History YMMV / TheSlenderManMythos

* CompleteMonster: See [[Monster/WebVideo here]]; and [[Monster/FanWorks here]].

* CondemnedByHistory: Slender Man was an early innovator of the creepypasta, and his mythos spread far and wide across the internet like wildfire not long after his creation. Works such as ''WebVideo/MarbleHornets'' became viral sensations, making the character a popular boogeyman and a hit with horror fans. Not long after his introduction, though, the character became ''massively'' overexposed. He appeared in video games, fanfics, and was [[WolverinePublicity shoehorned into works that didn't need him]]. But what really sealed Slender Man's fate was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slender_Man_stabbing a 2014 incident]] in which two adolescent girls stabbed one of their friends multiple times and left her for dead as an attempted HumanSacrifice to Slender Man. This incident, among others, [[NeverLiveItDown badly damaged Slender Man's relevance and public perception]]. A [[Film/SlenderMan 2018 movie]] based on Slender Man was widely panned as being in poor taste due to the incident. While the character still has his fans, the overexposure and bad publicity of Slender Man has all but assured that he will never be as popular as he once was, and [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny certainly not taken seriously anymore]].

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: The Slender Man has been used as generic {{Creepypasta}} monster so often that he's becoming a cliche of the genre. As of February 2013, it's gotten bad enough that adding new Slenderman stories (or stories with knock-offs of him) is banned from the Creepypasta Wiki.

** Slender Man the home invader[[labelnote:Explanation]][[https://youtu.be/yYm1-BKNkdw A series of videos]] by Butchy Kid Videos that portrays Slender Man as a MemeticLoser and a SitcomArchNemesis to the first-person main character, who often finds him in his house uninvited stealing his food, magazines, or using his place for one-night stands.[[/labelnote]]

*** And need we forget: ''[[WebAnimation/TheLazerCollection DOCTOR OCTAGONAPUS -BLAAAAAA!!!!!-]]'' [[note]]He's another character who is known for appearing out of nowhere to cause havoc and having tentacle arms, as he is a deliberate pastiche of Doctor Octopus from Franchise/{{Spiderman}}, and predates Slendy by about three years.[[/note]]

** Who would be afraid of the [[Franchise/SpiderMan Friendly Neighborhood Sp]]... umm... [[http://artoveli.deviantart.com/art/Junior-Detective-355435918 Slender Man]] anyway? (This is one of those {{Alternative Character Interpretation}}s and manages to not only humanize him but make him ''cute''.)

* SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome: After years of being considered not notorious enough, Wiki/TheOtherWiki finally has [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slender_Man a page dedicated to him]].

* UncannyValley: The big guy himself is likely to inspire this reaction, largely due to having [[TheBlank no face]].

* CompleteMonster: See [[Monster/WebOriginal here]]; [[Monster/WebVideo here]]; and [[Monster/FanWorks here]].

* CompleteMonster: See [[Monster/WebOriginal here]] and [[Monster/FanWorks here]].

* CondemnedByHistory: Slender Man was an early innovator of the {{Creepypasta}}, his mythos spread far and wide across the internet like wildfire, to the point that the character became ''massively'' overexposed. What really sealed Slender Man's fate, however, was a 2014 [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slender_Man_stabbing stabbing incident]] in which two adolescent girls stabbed one of their friends multiple times and left her for dead as an attempted HumanSacrifice to Slender Man. This incident, among others, damaged the character's relevance and public perception to the point that [[Film/SlenderMan a 2018 movie]] about him was widely panned as being "in poor taste".
* CreepyAwesome: Because let's face it, fans wouldn't be trying to make unadulterated NightmareFuel into a meme if this trope weren't in effect.

* CompleteMonster: See [[Monster/WebOriginal here]].

* CondemnedByHistory: Slender Man was an early innovator of the {{Creepypasta}}, his mythos spread far and wide across the internet like wildfire, to the point that the character became ''massively'' overexposed. What really sealed Slender Man's fate, however, was a 2014 [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slender_Man_stabbing stabbing incident]] in which two adolescent girls stabbed one of their friends multiple times and left her for dead as an attempted HumanSacrifice to Slender Man. This incident, among others, damaged the character's relevance and public perception to the point that [[Film/SlenderMan a 2018 movie]] about him was widely panned as being "in poor taste."

