Slender Man | |
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Typical early Slenderman photo | |
Names |
Slender Man, Him, The Operator, Der Ritter, Der Großmann, Bundle, The Tall Man, The Thin Man, Der Schlanker Mann, Fear Dubh, Schlankwald, Tree Man, Slendy, Slenderman, Slender, The Pale One, The White King, Master |
Identity |
Unknown being |
Appearances |
MH EMH ML TT DH |
Origins |
The Slender Man (See other names to the right) is a creature or being with various nebulously defined characteristics and abilities. Slender Man was first mentioned in Something Awful Forum's "Create Paranormal Images". Slender Man generally appears (in modern times) as a tall man in a black or grey suit, red or black tie, and white shirt, with no eyes, mouth, or clearly defined facial features. It has no hair, and generally has normal-looking bare hands. Slenderman typically is depicted in imagery and literature as between 6 and 15 feet tall, depending on the situation, and in video as around 6-7 feet tall. Because of its inexact nature, and differences between series, no one has yet determined what it is. Currently, the two leading theories as to what the Slenderman may be are the Tulpa Effect and Quantum Theory. The internet popularity of Slenderman has spawned a massive amount of interconnected ARG's, collectively known as the Slenderman Mythos.
Abilities
Main page: Abilities of the Slender Man
Slenderman's original abilities included invisibility to select people, adult humans, or anyone without use of a camera, the ability to change height and body shape, the ability to shape its arms into tentacles, and the ability to sprout tentacle-like appendages from its back and shoulders to be used as additional arms or legs (or simply to instill fear into its prey). Many stories seem to indicate that it can control a person's mind, which became the basis for the Proxies in the video ARGs, a trend that would later spread to Slenderblogs. Slender Man also had connections to children, with many of the original stories revolving around disappearing children or featured Slender Man being sighted in photos with children.
As more stories came forth, however, the use of tentacles and tentacle-like appendages became less common, and the invisibility was limited or eliminated depending on the storyteller.
EMH, TT, ML, and DH all contain some sort of video and/or audio distortion, indicating that Slenderman has some sort of effect on modern digital instruments. This does not appear in any of the original accounts- however these mostly make use of photographs and video of primarily lower-tech varieties. EMH Has applied this distortion to be the effect of "Sigma Radiation", a radiation given off by Slender Man and The Rake. Sigma Radiation is also contagious, as it entered Evan's blood-stream when his arm is brutally maimed by The Rake
EMH and ML also make use of "Slenderwalking", a term created to describe Slenderman's apparent teleportation, appearing, and disappearing at will. EMH independently indicates the use of selective invisibility to groups or individuals through head tilting, and also spacetime warping/teleportation between locations. Similar abilities were seen in early Slenderman accounts. EMH also hints at the affecting of mental health or control of it.
Canon History and Information
See page: Slender Man in Mythology and Culture
Slenderman has no exactly defined or specified history, however contributors have placed early sightings of Slenderman-like beings known as Der Ritter and Der Großmann in early 1600s German and before, where it took the dress of a knight or royal figure. Germanic fairy tales and mythology also makes use of the creatures to be used as cautionary tales for children.
Photographs from the early 1900s were the next confirmed reports, where imagery of Slenderman can be found in classical black and white and sepia imagery. Reports from this time indicate sightings in America, the UK, and Russia, as well as reports of child disappearances.
By the mid-1900s, some rare run-ins occurred in the war zones in Germany, apparently Slenderman's native land.
Soldiers were the primary targets here. In America and Canada, reports of missing skiers and children appeared, coming from forested areas of the nations.
After a spree of building burnings from unknown causes, several deaths and a few surviving witnesses, it could be gathered that the Slenderman had the following traits:
- Slenderman will find interest in a victim for reasons unknown
- It would then contact the victim, if it is a child, presenting itself as friendly
- The adults he stalks have a common trait: they have all been through a terrible tragedy in their life, even if the tragedy was made by Slenderman directly
- If an adult, it would stalk the victim for long amounts of time causing what is known as "Slender sickness" causing massive paranoia, nose bleeds, nightmares, hallucinations appearing to only the sick person, and many other dangerous symptoms.
- Eventually, it would abduct the victim into nearby forest, where they would be killed.
