Subtitles section Play video
-
It's impossible to read the news now without hearing about viruses. As one
-
pandemic runs its course, there are menacing headlines about others possibly cropping up.
-
But as you browse the internet, you may come across people talking about something called
-
“X-Virus”. Is this a new and deadly plague making its way over from unknown quarters?
-
No, X-Virus isn't a virus at all - but it may be no less terrifying.
-
No one knows where X-Virus came from, but he introduced himself to us in a
-
short story that began circulating around the internet. But the strange thing is,
-
X-Virus doesn't seem creepy at first - he's a little boy. One who had a rough life and maybe,
-
just maybe, will finally find the friend he needs. Sounds cheery enough, right?
-
Why has X-Virus captured the attention of creepypasta fans everywhere?
-
And could he have ties to one of the most notorious monsters in internet history?
-
X-Virus wants you to know his story - he started out as a boy named Cody, and he
-
describes himself as an unwanted kid. He never knew his father, who likely abandoned the family,
-
but at least he had his mother, right? Wrong! His mother was a career criminal, and was hardly fit
-
for raising a child. She would go out to commit crimes - the young Cody never described what they
-
were - and left Cody alone. He would sit at home, waiting for her to come back - sometimes days,
-
but eventually even for weeks at a time alone. Cody never had any friends, and being alone
-
was a way of life for him - until one day, there was a knock on the door. It was a social worker.
-
Would things start looking up for Cody?
-
It was clear to the social worker that Cody's mother wasn't fit to take care of him,
-
and so he went into the custody of the state. They took Cody to a group home, where he hoped
-
he would be able to start fresh, far away from his traumatic upbringing. He even looked forward
-
to making some friends. But it wasn't to be. From the moment Cody arrived at the orphanage,
-
everything went wrong. He was ostracized by the other kids, and felt intimidated by them.
-
He was too scared to talk to anyone, so he just sat on a chair and stared at them. It was just
-
like being in his old home - although he was surrounded by people now, he was still alone.
-
Then, one day, he was told to pack by the people at the orphanage. Where was he going now?
-
For once, it didn't seem like bad news! Cody was going to be adopted! He was surprised,
-
as parents usually favored younger kids and he was already thirteen years old. He thought of
-
himself as a weirdo, and couldn't believe a set of parents wanted him. But the adoption papers
-
were signed, and he was taken away to meet his new family. And when he approached his new home,
-
he couldn't believe his eyes. It was a mansion, the biggest home he had ever seen!
-
But all wasn't as it seemed inside Cody's new home.
-
Cody was given his own room, much nicer than he had ever had, but once more he was living
-
all alone. Then, one day, he was introduced to the man who adopted him. He was a scientist,
-
the head of a major laboratory specializing in microbiology. He studied the behavior of
-
dangerous viruses, and his job kept him very busy. He wouldn't be spending much time at home,
-
and Cody immediately worried that he would be left alone just like he had been with
-
his mother. Cody would do anything to keep that from happening again,
-
so he tried to win his new father's favor. He expressed interest in the scientist's work,
-
and volunteered to help him with his work in the lab. Soon, Cody's adoptive father began opening
-
up to him, explaining to the curious boy what his work was about and how dangerous a virus could be.
-
Cody was about to find out first-hand.
-
Cody had a chance at a normal life, going to school with other kids, but his social troubles
-
continued. He never fit in, and preferred to spend his time in his adoptive father's lab.
-
He started keeping a work journal, where he kept his personal sketches and formulas.
-
The years went on, and by the time Cody was 17 he was an expert in viruses.
-
But his father kept a close eye on him and never let him experiment on his own,
-
only allowing him to assist in planned tests. But Cody was getting more and more curious.
-
He decided it was time to start his own experiments.
-
Cody had designed his own custom viruses and compounds, and he wanted to know what they
-
would do when injected into a living being. So he started gathering test subjects, mostly rats
-
and other small animals. He would inject them, and they would die soon after - confirming how
-
dangerous the viruses he used were. But it was how they died that intrigued Cody most.
-
In the moment before death, they would let out a horrible high-pitched noise,
-
almost like their lungs were about to explode. Cody wondered what caused this.
-
He wondered what noise a human would make if it happened to them.
-
Cody started thinking about how he could find out. He didn't have any friends at
-
school - when he talked to kids about his work with viruses, they were disturbed and stopped
-
talking with him. He knew he would have to act alone, so Cody waited until his father
-
was away. He took a lethal virus and filled up a syringe with it. He was going hunting,
-
but he knew he couldn't let himself be seen. He needed to disguise himself.
-
And so Cody disappeared...and something new and terrible was born.
-
He dressed in a black jacket and jeans, and took his old baseball bat out of the basement.
