Slender Man
| The Slender Man | |
|---|---|
 An artistic depiction of the Slender Man | |
First appearance | 10 June 2009 on Something Awful |
| Created by | Eric Knudsen |
| Portrayed by | |
| In-universe information | |
| Aliases | Slender Man, Slenderman, Slender, Slendy, Der Großmann, The Operator |
| Species | Supernatural humanoid |
| Gender | Male |
The Slender Man (also called simply Slender Man, Slenderman, Slender, or Slendy) is a fictional supernatural character that originated as a creepypasta Internet meme created by Something Awful forum user Eric Knudsen (using the pseudonym Victor Surge) in June 2009. He is depicted as a thin, unnaturally tall humanoid with pale white skin and a featureless face, wearing a black suit, with branching tendrils.
Stories of the Slender Man commonly feature him stalking, abducting, or traumatizing people, particularly children. The Slender Man has become a pop culture icon, although he is not confined to a single narrative, and appears in many disparate works of fiction online. Fiction relating to the Slender Man encompasses many forms of media including literature, art, video series such as Marble Hornets (2009–2014), in which he is known as The Operator, and video games such as Slender: The Eight Pages (2012) and its successor Slender: The Arrival (2013). The Slender Man also inspired the Enderman in Minecraft. He has also appeared in a 2015 film adaptation of Marble Hornets, where he was portrayed by Doug Jones, and an eponymous 2018 film, where he was portrayed by Javier Botet.
In 2014, a moral panic occurred over the Slender Man after several violent acts were connected to fans of the character, most notably a near-fatal stabbing of a 12-year-old girl in Waukesha, Wisconsin. The stabbing inspired the documentary Beware the Slenderman, which was released in 2016.