If you ask a person about what fictional horror characters he knows, then everyone will have their own set of answers. Almost everyone knows Freddy Krueger, Boogeyman and many others. All these characters do not really exist, but they scare the children so that they behave well. Particularly popular heroes acquire new facets, reflected in literature or cinema. However, it is worth noting that most of these characters were invented for quite some time. Now people are not particularly keen to create something terrifying and stunning imagination, because given the rapid progress, there is already little that can really scare.
People play computer games, watch horror films, read books by authors such as Stephen King, and they are no longer the object that the terrible story is aimed at. Or is this not quite so? In fact, just five years ago, the incredible happened - Slenderman was invented - a character who suddenly gained incredible popularity. Some even believe in him, are afraid of him and tell terrible stories about him. But how did Slenderman appear?
The story of Slenderman
Each fictional character has a story: how he was born, how he acquired all the details, whether he was invented by a specific person or is the result of collective folk art. All these elements are very interesting, because they can tell a lot about the hero himself. And the story of how Slenderman appeared is really impressive.
In 2009, a contest was held at one of the western forums, in which the participants had to take any photo and use the graphic editor to process it, adding certain supernatural effects. One of the contestants approached the task very creatively and even created a certain story about his character - a tall man with disproportionate arms and legs, and most importantly - with a completely white face, without signs of eyes, nose and other organs. This project turned out to be a real masterpiece, which in a relatively short time went beyond the framework of the forum at which the competition was held, and became famous all over the world. This is the story of how Slenderman appeared. You will be surprised, but it does not end there.
What Slenderman does
Now you know how Slenderman appeared, you can imagine a little how he looks. But what is terrible in him? What does he do to make people all over the world afraid? Slenderman is an evil entity that preys on small children, turning them into proxies, that is, into their puppets. If he gets close enough to the person, he will kill and modify him, so that the appearance of the proxy will be no less terrifying. At the same time, Slenderman can teleport, so it is very difficult to hide from him.
No one ever thinks about how to call Slenderman, because he always comes by himself. This monster is looking for children who are lost or fled from home to kill them. As you can see, this story can also be used to scare little naughty children, but do not forget that she took her origins from the Internet, and her main goal was to win the competition. What mattered in this case was human influence.
Character development
Slenderman, also called Subtle Man, Slender, and even the Operator, is not a complete character. Its peculiarity is that its creator does not have any copyright on it. The Subtle Man is in fact a kind of urban legend, only instead of the city here is the whole world on the Internet. Each person who knows about Slenderman can add something of his own to his image, and he will have his own understanding of this hero. Some of the additions are quite widely publicized and become an almost inseparable aspect of Slenderman's perception. For example, people constantly say that it is impossible to count the number of Slender's limbs, that tentacles with which he reaches for his victim can grow from his back. This element was not invented by the original creator of the Subtle Man, but he took root and became an important part of his image.
Someone comes up with stories about how to call Slenderman, but they, in turn, do not have much popularity. The Subtle Man is the one who is very much afraid, so few people want to communicate with him. But if you are one of those who would like to face to face (if I may say so, given the fact that Slender does not have a face) to meet this creature, then you do not need to know how to call Slenderman. You just need to go to the forest alone, because it is then that this monster appears. The whole phenomenon is that the Subtle Man is a fictional character. You can find the forum where he first appeared. Here, absolutely everyone knows that it does not exist, they know the history of its origin. But still there are those people who really believe that the Traderman is there, that he should be afraid, and when meeting with him, do not keep his eyes on him, turn around and run.
First appearance in games
Naturally, a character such as Slenderman could not stay away from popular culture. Now you can hear everywhere about computer games where this character is, for example, in Minecraft. Slenderman does not appear there in his full guise. But this will be discussed later.
Now it’s worth paying attention to 2012, when the game for the first time fully devoted to the Subtle Man appeared on computer screens. Called Slender: The Eight Pages is a horror game created by independent developers. In this game, you play the role of the girl Kate, who ran away from home. Of all the equipment you only have a flashlight and a video camera, which greatly simplifies the gameplay. Its whole essence is to save yourself from Slenderman in the forest by collecting eight notes scattered throughout the territory. The action takes place in silence and calm, until you find the first of the notes - then sinister music begins to play, and at any moment a figure of the Subtle Man may appear in front of you.
An image in the camcorder informs you of its approach, which begins to catch interference. The stronger the interference, the closer the Slenderman, which means that you need to be extremely careful. If you find yourself too close to the monster, the game will end. If you look at him for too long, the game will end. You just have to constantly look around, and if you notice Slenderman - turn around and run away. Only in this way can you be saved. The more notes you find, the louder the music plays and the higher the likelihood that you will encounter the Subtle Man. This game scared not one of the strongest gamers, so you can easily say that in the same popular Minecraft project, Slenderman is unlikely to be so intimidating.
