In the famous words of another fictional crazy man: "I regret nothing." I hope you all enjoyed this long, nostalgia driven retrospective! Do you think Jeff deserves another shot, or should we let sleeping dogs lie? What would you do differently if you were to reboot the character? Leave your thoughts in the comments below! - 4nt ============= EDIT: Just a heads up, the Ticci Toby rewrite has been postponed until next year. Hopefully it'll come out alongside the Jeff the Killer trollpasta that I was talking about at the end of the video. Initially I was gonna just do a revised version of the original story to cap off this year's 2024 Halloween Palooza. I don't like how the story handled Toby's tourettes, so I was just going to omit that from the narration and call it a day. But after watching both the Morgue Files and Pastra's rewrite, I felt inclined to throw my hat into the ring and flex my own writing capabilities. I do want to be able to write and publish my own original stories someday, so this seems like the perfect opportunity to work on that.
Just a heads up since i'm starting to receive concerns about this: I will be revising Ticci Toby for my narration of the story this Halloween. This was my plan from the start, and while I had concerns about how that might've been received from purists, y'all's comments have pretty much alleviated that worry. Full details can be found here: ruclips.net/user/postUgkxOIQqh-bTZQd3WoamCymc2lyh8-NazSL7
Have you actually checked out The Morgue Files? It's a RUclips horror series that takes a new spin on creepypastas, and Jeff is in episode two. I personally really like how the series remade him, I highly recommend the series.
Hey man first off I loved thes video you did about jeff its really cool but you did mess a few thing manly you forgot to Mention mr betty Kruger version of jeff the killer which is a better reboot in my opinion and there is a Nether reboot by David near ho help mr betty Kruger on some of his jeff projects
David Near has his own series called The Morgue Files with characters based off of some classic creepypastas, and his own version of Jeff. I would recommend checking it out if you haven’t seen it.
I love how the two most popular creepypastas at the time were: 1) A cosmic entity that kidnaps children that we cannot understand even though it is humanoid. 2) An evil twink.
The fact that jeff is a twink still gets to me. He got burned alive and then cut up his own face, he should be the furthest thing from "cute" and or "handsome"
i want to clarify that I had no idea that Pastra was doing a rewrite, lmao. This was something that was on the to-do list almost immediately after finishing my awful Pot of Greed video.
I actually did an essay on Jeff The Killer and concluded that his popularity is largely due to his "lack of defining character traits" Like his backstories come off as extremely generic and cliche but that's all the more reason for his young fans to project themselves onto him.
I agree that he blew up for the same reasons as the Slenderman, but I did want to explore what actually was there since he's not as much of a blank canvas as Slendy.
I think a lot of people missed the fact that these characters were fun because they were up to your imagination. I don't think it was even about projection (in most cases) but the community in general, Jeff was a highlight and he was gateway into it. The community kinda depended on itself to grow and every fan was just exchanging new ideas, it was so fun, headcanons, new comics, constant new art, etc. Yeah most stories were bad, but that wasn't really the point, I think it's a very surface level way to look at the whole thing. I also think that's why the community is coming up again, the imagination hasn't stopped and people still want to build upon something thats nostalgic to them. Coming back with new ideas after more than a decade.
The funniest description I’ve heard for Jeff the killer as a story is “it’s like if they decided make a superhero out of a school shooter” from meatcanyon.
A lot of old creepypastas seem to suffer from "This was made by a teenager who was inspired by another story, but didn't dig deep enough to flesh it out into it's own idea." Meaning a lot of them ended up being teenage serial killers, forest monsters, and cursed game cartridges.
Hollywood, if you ever decide to make a movie about good ol’ Jeff, THIS is exactly what you should use for an adaptation. Never did I ever think I’d sit down for 2 hours for a Jeff The Killer video. Well done, Creepypastra.
Oh my fucking god i forgot that "go to sleep" is Jeff's actual catchphrase, i genuinely thought he was going to say that Jeff's catchphrase was "I'm going to Jeff The Kill you!"
I have my criticisms for the writing of the Jeff the Killer story and general grievances with the plot but I can't deny the fear it instilled in me as a kid. The night I heard the story, there was a severe thunderstorm so a tree branch was scrapping against my window and I was absolutely convinced Jeff was real and wanted to kill me. So it definitely did its job as a horror story I feel.
In my case, I was about 13 or 14 at the time when I got into creepypasta. I had also grown up watching stuff on RUclips as early as 2008, so I remember seeing a lot of those fake sighting videos and some of the marble hornet entries. While a part of me understood it was fake, the same could be said for a lot of those cryptid hoax videos that still litter the web, so these videos reinforced the idea that these characters "could" be real. Like, there were times when I was in middle and high school when we'd be driving home and i'd just be looking out the passenger window to see if I might catch a glimpse of the Slenderman.
@@four-en-teeI was 13 in 2015 when I first Hurd the story and I remember the fear it instilled in me. I was in football practice at this time and I remember not really sleeping well and after time and I got hooked into the story of Jeff and being the edgy teenager I was, I got into the trend of cosplaying as him on musically and doing what Emo kids did. I fully became one in freshman year and doing edgy stuff and I fell into that other fandom. It wasn’t until after spring break when I fell out of the creepypasta fandom entirely. From time to time I’ll listen to old stories of Jeff and all the Jeff vs whomever to pass the time when I was drawing. It would be interesting to see what someone else can come up with if they ever try their hand at writing the story. But for the love of Jeff let’s hope they don’t try to do a movie
My head canon is that the bar of soap origin is true, but Jeff tells the birthday story whenever someone asks. "Ah, man, it was so sick. There was this struggle with a gun, and-and this guy was threatening my family, right? And then my face was burned off, and-and I chopped off my eye lids. Why? Uh.... .... Go to sleep."
My favorite comeback for Jeff the Killer is the series called the Morgue Files by David Near. It's a collection of rewritten creepy pastas with the narrator being a doctor that does audio entry logs who talks to his patients (Jeff and Toby). Nice voice acting and good tension moments.
When I was younger I read that Jeff was badly bullied and that he killed bullies or those who were mean to people. He got his white face from having acid poured on his face. Then the rest just kept getting added on
I will play devil's advocate for Clockwork, because and only because, I think the point of Clockwork was that she was supposed to be some sort of self insert trauma oc. While the story is bad and kinda tasteless, you can also tell through the writing that it seems to be based on something the author was going through, especially the sexual abuse aspect. When you read all the gorey details, especially when it comes to the CSA, you can tell that this was written by a kid who was going though a lot in life. To put it simply, Clockwork wasn't made to be a serious story, it was made to be a vent piece. Which is why I tend to look at it with softer eyes. Regardless, I hope the author is doing ok. Nobody deserves to go through that and I hope that the ridicule from the larger internet didn't get to them too badly.
A very good take. I often look back at my cringy attempts of writing as a kid/teen and find a lot of it is based on what I was experiencing at the time. As bad as it may be, things written by children tend to be a source of comfort to them, thus it's needless to tell them their work is bad. We can come up with our own thoughts and criticisms of the story, but it's needless to deprive a child of their source of comfort.
banning k rewrite is still one of the best extrapolations of an existing short story i ever heard imo, the way it focuses less on jeff as a person and more on the in universe cultural impact his crimes have, its so good
I genuinely love thes types of "someone taking a step back from a previous obsession to give their firsthand-informed thoughts on it" type of video essay. They're so genuine and provide a window into the internet's history, if that makes sense. Apologies if that just sounded like yapping. 4nt, I was genuinely blindsided when I saw one of your community posts talking about this video being in the works (came for yugioh, and most yugitubers just dont share their other interests) but it reminded me that everyone on this site has a range of things they love, and I'm glad you aren't limiting yourself to talking about just one. Please dude, keep making stuff you're passionate about, no matter what it is. I may have come for Hungry Burger, but I'm staying for you (platonic).
Thanks, I hope you look forward to my future work! I have an analysis of the Matrix Trilogy planned in the near future after the alt art and cognitohazard videos. That's the next big project on the to-do list. Whether it'll come out before or after the Wet Dry World video I have no idea yet. That Mario 64 video is kinda in limbo right now, i'm not gonna lie lmao. I don't want to rush it though, it definitely needs the rewrites its getting atm.
