History Franchise / TheSlenderManMythos

*** [[spoiler:WebVideo/MarbleHornets has Tim, who was not only seemingly committed for paranoia, suicidal tendencies, and seizures, but was trapped in a school fire, yet miraculously survived. All of these are Slender Man calling cards.]]
*** [[spoiler:WebVideo/EverymanHYBRID, at the very least, has Steph, whose immediate family were murdered by him, leading her to feel stalked by him ever since. It's also been hinted at, however, that all of the main characters have a childhood connection.]]
*** [[spoiler:WebVideo/TribeTwelve has Noah's grandfather, Karl, who grew up in a German community near the Black Forest that used folktales of the "Great Man", who supposedly lived in the woods, to [[ScareEmStraight frighten their children into obedience]]. It should be noted, however, that he did not have a direct encounter with Mr. Tall, Dark and Faceless until adulthood.]]

And now he even has his own [[http://www.parsecproductions.net/slender/ video game]] available for free.

** And now given a new edit on the Troper Tales page, Slender Man itself.

* BaitAndSwitch: Some series hide the fact that they even include the Slender Man, most famous of which being EverymanHYBRID, but TheDeadAreWatching wins out for even hinting at Slendy for ''five months'' of the series run.

* TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: He likes doing this to people, as [[WebVideo/MarbleHornets Jay]], [[TribeTwelve Noah]] and the [[EverymanHYBRID HYBRID]] guys can attest.

* DerivativeDifferentiation: Early works were known for aping ''WebVideo/MarbleHornets'' and ''JustAnotherFool'', but the Mythos gradually grew to include a wide variety of stories (as well as the Core Theory).

** [[EverymanHYBRID He may]] have a (still-evil) [[RedOniBlueOni opposite]] in [[http://creepypasta.wikia.com/wiki/The_Rake The Rake]], however. It's not yet clear whether or not they are enemies though.

** If there's a video blog series that features a project being abandoned because Slender Man got involved, you can thank WebVideo/MarbleHornets for that. If there's a written blog that gradually takes on a more insane tone after Slendy gets involved, culminating in [[DecoyProtagonist the current blogging character being replaced by a friend who is not so deeply entrenched in the madness]], you can thank JustAnotherFool for that.

* HistoricalInJoke: Being in the ARG scene, many blogs/vlogs invoke real-life places or urban legends (like [[EverymanHYBRID The Rake]]; see ShoutOut). Often, this makes things much more effective.
** EverymanHYBRID visits [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia,_Pennsylvania Centralia]] at one point. Centralia was the inspiration for the film version of Film/SilentHill, and the series has made an occasional reference to SilentHill itself. The video itself contains a reference to Silent Hill 3, as seen [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO8DToYQS-I#t=1m31s here.]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD-iD2qYVkk (For reference.)]]

* LateArrivalSpoiler: Newer works have an unfortunate tendency to detail major plot points from older works (especially WebVideo/MarbleHornets and JustAnotherFool).

** The EverymanHYBRID team seems to have stumbled upon [[http://www.creepypasta.com/the-rake/ the Rake]] in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-I-SGImHImE "Cops Checked, no Body"]]
** [[Blog/SeekingTruth Zeke]] and [[TribeTwelve Noah]] guest-starred in the EverymanHYBRID chatroom on Sunday, March 20, along with EMH boys Jeff and Evan.

* NamesTheSame: There's a surprisingly large amount of bloggers named or going by the alias of [[Blog/AnomalousData Jay]], [[WebVideo/MarbleHornets J]], [[EverymanHYBRID [J]]], etc.

* NumerologicalMotif: Strings of identical digits seem to hold some significance with Slender Man. For example, [[spoiler:in Entry #26 of Marble Hornets, he appears on camera in Alex's house on [[FourIsDeath April 4 (4/4), 44 seconds after the clock strikes 4:44]], and in Entry #29, he appears at the 55 second mark in the 66 second long video. In JustAnotherFool, its implied that he attacks Logan at 11:11 on November 11. In TribeTwelve, in the 'Night Recording' entry, Noah wakes up coughing at 3:33 on the dot, and in the 'dot dash' video from EverymanHYBRID, the old woman that Jeff visits to obtain information lives in room 222, and in that same audio file Jeff discusses a fire that occurred on some day at 5:55.]]

** Jeff of EverymanHYBRID once mentioned TV Tropes in a ustream, calling it 'a site you will waste hours of your life on'.