Full-fledged game project
It is worth noting that the above game is a project of independent developers who themselves wrote it and released it themselves. But there is already a 2013 game called Slender: The Arrival, which was developed by another company that bought the rights to this series. The game is a direct continuation of the first part, only now it has a full story, various game events, several levels and interesting bonuses.
So, this time you have to play for Lauren, a friend of Kate, whose story was slightly rewritten. Now Kate is a victim of Slenderman, she made an appointment with Lauren, but when she arrived, she was not at home. A small investigation indicates that Kate was obsessed with the Thin Man, saw hallucinations with his participation, all the walls of her room are hung with notes and notes about a creature called Slenderman. Photos, drawings, strange characters - all this is very suspicious. After reading one of the notes, Loren hears a scream and sets off in search of her friend. Naturally, she only has a flashlight and a video camera with her - a classic set for this series.
In this game, Slenderman will appear before you, the photo of which you most likely have already seen more than once, but now it will be improved - the same tentacles that were discussed earlier, and some other interesting features will be added. In the first chapter you will not meet this monster, but you will find the boy who started it all - he was lost, because of this his wife left his father , then his father locked himself in the basement and set fire to the house, on the site of which the house was built Kate. The boy, by the way, is a proxy, so if you get too close to him, he will rush at you, hit with his claws and run away. You need to go to the forest.
Repetition of the first part
On the one hand, this project is a continuation of the original version, and on the other, a kind of remake. "Slenderman" (on a computer), released in 2012, contained only one location - the forest, in which the action took place. In this project, the forest is only one of the levels, but its essence remains the same. First you need to find a few notes with tips on what to do next, after which the repetition of the previous year will begin - the search for eight drawings, each of which will increase the voltage, as well as the likelihood of an unwanted meeting with Slender. The principle remains the same - constantly look around, and as soon as you see a monster - turn around and run. When you have all the necessary notes in your hands, a video will begin in which Lauren will run away from the Subtle Man, fall into the quarry and lose consciousness in the park. She will no longer have doubts that Slenderman exists, but that will not make her life easier.
Transition to the mine
Unlike the original game, you continue your adventure in a new location - now you need to get into the mine through the tunnel. In the mine you will find instructions for using the elevator - to activate it, you must turn on the generators. However, everything is not so simple - as soon as the first generator delivers electricity, the terrible Slenderman will make you company. Moreover, with him a proxy will also begin to hunt for you - the whole horror is that Kate will turn out to be this proxy. But nowhere to retreat, so you need to activate all the generators, running away from Slender. With your ex-girlfriend, this method is not effective, since it is very fast and will immediately overtake you if you try to hide. You can withstand two claws. After the first, you will start to limp, but if you do not move for a while, Lauren will be in order.
So how do you deal with Kate? Proxies are afraid of bright light, so if you shine a flashlight on it, it will disappear for a while. When you activate all the generators, the elevator will start working and you can exit the mine. As you can see, this project is the standard of the Slenderman game (3D). So far, no other similar project has been released that would fully and vividly describe this phenomenon. It combines logical tasks and action, and most importantly - an atmosphere of horror.
Flashback
The next chapter in the game is narration on behalf of Kate. It starts when Lauren enters the house and starts watching a video about how her friend was obsessed with Slenderman. When you get control over Kate, you need to close eight windows and doors to protect yourself from Slenderman, but all these attempts are futile. A subtle person gets to you, and you have to jump out of the window and run into the forest through which you in the role of Loren passed in the second chapter.
Last level
You play as Lauren again. The game is nearing completion, but it has several endings at once. When you go into the radio tower, you will see the corpse of a man - most likely, this is a friend of Kate, with whom they recently discussed hallucinations and Slenderman. A battery is running out in your flashlight, and a dispute with Kate is recorded on the recorder that you find near the man’s body, after which a terrible scream is heard. Suddenly, everything calms down, you hear the sound of a door opening, steps, and the camera begins to ripple - that’s it.
But this is not the only ending - there is also an option in which you see that the very boy you met at the very beginning enters the room. He attacks you, after which you lose consciousness. You wake up in a dimly lit basement, the boy does not let you out of it, so you need to find a few notes that shed light on everything that happens. As soon as you read them, you will notice that the output is free. When you get out, you will find yourself in that very burnt house where you found a boy at the beginning of the game, but this time Kate is sitting and crying in the corner. If you point the camera at it, interference will appear. But there is no other way - you come to her, after which she attacks you and kills, this becomes clear due to the fact that your legs are visible in the camera lying on the floor. Here's a story about a creature called Slenderman. The trailer for this game should definitely be seen before buying it.
Slenderman at Minecraft
As already mentioned earlier, the Subtle Man appeared not only in projects devoted exclusively to him. In Minecraft, the Slenderman series, broadcast on YouTube, is hugely popular. Moreover, in the game there is a creature - the Wanderer of the Edge. It is very tall, with long limbs, black and in many ways resembles Slender. His behavior also suggests that the image was taken precisely from this figure. You can also download the Slenderman skin for your client to scare your friends and partners in the game.