@@four-en-tee I'd be psyched for either. Not super familiar with the Matrix series beyond the first, so that'll definitely be neat learning experience.
When I met Tik Tobby, I thought he was just "hey look at me I'm all funny and quarky! lol lol lol!", because that's all I saw about him most in comics and fan animations, but then I discovered his original story and I was like..... WHY DID PEOPLE GET THAT HE WAS QUARKY???? HE IS TRAGIC AND HIS CONDITION IS SOMETHING REAL AND SERIOUS!!! HOW DID PEOPLE TAKE THIS CHARACTER AND TURN HIM INTO A SILLY COMIC RELIEF CHARACTER???
I personally blame the whole "lol random humor" attitude that was prevalent at the time online. Meme culture back then was basically synonymous with being a user on the internet, whereas nowadays memes have gone so far off the deep end that its a lot easier to separate it from normal online discourse. Its definitely one of the challenges i'm gonna have to face when i get around to narrating Ticci Toby. I need to convey in my performance that this kid is suffering, its one of the things from MrCreepyPasta's narration that I don't think translated over very well.
To this day I can say some of the Jeff stories I have heard were some of the best written creepypasta ever, especially the one where he fights slender Man
I grew up in that era, but I was never really officially introduced to creepypasta until mid to late 2016. And Jeff was my gateway into that, just like most fans in the community
Same. I remember my edgy creepypasta phase and brainstorming an OC that never made it to paper. And also listening to lots of creepypasta stories on RUclips and taking many more creepypasta quizzes on Quotev
In recent years, one of the best interpretations of Jeff The Killer I’ve seen, would be from The Morgue Files by David Near, while being an audio drama, it serves to create a anthology based on both creepypastas and urban legends. I highly recommend taking a look at the series when you can. Also loved the video.
Marble Hornets, Mr. Betty Kruegher, David Near, and K. Banning have done a fantastic job in making Jeff and Creepypasta (or as I like to call it the Slenderverse.) as a whole horrific, terrifying, and nightmarish as it's supposed to be.
@harryfleutv666 Have to give shootouts to the 2 people that made me get back into the Fandom. Oh, they didn't, but they did install my fear and intrigued back about Slenderman along with Hoodie and Masky since at the time I was going by the fanon takes. (a HORRIBLE mistake that I will always regret.)
The timing between this and Pastra uploading his rewrite is insane. I've watched it and its pretty great, i havent seen the original in a long time but Pastra's version is well written. Definitely worth checking out if you havent already
I honestly love the creepypastas: they're internet folklore at its finest. Certainly, they aren't very well-written and they don't usually have much depth, but there's something almost fairytale-like about them. As a child I was terrified of them: you knew about the hushed stories of mutilated teenaged serial killers whispered on playgrounds at recess, but as an adult who loves the macabre and all sorts of horror, I find that they did their job as horror stories. We were terrified. That's what made them so fascinating.
If I were to reboot Jeff, I'd make him look more like a burn victim than a Joker knockoff and probably make him more like a zombie or a ghoul and he would hide his burned or even charred and skeletal face with the hood of his hoodie and he would be seen mostly in or around graveyards or cemeteries.
As a adult now seeing the image takes me back when things were scary, stories, creepypastas, videogames and movies, nowdays the feeling isn't the same, 20 now and nothing hit the same way as walking alone in the streets at night, but its not the fear of monsters, aliens or cryptids but fear of a bigger threat... Men.
Just came back from listening to Pastra's phenomenal rewrite of Jeff and, yes, he's back. Pastra turned a joke into a genuinely great story and villain.
I just finished listening to Pastra's Rewtie of Jeff the Killer and I gotta say it makes Jeff way scarier than the OG creepypasta turinging him frkm a Victim of Targeted harassment, to an actual intelligent monster. Please give it a listen it does so much right.
There's recently a short fan film made by a RUclipsr called Radical Talent. It's called Ghostface vs Jeff the Killer. For a fan film, it's surprising good, it stayed true to the original source of Jeff. I recommend you check it out.
I think Jeff has potential to work. In terms of personality, it reminds me of Freddy Krueger and Chucky: a fucked-up serial killer with a twisted sense of dark humor who cusses up a storm. Watching those types of slasher villains is always fun.
Great video! I really miss that early 2010's era of the Internet with its specific culture, Creepypasta craze, Minecraft, RUclips aesthetic of those days and Diary of a Wimpy Kid movies coming out during that time, your video took me on a small nostalgia trip. I'm looking for more content from You!!:)
If someone rewrites Jeffs origins, they should make Zalgo have some influence in it. Like Zalgo notices the kind of dark thoughts Jeff had, and then influenced him to brutally fight the bullies. But after his traumatic injury, it weakened his psyche so much to where Zalgo had almost full control over him.
David near has an ongoing series about creepypastas and his story all share 1 world and his Jeff the killer episode is probably my favorite adaptation of jeff
Been working on a rewrite. I think Ive found some logical work-arounds to turn the plot holes into deeper lore. Although I would disagree with you that he never had a motive. In some of the stories, it was hinted that he saw himself as euthanizing his victims, "putting them to sleep" to save them from a world of suffering. It was inconsistent though, because other stories hinted that it was a thirst for blood.
One concept I'd really like to see is a version of that 2015 rewrite where instead of killing his parents, Jeff gets sent to boot camp, joins the marines, ends up becoming a mercenary who primarily executes missions in the southern hemisphere, and gains his nickname from a particularly personal takedown that gives him a reputation that he could've never even imagined as an overskilled teenager.
To sort of defend the Jeff the killer reboot, I think the later stories were to keep to the idea of your normal horror character, that being not showing off the monster too much but rather his affect on the world. As for the cult, that was mainly down to how much corruption in the town was exposed. However a story I prefer is the Morgue files, I would highly recommend it
I’m here because of the Pastra rewrite that came out two weeks ago. Oh my God, it’s so good. It gave me absolute chills. I love it so much.. and this video is really cool too
I’ve always felt the OG Jeff the killer creepypasta although poorly made still had one important story element. The bloodlust and anger Jeff felt when he or his brother was pushed is something that a lot of people can relate to and I felt it was supposed to be a cautionary tale on that feeling. I don’t see many people appreciate this, or maybe it’s just emphasized more in the new stories
This is a really good video, i'm genuinely surprised it doesn't have more views. Good job! also, Horror RUclipsr Pastra i think is rewriting JTK and i'm so excited to see what they're cooking
Something I miss from the creepypasta days is how writers would at least superficially give their characters flaws. These people are leagues ahead of the ass hats who churn out the shit at Disney.
I actually had written a Jeff the Killer Reboot called "The Huntsman's Cabin" which was about Jeff as a 48 year old Man living alone in the woods only to be disturbed by Hikers who enter onto his land, and Jeff doesn't like Tresspassers. The Story would have him stalk the Hikers and pick them off one by one in ways that a Hunter would do to their prey, turning the Hikers into Jeff's Game and when one of them finally sees his face, there was a reason he wanted to be left alone. I was inspired by The Hills Have Eyes, Friday the 13th and Wrong Turn, with the idea that Jeff would be this 7ft tall beast of a man who knows how to hunt down prey and ends up using the hikers as warnings because it'd take place before the story of Jeff began. It would reference the older versions in a part 2 and feature a little more backstory but I never got to finishing it
Weird idea: The fangirl characters (Jane, Clockwork, etc) could theoretically work if you made it so that Jeff is like Dio where he's charismatic but he's incapable of love, so ultimately he's just leading them on for his own gain.
Honestly, based on how Jane the killer looks. I would much rather her be a ghost like figure than a deformed burnt copy of Jeff the killer. Like how she offers herself up to that dark entity after being betrayed by someone she idolized, now being resurrected with that ghost like appearance while also giving her other feats like that ability to shapeshift. Giving her that more ghostly appearance and would honestly make her just that slightly but different from Jeff, while still staying truthful to her backstory. Just with a slight change.
