Side, could represent 'do no evil' since feeling anxious usually makes one want to not do anything.

Orange isn't actually a new side, but a new evil form for Logan.

Virgil switched from being a Dark Side to being a Light Side, so we know it's possible. No other Dark Side was ever shown as being physically part of their counterpart the way Logan's eyes turned orange, so the Orange Side being teased will actually just be the result of Logan snapping from his poor treatment. He's sick of being constantly ignored, so he will switch sides to become Orange for a villainy arc.