* SanitySlippage: Happens to [[JustAnotherFool a couple]] [[Blog/DreamsInDarkness bloggers]]. Kind of a given by now.

** In JustAnotherFool, one of the people commenting is apparently from [[Creator/HPLovecraft Miskatonic University]].
** An in Universe example, the blog EyeWatch mentions the EverymanHybrid videos in a [[LawyerFriendlyCameo distant]] way.

* StylisticSuck: The soap opera film project Alex comes up with in WebVideo/MarbleHornets, the mediocre health/workout routine from EverymanHYBRID, and [[http://tonightitallburns.blogspot.com/ Damien's crappy Slender-blog attempt]] from Blog/DreamsInDarkness, up until they get [[HijackedByGanon Hijacked By Slender Man]].

* EvilDetectingDog: For some reason, animals [[WebVideo/MarbleHornets aren't]] [[SeekingTruth crazy]] about this guy.

* InvisibleToNormals: More than one ARG has implied that only Slendy's targets can actually see him in real time; however, he will always appear on digital video [[spoiler:unless he, say, breaks the camera like in SeekingTruth]]. This leads to protagonists reviewing video and wondering why they didn't notice the surprisingly obvious ten foot-tall faceless man when they actually shot said video. A variation shows up in one of the earlier Marble Hornets (Entry #12): The crew filming near the Tower see Slendy standing in the open but none of them seem to notice how he's eight feet tall, the fact that he has no face, or the way his arms dangle in the most chilling fashion.

** [[SeekingTruth Zeke]] and [[TribeTwelve Noah]] guest-starred in the EverymanHYBRID chatroom on Sunday, March 20, along with EMH boys Jeff and Evan.

* RealAfterAll: Or Is It? - There are quite a lot of similarities between the Slender Man and the "[[http://www.creepypasta.com/the-smiling-man-in-black/ Smiling]]" or "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indrid_Cold Grinning]]" Man mythologies. Although the Grinning Man/Indrid Cold has his own mythology, it is possible that the post on SomethingAwful was inspired a bit by it.

* SanitySlippage: Happens to [[JustAnotherFool a couple]] [[DreamsinDarkness bloggers]]. Kind of a given by now.

** Although Slendy and ''Film/{{Phantasm}}''[='s=] Tall Man aren't too similar beyond the names and suits, the original SomethingAwful poster ''did'' use the latter as a template when Photoshopping his images. Despite noted similarities, said poster had never heard of the ChzoMythos's Tall Man.

* StylisticSuck: The soap opera film project Alex comes up with in WebVideo/MarbleHornets, the mediocre health/workout routine from EverymanHYBRID, and [[http://tonightitallburns.blogspot.com/ Damien's crappy Slender-blog attempt]] from DreamsInDarkness, up until they get [[HijackedByGanon Hijacked By Slender Man]].

Or, if you prefer: The Slender Man is an internet character originating from SomethingAwful, created by user Victor Surge in a create-your-own-{{Creepypasta}} contest. It soon reached memetic status, spreading through several blogs and videos, and quickly became the horror we know and fear today.

* ThemeNaming: Both [[WhiteElephants Robert Sagel]] and [[http://outsidepeeringin.blogspot.com/ Thage]] do this to the other bloggers; the former with the archetypal roles he believes they possess, and the latter with a ChessMotif.

* TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: He likes doing this to people, as [[MarbleHornets Jay]], [[TribeTwelve Noah]] and the [[EverymanHYBRID HYBRID]] guys can attest.

* ContinuityLockout: Starting to get there, what with the increasing number and interconnectedness of the various works. MarbleHornets, the major codifier of the Mythos, is a notable exception, as it tells its story in a minimalist manner without referencing any other sources.

* DerivativeDifferentiation: Early works were known for aping ''MarbleHornets'' and ''JustAnotherFool'', but the Mythos gradually grew to include a wide variety of stories (as well as the Core Theory).

* EvilDetectingDog: For some reason, animals [[MarbleHornets aren't]] [[SeekingTruth crazy]] about this guy.

** If there's a video blog series that features a project being abandoned because Slender Man got involved, you can thank MarbleHornets for that. If there's a written blog that gradually takes on a more insane tone after Slendy gets involved, culminating in [[DecoyProtagonist the current blogging character being replaced by a friend who is not so deeply entrenched in the madness]], you can thank JustAnotherFool for that.
** Also from MarbleHornets: Video distortion occurring whenever Slendy or one of his agents is close at hand, sometimes going as far as happening whenever he comes into frame (it's a useful tool since distortion can be used to hide many of the obviously fake aspects of whatever prop or costume is being used in that series).

