About

Pirate Gaster is a viral fan art and video trend that turns the Deltarune character W.D. Gaster into a pirate and gives him a crew of other mysterious Deltarune characters, such as the Roaring Knight, Normal NPC and Friend. The trend started on Twitter / X in late June 2026 and spread over the following weeks as more artists created additional depictions of Pirate Gaster and fan-made character was referenced in memes.

Origin

The trend originated from a series of posts by X / Twitter user drit__ in late June 2026. The posts eventually resulted in a video post by drit__^[1] on June 27th, 2026, of the Deltarune characters Kris, Susie and Noelle encountering W.D. Gaster on a pirate ship along with Normal NPC, Friend, Aqua and the Roaring Knight with the background music being "Pirate Dojo" from Deltarune: Chapter 5.

The video went on to accumulate over 3.6 million views, 53,000 likes, 10,000 retweets and 300 replies in 10 days.

After drit__'s original tweet blew up, they made up lyrics to "Pirate Dojo" describing Gaster's pirate transformation.

In response to these lyrics, on June 30th, 2026, X^[2] user DrakeTheroux made a cover of the song with lyrics that would see widespread use across TikTok and YouTube as Pirate Gaster became more popular, not only as a theory, but also as a meme. The original tweet garnered over 2.9 million views, 36,000 likes, 8,300 retweets and 120 replies in a week.

Enjoy me ye olde cover o' Gaster's Sea Shanty by @drit__!🏴‍☠️ https://t.co/JCSULEiRMQ pic.twitter.com/lTOGS0j9R5

— Foxy Grandpa – ✨🔜 Sparkle On! ✨ (@DrakeTheroux) July 1, 2026

As the initial memes spread, many Deltarune characters came to be considered as a part of Gaster's "pirate crew" by the fandom, including characters who are believed to be in the shelter at the bottom of Deltarune's map, such as the Roaring Knight, the holder of the Shadow Mantle, and IMAGE_FRIEND.

The character known in Deltarune simply as "Normal NPC" is implied to be the parrot that sits on Gaster's shoulder (as shown in the above tweets), tying in with another theory that emerged after the release of Chapter 5 of Deltarune that Normal NPC butchered the character in the ocean known as Onion to use in the fried dough balls (takoyaki) that he sold at the Festival.

Lastly, one of the main flowers in Chapter 5, known as Aqua, is also implied to be a part of the "pirate crew," despite having no relation to the shelter or any of the theories Gaster is involved in.

Spread

Over the following weeks, Pirate Gaster soon spread to TikTok and other platforms, where it would see a series of fan art, animations, memes and jokes, most notably the connection of Pirate Gaster to the gradual insanity of the Deltarune fandom after seeing no new content, highlighting that Deltarune fans can still go insane with recent content.

For instance, on July 1st, 2026, X / Twitter^[4] user LeanaLeabian tweeted their artwork of Pirate Gaster, receiving over 400,400 views, 12,000 likes and 1,800 retweets in six days.

On July 2nd, 2026, TikToker^[3] ge.adelade posted an animation meme about Pirate Gaster using the song, garnering over 38,900 likes and 300 comments in five days.

YouTube was introduced to Pirate Gaster around the same time, with users expressing the same concern about the quickened descent into insanity.

Also on July 2nd, 2026, YouTuber^[5] Origami Yume Nikki uploaded a fan animation titled "Pirate Gaster [DELTARUNE 3D Animation]," receiving over 30,000 views, 2,100 likes and 100 comments in five days.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References