I can't comprehend how we found Jeff the Killer scary in any way, its a shit edit accompanied by an edgy vent story of a (probably) privileged american young teen who probably has a lot of unresolved frustrations that's far more comedic than it is scary. I feel like the boomers who cannot comprehend how they were scared by the special effects of the Exorcist.
Yeah, i personally dont find the Jeff stories scary nowadays more than I find them either fascinating or disturbing. Part of that most likely has to do with the fact that i've just been desensitized to a lot of horror media in general, but yes, the awful writing of the original Jeff the Killer stories doesnt help either.
@@four-en-tee It's a fanfic anyway. The original story is practically the youtube video. It was meant to be a short story urban legend. Until some edgy teen made a fan fiction of Jeff's story and written his fantasies through him. Sesseur got screwed over and you're making it worse.
I can only pull from my own thought processes when I learned about Jeff. I found Jeff less scary....but intriguing. Because in my understanding of Jeff, there's an extreme disconnect between Jeff the person and whatever the hell his killer instincts are. My brain saw that Jeff was just his body and "The Killer" was some weird alternate personality that Jeff himself pretty much left at the wheel forever. And the fact that Jeff just snapped and pretty much went on autopilot, not ever knowing what exactly was going on outside. Or if he was aware, he was seeing everything through a very distorted lens of reality. I found the concept of Jeff the Killer as a mental health crisis as scary.
I couldn't speak english well at that point so I never knew the story but the image for Jeff sure freaked me out, but many of those jpegs did. Smiledog especially. That one still freaks me out actually, at least some of the newer renditions since I'm already so familiar with the old ones.
This is one of the best video essays I’ve seen I make scary creepy pasta type content I love to see breakdowns of what made it all famous your amazing man I really loved this video Jeff the killer nostalgia and creepy pastas in whole mean a lot for me
I feel like Jeff the Killer should be more like Billy from Black Christmas instead of a edgy emo teen boy. But as a 7 year old kid it did scare me seeing his face.
I always thought that Jeff was inspired by the Joker, especially given the fact that he appeared around 2008 at the same time that The Dark Knight was released. Heath Ledger's Joker has design features that superficially resemble Jeff The Killer, especially the smile in the mouth being made of scars
the joke narrations of the og Jeff the killer and alike stories were hilarious. The Jeff the killer reboot was fun to, trying to give the original story a little more meat and complexity was cool and Mr creepypasta did a great job as usual
I remember loving Clockworks' Story when I was 16. I did a "rewrite" of her but never posted it. Last second thought "Was there any notes from the Author?" And been sitting on what is a bit more of an enhancement for the past Decade just about. At this point I'm 25.
Hell, I still love Clockworks Character and Design after all these years, even if the initial Story could have been done a bit more. For some reason the imagine that's made in my head of her hugging her Stuffed Giraffe lives rent free in my Brain.
This is one of the best creepypasta retrospective videos i've seen in a while. I am so happy we are finally getting retrospectives on these creepypastas, espeically ones that aren't just "These cringe. We should never bring these back"
I so miss the creepypasta community... as a teenager it helped me cope with my terrible childhood. I really like to see the community revive itself fully. And if we get jeff to get popular again we can get the community possibly fully back again
Also, most versions of Jeff and Liu's parents were abusive and neglectful. They didn't listen when Liu told them about Randy, Keith, and Troy, and even called Liu a liar. Jeff HATES liars. Like, REALLY, REALLY hates. So, with them calling Liu a liar (despite knowing that Liu was right, because their parents mostly cared about their own image rather than their kids), and Jeff's mother lying when she said she thought he was beautiful, so he killed them. He also killed the bullies because he felt guilty that he was basically the reason Liu was sent to jail (even though Liu willingly took the blame for Jeff). Liu couldn't be there to protect Jeff when Keith burned him alive because he was in jail.
To be fair, Jane did have a rather tragic backstory, because Jeff did kill her parents and lit her on fire. Also, Jane doesn't kill some random innocent strangers, she kills bad people, making her a somewhat sympathetic character. 2 quick questions. Why does Jane look so sophisticated, inteligent and mature? Also, Jeff why were you battling Slenderman in the first place?
Personally, I wish Jeff was some kind of a "vengeful spirit" or something, where he dies but comes back as a ghost and kills people who've done him wrong and goes on to kill people like that or something.
Pastras jeff the killer remake sent chills throughout my body...something that the original creepypasta failed to do. Love the video here tho! Hope to see you go over the new jeff!
I honestly think that jeff the killer wasnt popular becuse of his story , but becuse the time he was written , the emo edgy era helped jeff the killer become so popular , after seeing his story more recently and with your video i come to this conclusion becuse it is nowere near a good story.
Really good retrospective! I like how you told about so many stories and copycats it was real trip to the past.When I was a kid my obsession with creepypasta was real bad (not to stab somone of course) I read many different stories about a large number of characters and then have trouble with sleeping. Like when I played a lot of Majora's Mask and then I read Ben the Drowning Man after that I lay on my bed and looked at my N64 something like this 0_0. Unfortunately, now the classic style of writing creepypastas is no longer really used. I still really love characters like Slenderman and Jeff, but of these yours, only the bald one in the suit feels more alive and have some sort of content. I hope in the future this is gonna change and classic character of old Internet Mythos gonna rise one more time. Thank you for such a Wonderful video, it's really help me to feel vibes of good old days. I hope you gonna make similar video in the future :}
If anyone wants to see a newer take on the character, please check out The Morgue Files by David Near here on RUclips. It's a series that's been going on for some time and it features what I think to be the best version of the character. I love the story because even if Jeff is the protagonist, the story makes it clear he's the villain from the start. In a story full of simpathetic villains, Jeff is the black sheep, the one who just wants to cause pain for the sake of it. You talked about how Jeff dealing with his "killer instincts" could be a cool plotpoint? The story's all about that. It makes it clear from the start that Jeff would've ended up as a killer no matter what happened, it was just a matter of time. This version of the character is unsimpathetic, cruel and twisted, but it keeps the edgy charisma from the original character which makes him enjoyable to watch. Besides being placed in an equally good-written world.
I'm currently working on a script version of a Jeff The Killer rewrite that is more grown up it's insane and not for everyone. It's gonna be about five stories, starting with a horrific prequel prequel that starts the madness within Jeff, then it goes into him becoming a cold blooded killer and meeting a few equally insane killers and finally bringing about the ultimate chaos. I'm writing it on Wattpad, currently.
idk what it is about creepypastas, but they just dont work as movies lmao It could be their ties with unfiction? idk. Not even the Slenderman has really worked out in the way of movies, and that character has actually good stories like Marble Hornets, Everyman Hybrid and Morley Grove. But yeah, I certainly do not have high hopes that Hollywood will fix Jeff the Killer. I just hope its at least entertaining once they decide to finally make a movie about him.
Ticky Tobi resonated a lot with me when i was kid, because I also have ADHD and Tourette's, plus a somewhat slightly similar appearance. I felt represented which drew me into the character. Hope someone does a rewrite one of these days
I remember coming back from school on a Friday of 2011 and finding out about creepypastas and reading the Jeff story. It was shit, but the picture and the fact that he comes at night and tells you to go to sleep, actually got to me. Then my parents come from work and tell me that I'll be alone all weekend as they'll be travelling. Didn't sleep much that weekend.
I see jeff the killer as more of a slasher villain (like Michael Meyers or Freddy Krueger) rather than a psychopath with a tragic backstory (like norman bates) im tempted to make my own jeff the killer story where it focuses more on jeff, well, killing.
hello! i usually don’t leave comments on videos, but i really wanted to tell u how awesome and comprehensive this retrospective is!! ^_^ creepypasta, particularly slenderman and jeff the killer, is so iconic. they precipitated mascot horror and inspired the args we love today :) jeff was my fav as an emo teen haha thank u for also including mr.creepypasta’s narrations :) it was so fun to hear snippets of his jeff stories again! i love campy horror. jeff is camp and edgy at his best! like a slasher villain. with the slenderverse doc and this retrospective, i hope others are able to see how influential creepypasta was and perhaps feel inspired to make their own horror stories! much luck to u on ur writing :] looking forward to seeing more!