* CompleteMonster: See [[Monster/{{Creepypasta}} here]].

* DeaderThanDisco: Slender Man was an early innovator of the {{creepypasta}}, his mythos spread far and wide across the internet like wildfire, to the point that the character became ''massively'' overexposed. What really sealed Slender Man's fate, however, was a 2014 [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slender_Man_stabbing stabbing incident]] in which two adolescent girls stabbed one of their friends multiple times and left her for dead as an attempted HumanSacrifice to Slender Man. This incident, among others, damaged the character's relevance and public perception to the point that [[Film/SlenderMan a 2018 movie]] about him was widely panned as being "in poor taste."

* EpilepticTrees: Just what is Slender Man, and what is his purpose? Is he [[WhenTreesAttack a humanoid tree]]? An alien? Was he [[WasOnceAMan 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 [[GreaterScopeVillain some far greater evil]]? What makes Slender Man such a unique case is that, because there is no definite [[WordOfGod "God" whose Word is the final say on all this]], the answers to all of these questions [[RunningTheAsylum rest entirely with us]].

* DeaderThanDisco: lender Man was an early innovator of the {{creepypasta}}, his mythos spread far and wide across the internet like wildfire, to the point that the character became ''massively'' overexposed. What really sealed Slender Man's fate, however, was a 2014 [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slender_Man_stabbing stabbing incident]] in which two adolescent girls stabbed one of their friends multiple times and left her for dead as an attempted HumanSacrifice to Slender Man. This incident, among others, damaged the character's relevance and public perception to the point that [[Film/SlenderMan a 2018 movie]] about him was widely panned as being "in poor taste."

* HarsherInHindsight: The Slender Man's original status as a child kidnapper/murderer has taken a pretty nasty turn after [[http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/slender-man-stabbing two girls attempted to kill their friend by repeatedly stabbing her to "appease him."]] Fortunately the victim didn't die and the perpetrators have been committed to mental institutions, but it does cast a very bad light on the character.

* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: If it's a video-based series, and Slendy has CombatTentacles, you ''know'' this is going to be [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome the]] [[NightmareFuel scariest]] [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome thing you'll ever see on video.]] Examples include: ''WebVideo/TribeTwelve'' and the unfortunately deleted ''[=AKoolStick=]'', which had the unique scene that is ''[[HolyShitQuotient jumping Slender Man.]]''

* HypeBacklash: A result of overexposure. Slender is almost an exercise in how quickly something genuinely interesting becomes cliche and predictable with its fans hyping how scary it is. Nowadays when the Man is bought up, it'll be regarded as SnarkBait more often than not.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: Slenderman is most popular with the fifteen-and-under audience despite not originally being aimed at them.

* MemeticMutation: 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 [[WebVideo/MarbleHornets Alex and Jay]] because he wants their $20 and that he would go away if only they gave him the money. {{Word of God}}s state that they are sick of that particular joke.

* {{Narm}}: 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 WebVideo/EverymanHYBRID series. Apparently, the author is still on Unfiction, and considers it an OldShame of his.
* NightmareRetardant: Slendy is frequently mistaken for [[WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas Jack Skellington]] by those unfamiliar with the mythos.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: The Slender Man has been used as generic {{Creepypasta}} monster so often that he's becoming a cliche of the genre.
** As of February 2013, it's gotten bad enough that adding new Slenderman stories (or stories with knock-offs of him) is banned from the Creepypasta Wiki.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: Slenderman is most popular with the fifteen-and-under audience despite not originally being aimed at them.
* TheWoobie: Pretty much anyone stalked by Slendy. Except maybe [[Blog/SeekingTruth Zeke Strahm.]]
** Or maybe even [[IronWoobie Zeke Strahm.]]
** Or possibly Slendy himself - see AlternativeCharacterInterpretation.

* OvershadowedByControversy: See HarsherInHindsight above.

* CompleteMonster: [[YMMV/EverymanHYBRID HABIT]] & [[YMMV/TribeTwelve Mary Asher]]. See those pages for details.