BASIC DESCRIPTION/APEARANCE


association/
abilities
100

 what is Slenderman's basic description/appearance/behavior

In almost every description of the Slender Man, his attributes will vary, sometimes greatly. However, his basic appearance and traits are relatively consistent across different accounts. His appearance has changed over the years, but the most common image – and the most well known in media– is that of an abnormally tall human with long arms and a totally blank face. He is usually portrayed as wearing a business suit, which may be either real cloth, or some form of skin molded to take on the appearance of cloth. If the former, this would imply an intelligent being attempting to try to blend in. If it is the latter, it suggests an extremely adaptive being that evolves to match its environment.

100

1

the organization 

200

2 part

He behaves in what might be seen as a passive-aggressive manner, often stalking targets for years at a time before ever attacking. It’s understood that he tends to torture his targets mentally, over long periods of time, using fear and paranoia to drive them to insanity. No one has ever satisfactorily explained the reasoning behind his tactics or the way he chooses his victims, and his purposes and/or motivations have yet to be fully ascertained. He is rarely, if ever, portrayed in a good or benign light and is generally understood to be a malevolent force.

200

2

The Slender Man's original abilities included:

  • selective invisibility (say, to adults or anyone without a camera)
  • the ability to change height and body shape
  • the ability to shape its arms into tentacles
  • and/or the ability to sprout tentacle-like appendages from its back and shoulders to be used as additional arms or legs (or simply to instill fear)
300

3 part

There are two main descriptions of The Slender Man’s behavior. Originally, he was portrayed as being not only malevolent, but also extremely dangerous. He would stalk its targets, impale them on trees, and remove their organs. In comparison, contemporary depictions have turned him into a more passive-aggressive creature. Instead of an active chase, he is more likely to let his prey devolve slowly into madness until they are unable to cope with their situation, often watching from afar as this takes place. If angered, it will charge the aggressor and vanish with its victim to an unknown location.

300

3

Many stories seem to indicate that The Slender Man can control a person's mind, which became the basis for the Proxies in the video ARG, a trend that later spread to Slenderblogs. The Slender Man also originally had stronger connections to children, and many of the original stories revolved around disappearing children or featured Slender Man sightings in photos with children. This was often attributed to the innocence and morbid curiosity of children, which could lead them down the path of discovering the creature.

400

4 part

Modern interpretations also show that The Slender Man interacts oddly with electronic equipment and causes massive interference with audio and visual recording devices. Sometimes an individual can determine if The Slender Man is near simply by how certain electronics act. Radios, televisions, and cameras are especially susceptible. How powerful this effect is seems to vary, which could be due either to The Slender Man's state of aggression, or other outside factors that he may or may not be controlling (eg: weather, cell phone signals, etc.)

400

4

As more stories came forth, however, the use of tentacles and tentacle-like appendages became less common, and the invisibility was limited or eliminated depending on the storyteller. (On the other hand, some stories took the invisibility even further and claimed it was entirely invisible without the use of electronic devices.)

500

5 part

In almost every contemporary description, The Slender Man is associated with stalking, often for extremely long periods. It is not unusual for a person to be trailed by The Slender Man for hours, days, months, or even years. However, he usually appears when least expected and where the victim is alone and the most comfortable (home, school, work, outdoors, along trusted roads, etc), and often times he also strikes when the target's defenses are down, sometimes to the point where they simply have no will to fight him off any further, making for an easier kill.

One of the most common features of The Slender Man, generally accepted among both fans of the mythos and victims, is that he will target those who reach a certain level of understanding about it. These accounts vary from person to person, but it seems that being a victim of The Slender Man is almost contagious or memetic. One can become his prey by encountering someone he is already chasing. Basic research and even collecting images doesn’t appear to incur its notice, someone has to delve into the mythos in an almost obsessive way. A theory sprouts from this, discussing how he could be able to track several victims at once, due to the apparent number of people invested in the mythos. This theory states that he is a sort of omnipresent being.

500

5

EMH, TT, ML, and DH all contain some sort of video and/or audio distortion, indicating that The Slender Man has an effect on modern digital instruments. This does not appear in any of the original accounts, but these also mainly make use of photographs and lower-tech video. EMH has suggested that this distortion is the effect of Sigma Radiation, a radiation said to be given off by Slender Man and the Rake. Sigma Radiation is also contagious, as it entered Evan's blood-stream when his arm was brutally maimed by The Rake.