| Jeff the Killer | |
|---|---|
| Creepypasta character | |
 | |
| First appearance | Newgrounds post (August 10, 2008) |
| Created by | killerjeff |
| In-universe information | |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Serial killer |
| Family | Liu (brother) |
Jeff the Killer is a fictional character, a creepypasta (internet horror story) created by a Newgrounds user in 2008 and expanded on through fan fiction. The best-known story about the character was published on the Creepypasta Wiki in 2011. It casts Jeff as a 13-year-old who was driven insane and became a serial killer after being horribly disfigured by bullies. Fan-written stories have given Jeff supernatural abilities, emotional struggles, and the catchphrase, "Go to sleep", which he whispers before murdering his victims. An alleged photograph of Jeff has become synonymous with the creepypasta, and he is always depicted with a white face, lidless eyes and a Glasgow smile.
While search results for Jeff the Killer peaked in late 2014, he remains well-known as one of the earliest creepypastas. Around this time, a Creepypasta.com administrator raised concerns about the character's young "fangirls", who have written stories romanticizing him. In 2017, a 14-year-old Ohio boy murdered his father's longtime girlfriend and attributed it to his alternate personality, "Jeff", based on the creepypasta; he was released from prison in 2024.
History edit
In August 2008,[1] a user going by "killerjeff" posted the image which would become synonymous with the creepypasta on Newgrounds. In the original post, killerjeff described the character he created, Jeff, as a "Bloody Mary game". To see Jeff, one must go into a closet, chant "He's in here with me," and then say Jeff's name. In the comments section, killerjeff switches to first-person when talking about Jeff, although he adopts a flippant attitude. He explains Jeff's appearance as the result of a bleach-related accident while cleaning his bathtub.[2]
The character of Jeff the Killer would be developed more seriously — and disturbingly — in fan-written media, which have attributed to him supernatural abilities, emotional struggles, and the catchphrase, "Go to sleep", which Jeff says before murdering his victims. The best-known story was posted to the Creepypasta Wiki in 2011,[3] and has since been copy-pasted and modified across various wikis and websites.[4] The text depicts Jeff as a 13-year-old who moves to a new town with his family. He and his brother, Liu — also created by killerjeff — are picked on by bullies who douse Jeff in bleach and alcohol and set him on fire at a birthday party. Driven insane, Jeff rejoices in his new appearance, cutting off his eyelids so that he can always see his "beautiful" face, and cuts his mouth into a "smile", before killing his family. He whispers "Go to sleep" to Liu before killing him.[5][6] Jeff subsequently becomes a serial killer.[4] killerjeff is one of the few creepypasta creators who actively claim authority over their characters. He has refused to accept certain fan stories and, in 2017, disparaged catchphrases such as "Go to sleep" and "It's a joy" as "fanfiction".[7]
In 2013, Annalee Newitz wrote that Jeff the Killer had become a notorious Internet meme with hundreds of incarnations and even video games based on him.[8] Another writer described Jeff and Smile Dog as some of the most prominent creepypastas behind Slender Man.[9] Data from Google Trends showed that the character reached was most popular in search results in October 2014.[10] Around this time, an administrator of the repository Creepypasta.com raised concerns about the character's young "fangirls", who have submitted stories to the website which romanticize him.[6] By 2015, the website refused to accept "spin-off" stories of existing characters such as Jeff the Killer.[11]
In April 2017, 14-year-old Donovan Nicholas of Ohio, U.S., repeatedly stabbed and shot his father's long-time girlfriend Heidi Fay Taylor. He then called 911 and told the dispatcher that his murder-condoning alternate personality "Jeff", based on Jeff the Killer, had killed Taylor.[12]
Image edit
| "Lol." | |
|---|---|
| The original post on killerjeff's Newgrounds website, containing the image (August 10, 2008) |
Like SCP-173 and Izumi Kato's sculpture "Untitled 2004", Jeff the Killer has become synonymous with its initial image even though it originated elsewhere.[13] The image first appeared on a Japanese website in 2005 before showing up in a fake 2007 broadcast on YouTube.[2] In 2013, users of 4chan's /x/ attempted to find the origins of the photo. Among their theories was that it was a a Saw V (2008) marketing campaign; a heavily manipulated photograph of the Overly Attached Girlfriend; a cadaver's eyes and a dog's mouth; or a girl who committed suicide after she was relentlessly bullied for her weight on 4chan in 2008.[8][14][a] The latter rumor has raised ethical concerns about the character, which appears to deride a suicide victim, although some claim that the theory is in itself a fictional story.[15]
Portrayals edit
killerjeff's portrayal of Jeff as a Bloody Mary-esque character and his half-serious attitude towards his creation has given way to more horrific fan-written stories about the deranged murderer, most notably the 2011 story,[3] although fan-created elements have been disowned by the original creator.[7]
On FanFiction.Net,
Notes edit
- ^ Consider that the image's earliest known appearance was in 2005.
References edit
- ^ Taylor 2020, p. 999.
- ^ a b Taylor 2020, p. 986.
- ^ a b Taylor 2020, pp. 986–987.
- ^ a b Chess & Newsom 2015, p. 102.
- ^ Taylor 2020, pp. 987.
- ^ a b Zenor, Jason (Fall 2017). "The Meme Made Me Do It! The Future of Immersive Entertainment and Tort Liability". Arizona State Sports and Entertainment Law Journal. 7 (1): 97.
- ^ a b Taylor 2020, pp. 995.
- ^ a b Newitz, Annalee (August 5, 2013). "Who is "Jeff the Killer"? And is his picture haunted by a real death?". io9. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
- ^ Asimos 2021, p. 32.
- ^ "Jeff the Killer". Google Trends. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
- ^ Chess & Newsom 2015, p. 103.
- ^ Carlson, Adam (December 3, 2023). "At 14 he slaughtered the woman who raised him and at 21, he walked free. What now?". ABC News. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
- ^ Taylor 2020, p. 996.
- ^ Alfonso, Fernando III (August 2, 2013). "4chan hunts down the origins of an internet horror legend". The Daily Dot. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
- ^ Taylor 2020, p. 998.
Bibliography edit
- Asimos, Vivian (2021). Digital Mythology and the Internet's Monster: The Slender Man. New York: Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-350-18144-1.
- Chess, Shira; Newsom, Eric (2015). Folklore, Horror Stories, and the Slender Man: The Development of an Internet Mythology. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-349-50522-7.
- Taylor, Tosha R. (2020). "Horror Memes and Digital Culture". In Bloom, Clive (ed.). The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Gothic. Springer. pp. 985–1004. ISBN 978-3-030-33135-1.
External links edit
- Jeff the Killer entry at Creepypasta.com
- Jeff the Killer entry at Know Your Meme