In the quiet, picturesque town of Nowhere, Turkey, nestled next to a quaint McDonald's under a bridge, a tech support store flickered with the hum of old computers and the occasional crash of malfunctioning hardware. This was where Jeff, once the terrifying figure of Jeff the Killer, now resided, sporting a neatly trimmed beard and a small mustache, his once wild hair now short and clean-cut. Life had taken a strange turn for Jeff, and he had adapted, but little did he know, fate had a peculiar reunion in store. One afternoon, the doorbell chimed, and in walked a tall, gangly figure that Jeff hadn't seen in years. Slender Man, or Slendy as his old friends used to call him, had seen better days. His once-impeccable tuxedo was gone, replaced by a stained brown undershirt and rubber ducky Crocs. His once-gaunt figure now sported a noticeable belly, a testament to the years of neglect and depression. Slendy looked around, his eyeless face somehow managing to convey a sense of bewildered nostalgia. "Jeff?" Slendy's voice was still eerily soft, but now it carried a hint of vulnerability. Jeff turned, and for a moment, his eyes widened in disbelief before a grin spread across his face. "Slendy! Man, it's been ages!" The two former nightmares embraced, a surreal sight that would have been unthinkable in their heyday. They sat down amidst the clutter of broken tech, sharing stories of the past and the present. "So, what happened to you, Slendy?" Jeff asked, leaning back in his chair. "Last I heard, you were... well, doing your thing." Slendy sighed, his faceless head tilting downwards. "It all fell apart, Jeff. The stabbings in 2014, the awful 2018 movie... people just stopped fearing us. The internet moved on. I tried to hold it together, but... look at me now." Jeff nodded sympathetically. "I get it. The world changed. Kids today, they don't even know our stories. I had to find something else to do. Hence, tech support." He chuckled, patting the old computer beside him. They reminisced about the old days, the chaos and the fear they once spread, and the proxies who had scattered to the winds. Slendy felt a pang of guilt for all the pain he had caused, but also a sense of loss for the camaraderie they had once shared. He confessed to Jeff how he had used his infamous eight pages to roll a giant weed joint, a desperate attempt to find some semblance of purpose or escape. As they talked, the door opened again, and Eyeless Jack walked in. He wore a McDonald's uniform, a strange sight for someone who once reveled in cannibalism. "Jeff, I need the-" Jack stopped mid-sentence, his eyeless sockets somehow managing to look shocked. "Slendy?" "Jack!" Slendy exclaimed. "You're working at McDonald's now?" Jack shrugged, a resigned smile on his face. "Co-CEO, actually. Had to give up the old habits. Times changed." The three of them sat together, the atmosphere filled with a mix of nostalgia and absurdity. They talked about rebuilding their lives, maybe even bringing the old gang back together. The mansion was still there, albeit in a horrific mess, but it could be a start. As the evening wore on, Jeff had an idea. "You know what? Let's celebrate. I've got some old fireworks, a few microwaves, and a bunch of outdated computers. We can have a little fun, just like the old times." They headed to the McDonald's, planning their impromptu celebration. Jeff, ever the unhinged spirit, couldn't resist pushing the limits. He set up the fireworks, crammed the microwaves with old electronics, and lit the fuse. The explosion was magnificent, a chaotic symphony of sparks and debris. The McDonald's went up in flames, and amidst the chaos, Eyeless Jack's scream echoed. "Jeff, you idiot! You blew up my workplace!" Jack, now truly eyeless with rage, called the SWAT team, who arrived to find the three former legends of terror laughing uncontrollably in the ruins of the fast-food joint. In the end, they were taken into custody, but as they sat in the police van, cuffed and surrounded by bewildered officers, Slendy, Jeff, and Jack shared a look of camaraderie and unhinged humor. They might have been relics of a bygone era, but they were together again, and that was all that mattered. "Here's to new beginnings," Slendy said, his faceless head turning towards his old friends. "Yeah," Jeff grinned, "and to blowing up the past." And with that, the van drove off into the night, carrying with it the remnants of an era, ready to find a new purpose in a world that had almost forgotten them.
Something i really want is a Jeff the killer story that takes place as an adult after he is caught. Like Jeff has been brought in an inescapeable prison and is being interviewed and jeff talks about the Batshit insane crossovers he has had in his VS stories with the police not taking it seriously in the Beginning but then start to really listen when it start to involve missing people and other serial killers. Police: what happened after you killed the anderson in St. Louis? Jeff: i went on a jog then fought a cultist. Police:...what? Jeff: yeah he had this shitty looking mask and stuff but after i turned his intestines to OUTtestines, his god SHOWED out of nowhere and fucking JUMPED ME! But in seriousness i had in mind a horror mystery story that was about ticci toby's aunt investigating cases involving a "faceless man" and other murders with paranormal undertones. She would visit Jeff and start interviewing him for clues. The story would be a meta commentary about how certain author reject their character and stop refering them as creepypastas (bloody painter) or want nothing to do with it at all (ticci toby)
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
In the famous words of another fictional crazy man: "I regret nothing."
I hope you all enjoyed this long, nostalgia driven retrospective! Do you think Jeff deserves another shot, or should we let sleeping dogs lie? What would you do differently if you were to reboot the character? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
- 4nt
=============
EDIT: Just a heads up, the Ticci Toby rewrite has been postponed until next year. Hopefully it'll come out alongside the Jeff the Killer trollpasta that I was talking about at the end of the video.
Initially I was gonna just do a revised version of the original story to cap off this year's 2024 Halloween Palooza. I don't like how the story handled Toby's tourettes, so I was just going to omit that from the narration and call it a day. But after watching both the Morgue Files and Pastra's rewrite, I felt inclined to throw my hat into the ring and flex my own writing capabilities. I do want to be able to write and publish my own original stories someday, so this seems like the perfect opportunity to work on that.
Just a heads up since i'm starting to receive concerns about this: I will be revising Ticci Toby for my narration of the story this Halloween.
This was my plan from the start, and while I had concerns about how that might've been received from purists, y'all's comments have pretty much alleviated that worry.
Full details can be found here: ruclips.net/user/postUgkxOIQqh-bTZQd3WoamCymc2lyh8-NazSL7
I'm so glad you mentioned MrCreepypasta
Have you actually checked out The Morgue Files? It's a RUclips horror series that takes a new spin on creepypastas, and Jeff is in episode two. I personally really like how the series remade him, I highly recommend the series.
Hey man first off I loved thes video you did about jeff its really cool but you did mess a few thing manly you forgot to Mention mr betty Kruger version of jeff the killer which is a better reboot in my opinion and there is a Nether reboot by David near ho help mr betty Kruger on some of his jeff projects
@four-en-tee
Also Pastra is making his own rewritten story of Jeff The Killer.
On the note of Jeff the Killer returning, Pastra is making a re-write of the story. It is said to be two hours long.
Definitely gonna be looking into that, lol
I really enjoy his review videos.
2 whole ass hours? It better have some good character development, though it's not a high bar to surpass
Please let it be good, *please* let it be good
David Near has his own series called The Morgue Files with characters based off of some classic creepypastas, and his own version of Jeff. I would recommend checking it out if you haven’t seen it.
@@SinisterFears I remember his Ticci-Toby video. It is probably my favorite version of the character.
I love how the two most popular creepypastas at the time were:
1) A cosmic entity that kidnaps children that we cannot understand even though it is humanoid.
2) An evil twink.
Nuclear lizard with lazer breath vs. Big Monkey.
Some things never change. XD
For the record, I do like those movies.
The fact that jeff is a twink still gets to me. He got burned alive and then cut up his own face, he should be the furthest thing from "cute" and or "handsome"
@@Annihilation_Studios lmao, right? I thought he’d be more of an edgy teen boy character like the joker but the girls were too fast for them
"Can Jeff the Killer return?"
*6 days later*
Jeff the killer returns in the Pastra rewrite.
i want to clarify that I had no idea that Pastra was doing a rewrite, lmao. This was something that was on the to-do list almost immediately after finishing my awful Pot of Greed video.
@@four-en-tee Did you see the pastra video? what did you think about it?
