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| “ | He gets into your head... like a virus! | „ |
| ~ Wren explaining how the Slender Man works to Hallie. |
The Slender Man is the titular main antagonist of the 2018 supernatural horror film of the same name, based on the titular Creepypasta.
He is a malevolent demonic entity and urban legend who psychologically traumatizes his victims before abducting them and fusing them with the trees in his forest.
He was portrayed by Javier Botet, who also played the title character in Mama, The Crooked Man in The Conjuring 2, Tristana Medeiros in the REC film series, the Leper, one of the many forms of It, in the 2017 adaptation of IT, KeyFace in Insidious: The Last Key, and Dracula in The Last Voyage of the Demeter.
Appearance[]
Full appearance
Slender Man's appearance is largely consistent with his internet origins as an impossibly tall and thin humanoid figure with white skin and no face. His arms and fingers are elongated relative to his torso. From a distance he appears to be wearing a business suit, however, close inspection reveals that this exterior is his skin.
Personality[]
While his canon namesake is mostly emotionless (though capable of cruelty) this version of Slender Man is quite sadistic and very monstrous, as he toys with Hallie and her friends by torturing them and bending reality, all while making them slowly go insane. He is rather determined in his goals, snatching up Wren at the best time when she's vulnerable after tormenting her, and viciously chasing Hallie through the woods. His hallucinations are also very nightmarish and are arguably his most sadistic and cruelest moments in the film.
History[]
The film begins with four high school friends - Wren, Hallie, Chloe, and Katie respectively - decide to summon Slender Man after overhearing some of their male friends aiming to do so. Unbeknownst to them, they would end up chickening out of fear. After the four girls watch a video on a site dedicated to the monster, Katie ends up disappearing a week later. A week after the disappearance, the remaining girls investigate her room, discovering that she was researching the Slender Man prior.
After communicating with one of the users on the website, Wren tells Chloe and Hallie that they needed to sacrifice something that they loved in order to get Katie back. She warns them to keep a blindfold over their eyes because directly looking at the Slender Man would make them go insane. Despite her warning, Chloe panics and pulls off her blindfold. Upon catching a glimpse of the Slender Man, Chloe becomes insane. Eventually, the Slender Man abducts her.
Wren continued to be tormented by hallucinations inflicted on her by the Slender Man and continues to try to find a solution to her wows. Hallie tries to proceed with her life but is also given terrifying visions. As a means of trying to communicate with the Slender Man, Wren convinces Hallie's younger sister to help her summon him.
Hallie's sister ends up suffering a panic attack and is bedridden at a hospital. Wren gets kidnapped by the Slender Man making Hallie realize that he wanted them. She approaches the Slender Man and begs him to take her.
However, she quickly changes her mind and tries to escape only to get absorbed into a tree by the Slender Man. Because of her sacrifice, Hallie's sister recovers at the hospital, ending the film reflecting on the deaths of her sister and her friends.
Powers and Abilities[]
Slender Man's primary method of tormenting people is psychological, driving them insane with horrific visions. He also has some control over trees, animating them and using them to restrain victims and merging the kidnapped children themselves into trees. He can only manifest when people view images of him or if contacted directly through a ritual, and is then largely unstoppable until satisfied. He tends to dwell in forests but is not restricted to them once summoned, and can manifest inside a locked building. He can create additional limbs when desired.
Gallery[]
Images[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- Slender Man's suit appears to be a part of his body, as shown from the behind the scenes photos.
- While his origins and motivations are unknown, it could be possible that Slender Man considers fusing people with trees to be an act of good, by keeping the forest alive. Then again, it's questionable if he has moral agency.
- It's unknown if Slender Man's victims truly die when absorbed into the trees, or if his magic could be reverted after possibly being killed, defeated or weakened.
- Although the film received overwhelmingly negative reviews and was a box office bomb, Javier Botet's performance as Slender Man received praise from film critics and viewers, and his moments are generally considered to be the best highlights of the film.
- Despite being the titular character and main antagonist, Slender Man has only around 3 minutes of screen time.
