< The Slender Man Mythos

The Slender Man Mythos/YMMV


  • Alternative Character Interpretation: A fair number of fan theories involve Slendy himself not being evil or malevolent. Either he's a lonely figure who unintentionally curses those he comes into contact with in his efforts to make friends, a harbinger of doom, or even an incompetent guardian trying (and failing) to save people.
  • Archive Binge: There's been a lot written about the Slender Man, and it can be tempting to do this. Just remember, the more you know about him, the more likely he is to hunt you. An all-too-common way of doing this is watching all the entries in one go, usually at night. The first entries are creepy but intriguing. And by the time you get to the juicy stuff, you are too curious to stop and too terrified to go to bed.
  • Broken Base: There is some elitism among members of the fandom.
  • Bigger Bad: Some fans speculate that Slendy is to Nyarlathotep what his boss is to Azathoth.
    • If Dare 2 Die is to be believed, it's none other than Zalgo.
  • Colbert Bump: Roger Ebert praised Marble Hornets on his Twitter account. This was nearly enough to give Slender Man enough notability to stay on Wikipedia.
  • Complete Monster: One interpretation of Slender Man is that he is a cruel being who prolongs the fear that his victims feel before brutally torturing and killing them so he can make people as miserable as possible. See Blue and Orange Morality on the main page for why this may not be the case.
  • Crazy Awesome: this theory as to Slender Man's nature. It gives valid points to him being an Evil Counterpart to Santa.
  • Creepy Awesome: Because let's face it, fans wouldn't be trying to make unadulterated High Octane Nightmare Fuel into a meme if this trope weren't in effect.
  • Crowning Moment of Funny: a Black Ops agent exterminating runners is attacked and gets a single clue - a piece of paper with the word "Lusk". He asks his readers for help on the matter. He gets linked to an article about Clayton Lusk and treated to the following gem:

Omega: Obviously you are being hunted by an undead senator.

Sandra: It's colder than a witch's tit in a cast iron bra. Turn up the damn heater.

  • Crowning Moment of Heartwarming: Don't give Slender Man your twenty dollars. Give it to Haiti.
  • Epileptic Trees/Wild Mass Guessing: Just what is Slender Man, and what is his purpose? Is he a humanoid tree? An alien? Was he human once? A being from the future? the past? A being from another dimension? Is he the harbinger of doom himself? Or is he just a messenger for some far greater evil? What makes Slender Man such a unique case is that, because there is no definite "God" whose Word is the final say on all this, the answers to all of these questions rest entirely with us.
  • Fridge Logic:
    • A viewer occasionally wonders how the various ARG characters find the time or motivation to update their various journals, especially while being chased by the creature himself. However, if played right it can lead to both Fridge Horror and Fridge Brilliance.
    • And then there are the videos that show things that should have never made it past the editing process, or should have merited a complete re-shoot as bad as they were. This is actually addressed in the Everyman HYBRID universe: not only is it implied that the protagonists can't see the screwy bits in "normal" videos, but it's stated that they can't see the really weird ones at all. Why do people keep telling them about something called dot-dash?
    • Many people believe that Slendy exists because people think about him. Many also believe he only targets people who believe in him. If he succeeded, would he die?
      • Although this ventures more into WMG territory, this could lead to a stroke of Fridge Brilliance: Perhaps that is his motivation towards his acts. Maybe he's not really as hostile as he's portrayed. Perhaps he simply wishes to stop existing, to rest.
      • Or maybe, he doesn't exist, but he wants to. And what better way than something as innocuous as the internet?
  • Harsher in Hindsight: The name of the blog CUT!, after it got, well, cut.
  • High Octane Nightmare Fuel: Many posters on the original forum thread remarked that they had had nightmares about the Slender Man only a day after he had been originally mentioned.
  • Just Here for Godzilla: Because let's face it, some of the stories can be downright boring without Slender Man in the picture.
  • Mary Sue: SANDRA
  • Memetic Badass:
    • To some, Zeke Strahm from the blog Seeking Truth, largely on account of being the first person willing to actually stand up and fight Slender Man.
    • Evan of Everyman HYBRID as well, for the same reason (as well as being quite the Knife Nut).
  • Memetic Molester: Slendy apparently likes to hang out around children, as the earliest photoshops show. Seeking Truth suggests that any adults Slender targets are simply children he didn't get to finish off. Make of that what you will. This comic provides one possible explanation. It...doesn't really make things any better.
  • Memetic Mutation: Slender Man first showed up in a "make normal photos paranormal!" photoshop thread. After the first few Slender Man pics, he took over the thread. Appropriately enough.
    • There is also an ongoing joke that Slender Man is stalking Alex and Jay because he wants their $20 and that he would go away if only they gave him the money. Word of Gods state that they are sick of that particular joke.
    • The whole project is basically a deliberate manufacture and study of how Memetic Mutation becomes an Urban Legend.
    • Some would claim this trope doesn't belong. After all, he's real.
    • His semen is periwinkle blue.
  • Moral Event Horizon: The bloggers get quite angry when Slendy starts using children as proxies.
  • Narm: In the first post of The Tutorial, the narrator expresses extreme anger that Something Awful was stupid enough to will the Slender Man into existence, because his brother was killed as a result. The moment is ruined when you realize that this is just an expansion of "that's not funny, my brother died that way."
    • The capslocked rantings of LOST on Let Us Keep Living (formerly They Call Us Keepers) are decidedly narmy, and have even been lampshaded in the comments on this post by Vieve.
    • The blog No Escape From Reality (now deleted) started out as this, but then became infamous in the Unfiction forums after the author tried to turn his blog into part of the Everyman HYBRID series. Apparently, the author is still on Unfiction, and considers it an Old Shame of his.
  • Nightmare Retardant: Slendy is frequently mistaken for Jack Skellington by those unfamiliar with the mythos.
    • Slendy does not tolerate wifin' in da club, but will ignore your offense if you give him twenny dollaz.
    • The idea of him being the one writing notes and signs can be this, which is good because in most blogs/videos he's not the one writing them.
    • After watching this Slender Man parody by Neil Cicerega, the Slender Man himself may not seem as frightening.
    • Even the nickname "Slendy" can make the guy seem less unapproachable and frightening.
    • Apparently, he's a pretty mean tap-dancer.
    • In H(a)unting, He decides to leave Sandra a little "gift"... a baby silkie chicken, named Preston, who often serves as comic relief. Can double as a Heartwarming Moment, as Sandra had played with silkies at a state fair several days earlier, and it's implied Preston was on of them.
    • He was also college roommates with Bakura.
    • The more anxious you are, the more likely it is he'll come for you. This has lead to such anti-Slenderman tactics as listing to yackysacks, or looking at lolcats to keep yourself from panicking.
    • You'll never take him seriously again.
    • We have discovered his true purpose. To teach humans how to do... The Slendy-dance.
  • Older Than They Think: The Slender Man is nearly identical to various "Shadow People" sightings, including the gentlemanly clothes and malevolent nature.
  • Paranoia Fuel: He can be anywhere. No. Really.
    • Used to great effect in Just Another Fool which encompasses soldiers encountering Slendy in Iraq; this is initially dismissed as ridiculous, Slendy's American, right? Cue a commenter pointing out the German and Romanian variants of the legend.
    • As the saying goes, "He only exists if you're thinking about him. Now try not to think about him."
  • Running the Asylum: Except technically, the whole Mythos began this way.
  • Tear Jerker:
  • Uncanny Valley: A good part of the creepy factor in the stories.
  • The Woobie: Pretty much anyone stalked by Slendy. Except maybe Zeke Strahm.
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