@@four-en-teeso how did you find the rewrite bro excited to see you make a video about it (if you want to ofc)
@@four-en-tee I know, I just found it funny that less then a week later, the Pastra rewrite came out lol
Happiness filled me as I saw Pastra re-write the story video
I actually did an essay on Jeff The Killer and concluded that his popularity is largely due to his "lack of defining character traits"
Like his backstories come off as extremely generic and cliche but that's all the more reason for his young fans to project themselves onto him.
I agree that he blew up for the same reasons as the Slenderman, but I did want to explore what actually was there since he's not as much of a blank canvas as Slendy.
I think a lot of people missed the fact that these characters were fun because they were up to your imagination. I don't think it was even about projection (in most cases) but the community in general, Jeff was a highlight and he was gateway into it.
The community kinda depended on itself to grow and every fan was just exchanging new ideas, it was so fun, headcanons, new comics, constant new art, etc. Yeah most stories were bad, but that wasn't really the point, I think it's a very surface level way to look at the whole thing. I also think that's why the community is coming up again, the imagination hasn't stopped and people still want to build upon something thats nostalgic to them. Coming back with new ideas after more than a decade.
so wattpad fanfic fuel
@@Deca777-g3o Essentially.
The funniest description I’ve heard for Jeff the killer as a story is “it’s like if they decided make a superhero out of a school shooter” from meatcanyon.
More like "a super villian out of a school shooter" but close enough...
@@thevigilant6884 Having watched Watchmen and The Boys, what's the difference?
@@grumpyoldnord Cause Jeff never called himself a hero.
@HarambaeXelonmuskfans Fan creations are not canon.
A lot of old creepypastas seem to suffer from "This was made by a teenager who was inspired by another story, but didn't dig deep enough to flesh it out into it's own idea."
Meaning a lot of them ended up being teenage serial killers, forest monsters, and cursed game cartridges.
Surprisingly some of them were made by millenial adults, lol.
@@thevigilant6884 millennials who were teenagers in that time
@@TetoTetoTetoTetoTetoTeto someone born in 1985 was a teenager in the 2010s?
and a lost episode
@@thevigilant6884These were not made in the 2010s,more like late 90s and early 2000s
I took this video as a challenge
And you won the challenge. Absolutely amazing rewrite.
You truly won the challange Pastra. Just watched your story
oh shit he's here
6 likes
Hollywood, if you ever decide to make a movie about good ol’ Jeff, THIS is exactly what you should use for an adaptation. Never did I ever think I’d sit down for 2 hours for a Jeff The Killer video. Well done, Creepypastra.
Oh my fucking god i forgot that "go to sleep" is Jeff's actual catchphrase, i genuinely thought he was going to say that Jeff's catchphrase was "I'm going to Jeff The Kill you!"
LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I have my criticisms for the writing of the Jeff the Killer story and general grievances with the plot but I can't deny the fear it instilled in me as a kid. The night I heard the story, there was a severe thunderstorm so a tree branch was scrapping against my window and I was absolutely convinced Jeff was real and wanted to kill me. So it definitely did its job as a horror story I feel.
In my case, I was about 13 or 14 at the time when I got into creepypasta. I had also grown up watching stuff on RUclips as early as 2008, so I remember seeing a lot of those fake sighting videos and some of the marble hornet entries.
While a part of me understood it was fake, the same could be said for a lot of those cryptid hoax videos that still litter the web, so these videos reinforced the idea that these characters "could" be real.
Like, there were times when I was in middle and high school when we'd be driving home and i'd just be looking out the passenger window to see if I might catch a glimpse of the Slenderman.
@@four-en-teeI was 13 in 2015 when I first Hurd the story and I remember the fear it instilled in me. I was in football practice at this time and I remember not really sleeping well and after time and I got hooked into the story of Jeff and being the edgy teenager I was, I got into the trend of cosplaying as him on musically and doing what Emo kids did. I fully became one in freshman year and doing edgy stuff and I fell into that other fandom. It wasn’t until after spring break when I fell out of the creepypasta fandom entirely. From time to time I’ll listen to old stories of Jeff and all the Jeff vs whomever to pass the time when I was drawing. It would be interesting to see what someone else can come up with if they ever try their hand at writing the story. But for the love of Jeff let’s hope they don’t try to do a movie
@@four-en-teeI was 7 when I came across Jeff the killer, ruined my childhood, it was the picture that really did it in for me, big yikes..
My head canon is that the bar of soap origin is true, but Jeff tells the birthday story whenever someone asks. "Ah, man, it was so sick. There was this struggle with a gun, and-and this guy was threatening my family, right? And then my face was burned off, and-and I chopped off my eye lids. Why? Uh.... .... Go to sleep."
Unreliable origin? Nice.
lmao
if the origine to my disfigurement was a bar of soap id lie too that shit would be embarassing
Ooo
XD I love it.
My favorite comeback for Jeff the Killer is the series called the Morgue Files by David Near. It's a collection of rewritten creepy pastas with the narrator being a doctor that does audio entry logs who talks to his patients (Jeff and Toby). Nice voice acting and good tension moments.
I know, right? They're so good!
Wow, I appreciate the shoutout!
When I was younger I read that Jeff was badly bullied and that he killed bullies or those who were mean to people. He got his white face from having acid poured on his face. Then the rest just kept getting added on
I will play devil's advocate for Clockwork, because and only because, I think the point of Clockwork was that she was supposed to be some sort of self insert trauma oc. While the story is bad and kinda tasteless, you can also tell through the writing that it seems to be based on something the author was going through, especially the sexual abuse aspect.
When you read all the gorey details, especially when it comes to the CSA, you can tell that this was written by a kid who was going though a lot in life. To put it simply, Clockwork wasn't made to be a serious story, it was made to be a vent piece. Which is why I tend to look at it with softer eyes.
Regardless, I hope the author is doing ok. Nobody deserves to go through that and I hope that the ridicule from the larger internet didn't get to them too badly.
I never even thought of this, that's very depressing actually
A very good take. I often look back at my cringy attempts of writing as a kid/teen and find a lot of it is based on what I was experiencing at the time. As bad as it may be, things written by children tend to be a source of comfort to them, thus it's needless to tell them their work is bad. We can come up with our own thoughts and criticisms of the story, but it's needless to deprive a child of their source of comfort.
banning k rewrite is still one of the best extrapolations of an existing short story i ever heard imo, the way it focuses less on jeff as a person and more on the in universe cultural impact his crimes have, its so good
I’ve seen MrCreepypasta’s 3 Jeff stories from banning k but is there anymore stories out?
@@dxdraco1534 Yeah there's quite alot of them after them. Wish mr creepypasta did them all
I genuinely love thes types of "someone taking a step back from a previous obsession to give their firsthand-informed thoughts on it" type of video essay. They're so genuine and provide a window into the internet's history, if that makes sense. Apologies if that just sounded like yapping.
4nt, I was genuinely blindsided when I saw one of your community posts talking about this video being in the works (came for yugioh, and most yugitubers just dont share their other interests) but it reminded me that everyone on this site has a range of things they love, and I'm glad you aren't limiting yourself to talking about just one. Please dude, keep making stuff you're passionate about, no matter what it is. I may have come for Hungry Burger, but I'm staying for you (platonic).
Thanks, I hope you look forward to my future work!
I have an analysis of the Matrix Trilogy planned in the near future after the alt art and cognitohazard videos. That's the next big project on the to-do list.
Whether it'll come out before or after the Wet Dry World video I have no idea yet. That Mario 64 video is kinda in limbo right now, i'm not gonna lie lmao. I don't want to rush it though, it definitely needs the rewrites its getting atm.
@@four-en-tee I'd be psyched for either. Not super familiar with the Matrix series beyond the first, so that'll definitely be neat learning experience.
Man was just that guy that stuck around. The fact that someone made Nina The Killer who is a Jeff fan girl in the Creepypasta verse.
So, a one-on-one parallel to Dahmer?
When I met Tik Tobby, I thought he was just "hey look at me I'm all funny and quarky! lol lol lol!", because that's all I saw about him most in comics and fan animations, but then I discovered his original story and I was like..... WHY DID PEOPLE GET THAT HE WAS QUARKY???? HE IS TRAGIC AND HIS CONDITION IS SOMETHING REAL AND SERIOUS!!! HOW DID PEOPLE TAKE THIS CHARACTER AND TURN HIM INTO A SILLY COMIC RELIEF CHARACTER???