- In 'messy' cases, it may remove evidence of its existence by causing fire of their home, place of work, or school
Death of the victim originally occurred through an odd means- the victim would be impaled on branches of very tall trees while still alive, and bleed to death. The organs would be individually removed, then placed in plastic bags. They would then be replaced into the body in their original positions, plus the plastic bags. The victims' corpses do not show any sign of a struggle.
In the late 1990s, technology shed more light on the creature through the use of commonplace cameras and camcorders. Slenderman was recorded and photographed stalking potential victims many times.
In the late 2000s to early 2010s, several individuals recorded ongoing stalking and attack scenarios of themselves and their friends. These video accounts are codenamed Marble Hornets, EverymanHYBRID, DarkHarvest00, MLAndersen0, and TribeTwelve. As well as certain Rivn videos.
Association
Slenderman makes association with several groups, individuals, or creatures.
The least known of these is the unknown organization tracking, observing, or involved with Slenderman, whose identity or name is yet to be confirmed. The Organization appears only in early Slenderman written accounts, and makes an (assumed) appearance in only one ARG, DarkHarvest00.
The SCP organization, though mostly unrelated, maintains hold of a creature known as SCP-582, aka "Bundle", whose appearance and nature is similar to Slenderman. It is possible that Bundle is a local dialect or local version of Slenderman. SCP is unable to currently permanently contain Bundle, indicating that because it is not stationary, it could be the same entity as Slenderman.
Slenderman has links to many Proxies, or insane individuals under its control or influence. The nature of Proxies, their workings, etc, are et unknown, however Proxies make appearances in MH as Masky/totheark, EMH as HABIT, and TT as Observer. Slender Man has also spawned many philosophical and theoretical cults made up of uninfluenced but aware individuals, such as in Darkharvest00.
The Rake is the name given to another mystery creature that is somehow linked or associated with Slenderman. The Rake has a far shorter history, and only real appearance of association with Slenderman or a Proxy is through the video accounts of EMH.
In universe
Slenderman in Marble Hornets
Slenderman in EverymanHYBRID
Slenderman in DarkHarvest00
Slenderman in MLAndersen0
Slenderman in TribeTwelve
Out of universe
List of Slenderman Creepypasta
Trivia and Pop Culture
- The Enderman creatures introduced into the game Minecraft during the adventure update take some inspiration from the Slender Man, but act differently in that they move blocks around with it's freakishly long arms & acts similar to the Weeping Angels from Seasons 3 and 5 of the Doctor Who television series. Endermen's actions may also be based off of SCP-173 of the SCP Foundation series, and their appearance similar to SCP-096, which also has a slight resemblance to Slender Man. They also have the ability to teleport and will attack if seen by the player.
- Also in the Doctor Who television series, the season 6 creatures known as The Silence are visually quite similar to Slender Man, having bald heads, pale skin and no faces, and wearing suits.
- Slender Man also makes a cameo appearance in the music video "First of the Year" by Skrillex. Its presumed that the young girl in the video is a Proxy being controlled by Slender Man in order to kill the child molester stalking the young girl.
- The Tall Man is an upcoming film by Pascal Laugier that features a legendary child-abducting entity. Pascal Laugier claims that the film has no relation to nor is inspired by the Mythos.
- Slender Man, by definition, violates the square-cube law as his volume does not necessarily increase in proportion to his body size, as his spacial occupation is very undetermined and variable.
Popular Slender Man Poem
Der Grobbman
Oh, should I travel through the woods
Or should I not wishing I would
For above me lurks within the trees
No one could hear my deathly screams
The palest man, the blackest suit
Bigger than the tallest brute
Six black arms will grab you up
Or, stalk you till you just give up
A top hat bares upon his head
Makes your soul fill up with dread
He takes you when you least expect
Boil you up, and eat your neck
He’ll leave your body not to eat
But staple your corpse on a tree
Fear the man, the slender man
For he can do, what no one can
-Written by Rostin Amirani
Resources
Encyclopedia Slenderia contains large amounts of information on Slenderman canon.
The Slender Nation is a network of various places to discuss Slenderman, including a partly developed Wiki. They currently are most known for their interactions with people involved in Slenderman mythos, and in their development of Core Theory.
Unifiction is undoubtedly the largest discussion zone for the Slenderman mythos' video ARGs. Their Marble Hornets and Slender Man Mythos sections of their forums attract thousands of posts every week.