-
Finding a jar with rusty nails in it, he nailed them to the bat,
-
turning it into a deadly weapon. Finally, he put on an old gas mask and a pair of protective
-
goggles. He was ready to kill, and went to a neighborhood very different from his own.
-
It was full of old, run-down houses - very much like the one he grew up in. He wasn't looking for
-
anyone in particular - any house would do, as long as there was someone alive inside.
-
He kicked down the door, and the horror was about to begin.
-
Cody swung like a professional, targeting people one by one in his murder spree.
-
They weren't expecting an attack, and no one in the house stood a chance.
-
Finally, there was only one left - a middle-aged man who Cody tied up.
-
As soon as the man was trapped, Cody injected him with the virus and watched,
-
waiting for his darkest questions to be answered. First, the man stayed still, terrified. Then he
-
started groaning, louder and louder. He sounded like an animal as he moaned, the life leaving
-
him - until he fell on the floor dead. Cody had his answer, and he knew he couldn't stop now.
-
But he had been discovered.
-
Cody's adoptive father was waiting for him, angry that his son had snuck out. But Cody
-
wasn't worried - his father was a scientist just like him. He would understand, right? Cody opened
-
up to his father, explaining about his experiments and how he had finally lived his dream of snuffing
-
out a human life. He was excited - maybe he and his father would work together on more experiments
-
like this! But his father was horrified! He couldn't believe what his son had become,
-
and he looked at Cody with the same look of disgust Cody had seen from
-
his classmates so many times. He knew what he had to do - call the police.
-
It was the last move he would ever make.
-
Cody leaped up and smashed his father's head with the deadly bat, killing him quickly.
-
He took his father's ID badge for the lab and ran. He knew what he was looking for - supplies
-
that could help him live his passion. He took as many samples of deadly viruses as he could,
-
along with enough syringes to hold them all. He knew he had to run, but the lure of that dingy old
-
neighborhood was calling him. He wanted to test out his new wares on some unexpecting victims.
-
One by one, he paid a visit to different homes and watched as people died horribly.
-
The police would have heard about this by now, and Cody knew he had to hide.
-
He went into the woods, where he thought he would be alone. But he wasn't.
-
He wasn't even the only strange boy in these woods. Then one day a figure approached him,
-
wearing orange glasses and what looked like a muzzle. While Cody carried a bat with nails,
-
this new boy carried a pair of axes. They viewed each other cautiously, but eventually the new
-
boy approached Cody. He told Cody he didn't need to fear him, and introduced himself as
-
Toby. As Toby asked him his name, Cody knew he had found a friend, even a blood brother,
-
for the first time. And he also knew it was time for a new name that reflected what he had become.
-
X-Virus.
-
Who is Toby, and are there two kid serial killers out there tormenting people with axes,
-
spiked bats, and deadly viruses? Well, we hope not! But as for who X-Virus' new friend is, that's
-
a complicated question in itself. X-Virus isn't just a creepypasta - he's part of a crossover.
-
Toby, or Ticci-Toby as he's better known, is one of the most famous creepypastas himself.
-
Another boy with a dark past who had dealt with abusive parents and trauma from a car crash,
-
he eventually became a killer himself. He was presumed dead in a fire,
-
but the truth was more complicated. Because Toby had become a proxy.
-
A proxy killer for one of the most notorious internet monsters of all time - Slenderman.
-
A gangly, white-skinned monster wearing a black suit, he's notorious for stalking
-
and abducting people and has appeared in hundreds of works of fiction. He
-
even had a video game and a movie based around him. But he's all fiction, right?
-
Well, that depends on how you look at it.
-
Slenderman is so popular that while the original creature may have been a work of fiction by
-
Something Awful forums user Eric Knudsen, he's taken on a life on his own. Photoshopped pictures
-
tie him to real-life abduction, the mythology is spread to unaware teenagers, and real crimes have
-
occurred because of his legend. In Wisconsin, two preteen girls attempted to murder their
-
friend as a sacrifice to Slenderman. The victim, Payton Leutner, survived and both her attackers
-
were sent to mental institutions. Unlike most creepypastas, Slenderman almost had a body count.
-
The would-be killers were children - just like X-Virus and Ticci-Toby.
-
But where did X-Virus come from? That's a complicated question. Like many creepypastas,
-
there is no obvious source and most people read X-Virus' manifesto when it's reposted
-
on the internet by random people. The original story can be traced to Spanish-speaking artist
-
MamaPorcupine, who initially posted it on her Twitter and drew fanart of X-Virus and
-
Ticci-Toby on Deviantart. But the characters have taken on a life of their own, with hundreds of
-
stories about them written by other creators and posted around the internet. X-Virus may
-
have originated as a random scary story, but he spread regardless of his creator's plans.
-
Just like a virus.
-
For more on the most famous creepypasta of all time,
-
why not watch “How a Meme (Slenderman) Became Real” or check out this video instead.