I personally blame the whole "lol random humor" attitude that was prevalent at the time online. Meme culture back then was basically synonymous with being a user on the internet, whereas nowadays memes have gone so far off the deep end that its a lot easier to separate it from normal online discourse.
Its definitely one of the challenges i'm gonna have to face when i get around to narrating Ticci Toby. I need to convey in my performance that this kid is suffering, its one of the things from MrCreepyPasta's narration that I don't think translated over very well.
bro ts fake wtf goin on how i get to this weird ass side of yt
@@undefined5083go home kid 🗿
What a coincidence. I'm doing a Jeff The Killer analog horror series and then this pops up on my recommendations
you gonna upload it on your channel or a different one?
@@_adastra my own
@@DiamondWorldRUclips sweet, I would love to check it out when it comes
How would you upload though? Will you read it out yourself, or use ai for the voices? Asking cause I got my own halfway finished
gonna check out both of your videos, remind me when they’re done please !
To this day I can say some of the Jeff stories I have heard were some of the best written creepypasta ever, especially the one where he fights slender Man
Oo any recs?
I grew up in that era, but I was never really officially introduced to creepypasta until mid to late 2016. And Jeff was my gateway into that, just like most fans in the community
Same. I remember my edgy creepypasta phase and brainstorming an OC that never made it to paper. And also listening to lots of creepypasta stories on RUclips and taking many more creepypasta quizzes on Quotev
@cloud-9936 Ah, yes, those were the good ol' days
In recent years, one of the best interpretations of Jeff The Killer I’ve seen, would be from The Morgue Files by David Near, while being an audio drama, it serves to create a anthology based on both creepypastas and urban legends. I highly recommend taking a look at the series when you can. Also loved the video.
Pastras re-write changed my life
I feel like a kid again
Marble Hornets, Mr. Betty Kruegher, David Near, and K. Banning have done a fantastic job in making Jeff and Creepypasta (or as I like to call it the Slenderverse.) as a whole horrific, terrifying, and nightmarish as it's supposed to be.
Finally someone mentioned mbk and David Near! Also, when did Marble Hornets do anything with Jeff?
@harryfleutv666 Have to give shootouts to the 2 people that made me get back into the Fandom. Oh, they didn't, but they did install my fear and intrigued back about Slenderman along with Hoodie and Masky since at the time I was going by the fanon takes. (a HORRIBLE mistake that I will always regret.)
The timing between this and Pastra uploading his rewrite is insane. I've watched it and its pretty great, i havent seen the original in a long time but Pastra's version is well written. Definitely worth checking out if you havent already
jef is the defenition of "look how they masscared my boy"
I honestly love the creepypastas: they're internet folklore at its finest. Certainly, they aren't very well-written and they don't usually have much depth, but there's something almost fairytale-like about them. As a child I was terrified of them: you knew about the hushed stories of mutilated teenaged serial killers whispered on playgrounds at recess, but as an adult who loves the macabre and all sorts of horror, I find that they did their job as horror stories. We were terrified. That's what made them so fascinating.
If I were to reboot Jeff, I'd make him look more like a burn victim than a Joker knockoff and probably make him more like a zombie or a ghoul and he would hide his burned or even charred and skeletal face with the hood of his hoodie and he would be seen mostly in or around graveyards or cemeteries.
As a adult now seeing the image takes me back when things were scary, stories, creepypastas, videogames and movies, nowdays the feeling isn't the same, 20 now and nothing hit the same way as walking alone in the streets at night, but its not the fear of monsters, aliens or cryptids but fear of a bigger threat... Men.
Alr unc
Just came back from listening to Pastra's phenomenal rewrite of Jeff and, yes, he's back.
Pastra turned a joke into a genuinely great story and villain.
I just finished listening to Pastra's Rewtie of Jeff the Killer and I gotta say it makes Jeff way scarier than the OG creepypasta turinging him frkm a Victim of Targeted harassment, to an actual intelligent monster.
Please give it a listen it does so much right.
There's recently a short fan film made by a RUclipsr called Radical Talent. It's called Ghostface vs Jeff the Killer. For a fan film, it's surprising good, it stayed true to the original source of Jeff. I recommend you check it out.
Saw it and it was badass!!!🔥🖤
What I like is the Jeff the Killer image is so unsettling to me that I can only look at it for a second before I get unreasonably creeped out
I think Jeff has potential to work.
In terms of personality, it reminds me of Freddy Krueger and Chucky: a fucked-up serial killer with a twisted sense of dark humor who cusses up a storm. Watching those types of slasher villains is always fun.
just popped in because this showed up, this is hella good keep up the work
Jeff was the most popular in 2014-2017.
In 2017 it all went down.
2017 is way after creepypastas bloom
It all went down in Georgia...
Everything went down in 2017, literally everything: games, movies, Creepypastas, RUclips, songs, everything...
Great video! I really miss that early 2010's era of the Internet with its specific culture, Creepypasta craze, Minecraft, RUclips aesthetic of those days and Diary of a Wimpy Kid movies coming out during that time, your video took me on a small nostalgia trip. I'm looking for more content from You!!:)
Man this video inspired me at the end… now I’m really considering throwing my hat into the ring to make a Jeff the killer reboot 😅
If someone rewrites Jeffs origins, they should make Zalgo have some influence in it. Like Zalgo notices the kind of dark thoughts Jeff had, and then influenced him to brutally fight the bullies. But after his traumatic injury, it weakened his psyche so much to where Zalgo had almost full control over him.
David near has an ongoing series about creepypastas and his story all share 1 world and his Jeff the killer episode is probably my favorite adaptation of jeff
FINALLY SOMEONE THAT MENTIONED MORGUE FILES JEFFREY MASON
4:40 I lost it and started cackling as asking myself, WHY THE TF2 MUSIC!? I love the choice of music you used throughout the video tho
Yess i noticed it too 😂
Been working on a rewrite. I think Ive found some logical work-arounds to turn the plot holes into deeper lore.
Although I would disagree with you that he never had a motive. In some of the stories, it was hinted that he saw himself as euthanizing his victims, "putting them to sleep" to save them from a world of suffering. It was inconsistent though, because other stories hinted that it was a thirst for blood.
One concept I'd really like to see is a version of that 2015 rewrite where instead of killing his parents, Jeff gets sent to boot camp, joins the marines, ends up becoming a mercenary who primarily executes missions in the southern hemisphere, and gains his nickname from a particularly personal takedown that gives him a reputation that he could've never even imagined as an overskilled teenager.
To sort of defend the Jeff the killer reboot, I think the later stories were to keep to the idea of your normal horror character, that being not showing off the monster too much but rather his affect on the world.
As for the cult, that was mainly down to how much corruption in the town was exposed.
However a story I prefer is the Morgue files, I would highly recommend it
going back and looking at creepy pasta is truly an experience
I’m here because of the Pastra rewrite that came out two weeks ago. Oh my God, it’s so good. It gave me absolute chills. I love it so much.. and this video is really cool too
I’ve always felt the OG Jeff the killer creepypasta although poorly made still had one important story element. The bloodlust and anger Jeff felt when he or his brother was pushed is something that a lot of people can relate to and I felt it was supposed to be a cautionary tale on that feeling. I don’t see many people appreciate this, or maybe it’s just emphasized more in the new stories
This is a really good video, i'm genuinely surprised it doesn't have more views.
Good job!
also, Horror RUclipsr Pastra i think is rewriting JTK and i'm so excited to see what they're cooking
Something I miss from the creepypasta days is how writers would at least superficially give their characters flaws. These people are leagues ahead of the ass hats who churn out the shit at Disney.
jesus christ there are kids online nowadays who dont understand how huge creepypasta was
I actually had written a Jeff the Killer Reboot called "The Huntsman's Cabin" which was about Jeff as a 48 year old Man living alone in the woods only to be disturbed by Hikers who enter onto his land, and Jeff doesn't like Tresspassers. The Story would have him stalk the Hikers and pick them off one by one in ways that a Hunter would do to their prey, turning the Hikers into Jeff's Game and when one of them finally sees his face, there was a reason he wanted to be left alone.