** Some mysterious (often masked) yet apparently human figure related to Slender Man in some way (whether or not he is an actual agent of Slendy is debatable since MarbleHornets never explicitly states that this is the case). Extra points if the series is a vlog and the figure in question creates a separate Youtube account for posting video responses.

* IHaveManyNames: The Slender Man is often given additional or new names, such as "The Operator" in MarbleHornets. [[http://nihilartikelling.blogspot.com/2011/01/his-names.html "so many names slim suited man rail thin man skin-and-bones man rawboned man angular faceless long limbed man operator mister gaunt."]]
* InvisibleToNormals: More than one ARG has implied that only Slendy's targets can actually see him in real time; however, he will always appear on digital video [[spoiler:unless he, say, breaks the camera like in SeekingTruth]]. This leads to protagonists reviewing video and wondering why they didn't notice the surprisingly obvious ten foot-tall faceless man when they actually shot said video. A variation shows up in one of the earlier MarbleHornets (Entry #12): The crew filming near the Tower see Slendy standing in the open but none of them seem to notice how he's eight feet tall, the fact that he has no face, or the way his arms dangle in the most chilling fashion.

* LateArrivalSpoiler: Newer works have an unfortunate tendency to detail major plot points from older works (especially MarbleHornets and JustAnotherFool).

* NamesTheSame: There's a surprisingly large amount of bloggers named or going by the alias of [[Blog/AnomalousData Jay]], [[MarbleHornets J]], [[EverymanHYBRID [J]]], etc.

* NumerologicalMotif: Strings of identical digits seem to hold some significance with Slender Man. For example, [[spoiler:in Entry #26 of MarbleHornets, he appears on camera in Alex's house on [[FourIsDeath April 4 (4/4), 44 seconds after the clock strikes 4:44]], and in Entry #29, he appears at the 55 second mark in the 66 second long video. In JustAnotherFool, its implied that he attacks Logan at 11:11 on November 11. In TribeTwelve, in the 'Night Recording' entry, Noah wakes up coughing at 3:33 on the dot, and in the 'dot dash' video from EverymanHYBRID, the old woman that Jeff visits to obtain information lives in room 222, and in that same audio file Jeff discusses a fire that occurred on some day at 5:55.]]

** In a cross-mythos example, the infamous [[MemeticMutation twenny]] [[MarbleHornets dollaz]] have been referenced by several characters on various blogs. Maduin has even [[http://worstjestever.blogspot.com/2010/11/pranks-done.html/ tested whether giving The Slender Man 20 dollars works.]]

* StylisticSuck: The soap opera film project Alex comes up with in MarbleHornets, the mediocre health/workout routine from EverymanHYBRID, and [[http://tonightitallburns.blogspot.com/ Damien's crappy Slender-blog attempt]] from DreamsInDarkness, up until they get [[HijackedByGanon Hijacked By Slender Man]].

** [[EverymanHYBRID He may]] have a (still-evil) [[RedOniBlueOni opposite]] in The Rake, however. It's not yet clear whether or not they are enemies though.
** See the aforementioned "Masky" under Breakout Character...he could be a good or at least less evil counterpart to Slendy, as he seemingly hasn't caused anyone real harm yet, and has in fact removed them from dangerous situations.

* TheDragon: Slender Man typically has one per work, sometimes more. MarbleHornets has the most famous in totheark, aka the Masked Man (well, [[JigsawPuzzlePlot at least that's how things seem...]]).

* XMeetsY The game Slender is described by some as "AmnesiaTheDarkDescent meets TheBlairWitchProject"

*** [[spoiler:WebVideo/TribeTwelve has Noah's grandfather, Karl, who grew up in a German community near the Black Forest that used folktales of the "Great Man" who supposedly lived in the woods to [[ScareEmStraight frighten their children into obedience]], though he did not have a direct encounter until adulthood.]]

* NamesTheSame: There's a surprisingly large amount of bloggers named or going by the alias of [[AnomalousData Jay]], [[MarbleHornets J]], [[EverymanHYBRID [J]]], etc.

Also has a SpinOff in the forum of TheFearMythos, which maintains that the Slender Man is only one of many different monsters that terrorize humanity.