I was inspired by The Hills Have Eyes, Friday the 13th and Wrong Turn, with the idea that Jeff would be this 7ft tall beast of a man who knows how to hunt down prey and ends up using the hikers as warnings because it'd take place before the story of Jeff began. It would reference the older versions in a part 2 and feature a little more backstory but I never got to finishing it
This sounds sick wtf
The pastra came in and said "hold on. We can rebuild him... With good writing"
16:56 So sad that Toby Fox's parents were killed by Optimus Prime.
Weird idea: The fangirl characters (Jane, Clockwork, etc) could theoretically work if you made it so that Jeff is like Dio where he's charismatic but he's incapable of love, so ultimately he's just leading them on for his own gain.
Honestly creepypastas nowadays have evolved so much that they're better than most horror movies see: Borrasca and Penpal
Honestly, based on how Jane the killer looks. I would much rather her be a ghost like figure than a deformed burnt copy of Jeff the killer. Like how she offers herself up to that dark entity after being betrayed by someone she idolized, now being resurrected with that ghost like appearance while also giving her other feats like that ability to shapeshift. Giving her that more ghostly appearance and would honestly make her just that slightly but different from Jeff, while still staying truthful to her backstory. Just with a slight change.
I can't comprehend how we found Jeff the Killer scary in any way, its a shit edit accompanied by an edgy vent story of a (probably) privileged american young teen who probably has a lot of unresolved frustrations that's far more comedic than it is scary. I feel like the boomers who cannot comprehend how they were scared by the special effects of the Exorcist.
Yeah, i personally dont find the Jeff stories scary nowadays more than I find them either fascinating or disturbing. Part of that most likely has to do with the fact that i've just been desensitized to a lot of horror media in general, but yes, the awful writing of the original Jeff the Killer stories doesnt help either.
@@four-en-tee It's a fanfic anyway. The original story is practically the youtube video. It was meant to be a short story urban legend. Until some edgy teen made a fan fiction of Jeff's story and written his fantasies through him. Sesseur got screwed over and you're making it worse.
I can only pull from my own thought processes when I learned about Jeff. I found Jeff less scary....but intriguing. Because in my understanding of Jeff, there's an extreme disconnect between Jeff the person and whatever the hell his killer instincts are.
My brain saw that Jeff was just his body and "The Killer" was some weird alternate personality that Jeff himself pretty much left at the wheel forever. And the fact that Jeff just snapped and pretty much went on autopilot, not ever knowing what exactly was going on outside. Or if he was aware, he was seeing everything through a very distorted lens of reality.
I found the concept of Jeff the Killer as a mental health crisis as scary.
I couldn't speak english well at that point so I never knew the story but the image for Jeff sure freaked me out, but many of those jpegs did. Smiledog especially. That one still freaks me out actually, at least some of the newer renditions since I'm already so familiar with the old ones.
You have inspired me to make that Jeff the Killer short film that I’ve been thinking about for a while
This is one of the best video essays I’ve seen I make scary creepy pasta type content I love to see breakdowns of what made it all famous your amazing man I really loved this video Jeff the killer nostalgia and creepy pastas in whole mean a lot for me
Kinda crazy that Pastra released his rewrite like two days after this
I feel like Jeff the Killer should be more like Billy from Black Christmas instead of a edgy emo teen boy. But as a 7 year old kid it did scare me seeing his face.
I always thought that Jeff was inspired by the Joker, especially given the fact that he appeared around 2008 at the same time that The Dark Knight was released. Heath Ledger's Joker has design features that superficially resemble Jeff The Killer, especially the smile in the mouth being made of scars
The twinkification of Jeff the Killer as a phenomenon needs to be studied
Jeff was the Batman to Slenderman's Superman.
the joke narrations of the og Jeff the killer and alike stories were hilarious. The Jeff the killer reboot was fun to, trying to give the original story a little more meat and complexity was cool and Mr creepypasta did a great job as usual
I remember loving Clockworks' Story when I was 16. I did a "rewrite" of her but never posted it. Last second thought "Was there any notes from the Author?" And been sitting on what is a bit more of an enhancement for the past Decade just about. At this point I'm 25.
Hell, I still love Clockworks Character and Design after all these years, even if the initial Story could have been done a bit more. For some reason the imagine that's made in my head of her hugging her Stuffed Giraffe lives rent free in my Brain.
This is one of the best creepypasta retrospective videos i've seen in a while. I am so happy we are finally getting retrospectives on these creepypastas, espeically ones that aren't just "These cringe. We should never bring these back"
The disclaimer was the scariest thing I've ever heard
Loved the video! Nice edit style, dude.
I so miss the creepypasta community... as a teenager it helped me cope with my terrible childhood. I really like to see the community revive itself fully. And if we get jeff to get popular again we can get the community possibly fully back again
God, this was such a throwback. Thank you for showing me a glimpse of my past.
So real, this video analysis is awesome! Amazing job!
Personally, Liu is my favorite part of the Jeff stories. Even in the Homicidal Liu spin-off, Liu still loves his brother despite what Jeff did to him.
Also, most versions of Jeff and Liu's parents were abusive and neglectful. They didn't listen when Liu told them about Randy, Keith, and Troy, and even called Liu a liar. Jeff HATES liars. Like, REALLY, REALLY hates. So, with them calling Liu a liar (despite knowing that Liu was right, because their parents mostly cared about their own image rather than their kids), and Jeff's mother lying when she said she thought he was beautiful, so he killed them. He also killed the bullies because he felt guilty that he was basically the reason Liu was sent to jail (even though Liu willingly took the blame for Jeff). Liu couldn't be there to protect Jeff when Keith burned him alive because he was in jail.
To be fair, Jane did have a rather tragic backstory, because Jeff did kill her parents and lit her on fire. Also, Jane doesn't kill some random innocent strangers, she kills bad people, making her a somewhat sympathetic character. 2 quick questions. Why does Jane look so sophisticated, inteligent and mature? Also, Jeff why were you battling Slenderman in the first place?
Personally, I wish Jeff was some kind of a "vengeful spirit" or something, where he dies but comes back as a ghost and kills people who've done him wrong and goes on to kill people like that or something.
Using the tabit tablature as a soundtrack is genius bro I love it
Pastras jeff the killer remake sent chills throughout my body...something that the original creepypasta failed to do. Love the video here tho! Hope to see you go over the new jeff!
I honestly think that jeff the killer wasnt popular becuse of his story , but becuse the time he was written , the emo edgy era helped jeff the killer become so popular , after seeing his story more recently and with your video i come to this conclusion becuse it is nowere near a good story.
Really good retrospective! I like how you told about so many stories and copycats it was real trip to the past.When I was a kid my obsession with creepypasta was real bad (not to stab somone of course) I read many different stories about a large number of characters and then have trouble with sleeping. Like when I played a lot of Majora's Mask and then I read Ben the Drowning Man after that I lay on my bed and looked at my N64 something like this 0_0. Unfortunately, now the classic style of writing creepypastas is no longer really used. I still really love characters like Slenderman and Jeff, but of these yours, only the bald one in the suit feels more alive and have some sort of content. I hope in the future this is gonna change and classic character of old Internet Mythos gonna rise one more time. Thank you for such a Wonderful video, it's really help me to feel vibes of good old days. I hope you gonna make similar video in the future :}
"A bucket of acid". Are we talking about the trippy or dissolving kind?
If anyone wants to see a newer take on the character, please check out The Morgue Files by David Near here on RUclips. It's a series that's been going on for some time and it features what I think to be the best version of the character.
I love the story because even if Jeff is the protagonist, the story makes it clear he's the villain from the start. In a story full of simpathetic villains, Jeff is the black sheep, the one who just wants to cause pain for the sake of it.
You talked about how Jeff dealing with his "killer instincts" could be a cool plotpoint? The story's all about that. It makes it clear from the start that Jeff would've ended up as a killer no matter what happened, it was just a matter of time. This version of the character is unsimpathetic, cruel and twisted, but it keeps the edgy charisma from the original character which makes him enjoyable to watch. Besides being placed in an equally good-written world.
Great retrospective! Glad youtube recommended it.
David nears version of Jeff will always be my favorite
I'm currently working on a script version of a Jeff The Killer rewrite that is more grown up it's insane and not for everyone. It's gonna be about five stories, starting with a horrific prequel prequel that starts the madness within Jeff, then it goes into him becoming a cold blooded killer and meeting a few equally insane killers and finally bringing about the ultimate chaos. I'm writing it on Wattpad, currently.
I'm so excited to see the dumpster fire the Jeff the Killer movie will be and I hope a Jeff vs slenderman movie would be made
idk what it is about creepypastas, but they just dont work as movies lmao
It could be their ties with unfiction? idk. Not even the Slenderman has really worked out in the way of movies, and that character has actually good stories like Marble Hornets, Everyman Hybrid and Morley Grove.
But yeah, I certainly do not have high hopes that Hollywood will fix Jeff the Killer. I just hope its at least entertaining once they decide to finally make a movie about him.
@@four-en-tee Sesseur shut that shit down before that would happen.
im going to cry when jeff says "IM GOING TO JEFF THE KILL YOU"
Ticky Tobi resonated a lot with me when i was kid, because I also have ADHD and Tourette's, plus a somewhat slightly similar appearance. I felt represented which drew me into the character. Hope someone does a rewrite one of these days
I remember coming back from school on a Friday of 2011 and finding out about creepypastas and reading the Jeff story. It was shit, but the picture and the fact that he comes at night and tells you to go to sleep, actually got to me. Then my parents come from work and tell me that I'll be alone all weekend as they'll be travelling. Didn't sleep much that weekend.
I quick analysis on the Pastra reboot would be cool. Your wish for a proper rewrite got granted and it’s honestly pretty solid
I am SO excited for the story you teased :0
I see jeff the killer as more of a slasher villain (like Michael Meyers or Freddy Krueger) rather than a psychopath with a tragic backstory (like norman bates) im tempted to make my own jeff the killer story where it focuses more on jeff, well, killing.
The background images at the 14:20 mark. Where? I want them.
hello! i usually don’t leave comments on videos, but i really wanted to tell u how awesome and comprehensive this retrospective is!! ^_^ creepypasta, particularly slenderman and jeff the killer, is so iconic. they precipitated mascot horror and inspired the args we love today :) jeff was my fav as an emo teen haha thank u for also including mr.creepypasta’s narrations :) it was so fun to hear snippets of his jeff stories again! i love campy horror. jeff is camp and edgy at his best! like a slasher villain.
with the slenderverse doc and this retrospective, i hope others are able to see how influential creepypasta was and perhaps feel inspired to make their own horror stories! much luck to u on ur writing :] looking forward to seeing more!
Always missing lil ol jeff, since i was younger jeff has been my favorite i really hope for his return to fame in the online space
Hopefully this video will inspire BanningK to finish his Jeff the Killer stories 😭😭
In the quiet, picturesque town of Nowhere, Turkey, nestled next to a quaint McDonald's under a bridge, a tech support store flickered with the hum of old computers and the occasional crash of malfunctioning hardware. This was where Jeff, once the terrifying figure of Jeff the Killer, now resided, sporting a neatly trimmed beard and a small mustache, his once wild hair now short and clean-cut. Life had taken a strange turn for Jeff, and he had adapted, but little did he know, fate had a peculiar reunion in store.
One afternoon, the doorbell chimed, and in walked a tall, gangly figure that Jeff hadn't seen in years. Slender Man, or Slendy as his old friends used to call him, had seen better days. His once-impeccable tuxedo was gone, replaced by a stained brown undershirt and rubber ducky Crocs. His once-gaunt figure now sported a noticeable belly, a testament to the years of neglect and depression. Slendy looked around, his eyeless face somehow managing to convey a sense of bewildered nostalgia.
"Jeff?" Slendy's voice was still eerily soft, but now it carried a hint of vulnerability.
Jeff turned, and for a moment, his eyes widened in disbelief before a grin spread across his face. "Slendy! Man, it's been ages!"
The two former nightmares embraced, a surreal sight that would have been unthinkable in their heyday. They sat down amidst the clutter of broken tech, sharing stories of the past and the present.
"So, what happened to you, Slendy?" Jeff asked, leaning back in his chair. "Last I heard, you were... well, doing your thing."
Slendy sighed, his faceless head tilting downwards. "It all fell apart, Jeff. The stabbings in 2014, the awful 2018 movie... people just stopped fearing us. The internet moved on. I tried to hold it together, but... look at me now."
Jeff nodded sympathetically. "I get it. The world changed. Kids today, they don't even know our stories. I had to find something else to do. Hence, tech support." He chuckled, patting the old computer beside him.
They reminisced about the old days, the chaos and the fear they once spread, and the proxies who had scattered to the winds. Slendy felt a pang of guilt for all the pain he had caused, but also a sense of loss for the camaraderie they had once shared. He confessed to Jeff how he had used his infamous eight pages to roll a giant weed joint, a desperate attempt to find some semblance of purpose or escape.
As they talked, the door opened again, and Eyeless Jack walked in. He wore a McDonald's uniform, a strange sight for someone who once reveled in cannibalism. "Jeff, I need the-" Jack stopped mid-sentence, his eyeless sockets somehow managing to look shocked. "Slendy?"
"Jack!" Slendy exclaimed. "You're working at McDonald's now?"
Jack shrugged, a resigned smile on his face. "Co-CEO, actually. Had to give up the old habits. Times changed."
The three of them sat together, the atmosphere filled with a mix of nostalgia and absurdity. They talked about rebuilding their lives, maybe even bringing the old gang back together. The mansion was still there, albeit in a horrific mess, but it could be a start.
As the evening wore on, Jeff had an idea. "You know what? Let's celebrate. I've got some old fireworks, a few microwaves, and a bunch of outdated computers. We can have a little fun, just like the old times."
They headed to the McDonald's, planning their impromptu celebration. Jeff, ever the unhinged spirit, couldn't resist pushing the limits. He set up the fireworks, crammed the microwaves with old electronics, and lit the fuse.
The explosion was magnificent, a chaotic symphony of sparks and debris. The McDonald's went up in flames, and amidst the chaos, Eyeless Jack's scream echoed. "Jeff, you idiot! You blew up my workplace!"
Jack, now truly eyeless with rage, called the SWAT team, who arrived to find the three former legends of terror laughing uncontrollably in the ruins of the fast-food joint.
In the end, they were taken into custody, but as they sat in the police van, cuffed and surrounded by bewildered officers, Slendy, Jeff, and Jack shared a look of camaraderie and unhinged humor. They might have been relics of a bygone era, but they were together again, and that was all that mattered.
"Here's to new beginnings," Slendy said, his faceless head turning towards his old friends.
"Yeah," Jeff grinned, "and to blowing up the past."
And with that, the van drove off into the night, carrying with it the remnants of an era, ready to find a new purpose in a world that had almost forgotten them.
This is a good reunion 👍
@@DiamondWorldRUclips thnx hope u liked it
Something i really want is a Jeff the killer story that takes place as an adult after he is caught. Like Jeff has been brought in an inescapeable prison and is being interviewed and jeff talks about the Batshit insane crossovers he has had in his VS stories with the police not taking it seriously in the Beginning but then start to really listen when it start to involve missing people and other serial killers.
Police: what happened after you killed the anderson in St. Louis?
Jeff: i went on a jog then fought a cultist.
Police:...what?
Jeff: yeah he had this shitty looking mask and stuff but after i turned his intestines to OUTtestines, his god SHOWED out of nowhere and fucking JUMPED ME!
But in seriousness i had in mind a horror mystery story that was about ticci toby's aunt investigating cases involving a "faceless man" and other murders with paranormal undertones. She would visit Jeff and start interviewing him for clues. The story would be a meta commentary about how certain author reject their character and stop refering them as creepypastas (bloody painter) or want nothing to do with it at all (ticci toby)
Pastra JUST made a remake😭🙏
I enjoyed this video so much you just earned a subscribe my friend, I really love your take on this can't wait for more future content! ❤
Im gonna make a reboot. Im feeling a lil silly, so ima do it.