** Potentially lampshaded with the second one - within its series, that theory is reiterated [[http://theincompletenesstheorems.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/2-4.html here]] and another character in the same series provides [[http://notesfromaformerself.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/notes-26072012.html a very different]] theory shortly after. Even within the writer's canon, the explanations vary wildly, leaving us ultimately with no real answers at all and showing this trope at work ''even as the characters are discussing the Slender Man in-universe'' (the prominence of the Slender Man as a nihilistic metaphor within this particular mini-canon suggests that this is a deliberate attempt to show explanation of the Slender Man as futile).

Or, if you prefer: The Slender Man is an internet character originating from SomethingAwful, created by user Victor Surge in a create-your-own-monster contest. It soon reached memetic status, spreading through several blogs and videos, and quickly became the horror we know and fear today.

The AlternateRealityGame site Unfiction has a whole [[http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/index.php?f=264 forum]] dedicated to the mythos, and reviews of stories can be found at [[http://slendereview.blogspot.com/ The Slendy Review]] blog. Non-story information can be found at [[http://slenderia.blogspot.com/ Encyclopedia Slenderia]] and [[http://slenderbloggins.net Slenderbloggins]]. An in-game YouTube channel [[http://www.youtube.com/user/compileTRUTH compileTRUTH]] also summarizes some series. An [[http://www.slendermanmythos.com/ extensive fan site]] is in the works, created by one of our tropers.

* DevilButNoGod: As of 2010, Slender Man has had no "good" counterpart. This is likely due to the HPLovecraft influence.

** In recent times, at the start of 2012, a character started appearing in Slender RP Games/stories called Luminen. Though he is not of mass use, so he may not be considered canon, even though there seems to be no real, universally accepted, canon.

** In JustAnotherFool, one of the people commenting is apparently from [[HPLovecraft Miskatonic University]].

** However, in the 'Deluge' entry of [[Marble Hornets]], if the audio is reversed and the right channel removed, a low pitched voice can be heard to call 'Alex', the name of one of the main protagonists: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRahdmGYQmo

** [[CompileTruth compileTRUTH]] became the first video series to star one.

* MostWritersAreMale/ThereAreNoGirlsOnTheInternet: Played straight in the early days of the mythos, but now mostly averted. There are many blogs and vlogs written by women or starring female characters.

The AlternateRealityGame site Unfiction has a whole [[http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/index.php?f=264 forum]] dedicated to the mythos, and reviews of stories can be found at [[http://slendereview.blogspot.com/ The Slendy Review]] blog. Non-story information can be found at [[http://slenderia.blogspot.com/ Encyclopedia Slenderia]] and [[http://slenderbloggins.net Slenderbloggins]]. An in-game YouTube channel [[http://www.youtube.com/user/compileTRUTH compileTRUTH]] also summarises some series. An [[http://www.slendermanmythos.com/ extensive fan site]] is in the works, created by one of our tropers.

** Somewhat averted, as a non canon counterpart, 'Splendour Man' seems to be benign.

* HollywoodAtlas: Averted, as the authors of the mythos set their stories where they live and write it sepcifically to be as normal and real as possible. None of the Australian stories feature stereotypes of any kind, and the one [[http://www.youtube.com/user/photofugitive set in England]] barely even acknowledges their location.

* {{Motif}}: The tensor product symbol (generally called the "Operator symbol" in mythos-related contexts) is a calling card for the Mythos and is typically written as (X) in text. Some in-universe characters (such as [[http://getuphigh.blogspot.com/ M]]) theorise that it's a Slendy-repellent, while others think it calls Mr. Thin towards them.

* MultiArmedAndDangerous: Some of the stories state that Slendy only goes multi-armed when he's about to go in for the kill. So basically, if you see him with more than 2 arms, you're screwed.
* MultipleChoicePast: There's no 'definitive' version of the creature or its backstory, which the creators encourage.

Or, if you prefer: The Slender Man is a cryptid originating from Germany called 'The Tall Man'. It soon reached memetic status, and soon became what we know and fear today.

Or, if you prefer: The Slender Man is an internet meme, specifically a CreepyPasta, first started by Victor Surge on SomethingAwful ([[http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3150591&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=3#post361861415 here]]). It soon became more popular and mutated into what you see before you today.

Not to be confused with [[ChzoMythos The Tall Man]], [[Film/{{Phantasm}} the other Tall Man]], Film/TheThinMan or [[Film/{{Metropolis}} the other Thin Man]].