Tumblr sexyman

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In online fandoms, a Tumblr sexyman (or just sexyman) is a type of fictional character that gains wide popularity as a sex symbol. Characters described as Tumblr sexymen are typically villainous or otherwise unusual, although the criteria for what qualifies as a Tumblr sexyman varies greatly. The phenomenon is named after the website Tumblr, from which it originated, although Tumblr sexymen have also gained popularity on other social media platforms such as Twitter.

Contents

Definition

Tumblr sexymen vary greatly, although they generally are evil or have some sort of quirk that separates them from "normal" characters. They are typically a popular subject of fan art and shipping, with fan art often depicting them in the form of skinny white men, even if the character was not originally human. [1] Isaiah Colbert from Kotaku described Tumblr sexymen as typically having "a bean sprout physique" and "a theater kid's bravado", [2] while Ty Galiz-Rowe from Gayming Magazine said that they are "usually tall, white looking, dress well, and have a dark or evil side to them". [3]

The most commonly agreed upon criterion for a Tumblr sexyman is a large and vocal fan following, with some characters failing to be considered sexymen due to having smaller fandoms. [1]

History

The concept of Tumblr sexymen originated around 2012, with the release of The Lorax . The central character of the film, the Once-ler, gained a substantial fandom, with multiple blogs being created that were dedicated to the character. The Once-ler was also the subject of a large amount of fan art and shipping, a pattern that would continue for other Tumblr sexymen. [1] In addition, fans began to create alternative versions of the Once-ler and to combine these versions into ships; this phenomenon was known as "Oncest". [4]

In 2022, a tournament was held on Twitter to determine the most popular Tumblr sexyman. The poll went viral, and received over 244,000 votes in total. [5] (The poll ended on September 8, 2022, the same day as the death of Elizabeth II, leading to memes which associated the two events with each other.) [6] In the final round of voting, Sans from Undertale had faced Arataka Reigen from Mob Psycho 100 ; Sans won the closely contested poll with 50.1% of the votes. Sans's win was followed by a massive influx of fan art and memes on both Twitter and Tumblr. In response to the event, Undertale creator Toby Fox wrote a fictional account which featured imagined details of Sans's victory. [7] [8]

In January 2023, the rollout of a new polling feature allowed Tumblr to host its own Tumblr sexyman competition, in which Cecil Gershwin Palmer of the Welcome to Night Vale podcast beat Sans to become the ultimate "Tumblr Tumblr sexyman". [9] [10]

Notable Tumblr sexymen

Various fictional characters have been labeled as Tumblr sexymen by fans. Some notable examples include:

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>The Lorax</i> 1971 childrens book by Dr. Seuss

The Lorax is a children's book written by Dr. Seuss and published in 1971. It chronicles the plight of the environment and the Lorax, the main character, who "speaks for the trees" and confronts the Once-ler, a business magnate who causes environmental destruction.

<i>The Lorax</i> (film) 2012 Illumination film

The Lorax, also known as Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, is a 2012 American animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film is the second screen adaptation of Dr. Seuss' 1971 children's book of the same name following the 1972 animated television special. Directed by Chris Renaud, co-directed by Kyle Balda, produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy and written by the writing team of Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, it stars the voices of Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Rob Riggle, Jenny Slate and Betty White.

<i>Welcome to Night Vale</i> Science fiction podcast

Welcome to Night Vale is a fiction podcast presented as a radio show for the fictional town of Night Vale, reporting on the strange events that occur within it. The series was created in 2012 by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. Published by Night Vale Presents since March 15, 2015, the podcast was previously published by Commonplace Books. Cecil Gershwin Palmer—the host, main character, and narrator—is voiced by Cecil Baldwin, while secondary characters are sometimes voiced by guest stars or recurring guests—such as Dylan Marron, who voices Carlos Robles. The podcast typically airs on the first and fifteenth of every month, and consists of "news, announcements and advertisements" from the desert town, located "somewhere in the Southwestern United States." In an interview with NPR, Joseph Fink said that he "came up with this idea of a town in that desert where all conspiracy theories were real, and we would just go from there with that understood."

<i>Mob Psycho 100</i> Japanese manga series and franchise

Mob Psycho 100 is a Japanese web manga series written and illustrated by One. It was serialized on Shogakukan's Ura Sunday website from April 2012 to December 2017. It has been also available online on Shogakukan's mobile app MangaONE since December 2014. Shogakukan compiled its chapters in 16 tankōbon volumes. The story follows Shigeo Kageyama, nicknamed Mob, a boy who has strong psychic powers, and his struggles to find the simple happiness he is looking for.

Undertale is a 2015 2D role-playing video game created by American indie developer Toby Fox. The player controls a child who has fallen into the Underground: a large, secluded region under the surface of the Earth, separated by a magical barrier. The player meets various monsters during the journey back to the surface, although some monsters might engage the player in a fight. The combat system involves the player navigating through mini-bullet hell attacks by the opponent. They can opt to pacify or subdue monsters in order to spare them instead of killing them. These choices affect the game, with the dialogue, characters, and story changing based on outcomes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toby Fox</span> American video game designer and composer (born 1991)

Robert F. "Toby" Fox is an American video game developer and video game music composer. He is best known for developing the role-playing video game Undertale, which garnered acclaim and has received nominations for a British Academy Game Award, three Game Awards and D.I.C.E. Awards. He has also created Deltarune, which features many characters and features from Undertale, and has also garnered significant praise.

The 2009 webcomic Homestuck, written and drawn by Andrew Hussie, currently holds a soundtrack consisting of 30 digital albums. Besides static images, Homestuck makes use of flash animations and games, which often involve background music. The music of Homestuck is composed by fans, but is published by Hussie through his Bandcamp page under the What Pumpkin record label. Hussie established a small "Music Contribution Team" for the webcomic, which is coordinated by Toby Fox.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex symbol</span> Person or character widely regarded as sexually attractive

A sex symbol or icon is a person or character widely considered sexually attractive and often synonymous with sexuality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Megalovania</span> Video game music track

"Megalovania" is an instrumental video game song composed by Toby Fox. It was first composed for the Radiation Halloween Hack, a romhack of EarthBound, developed for a Mother fansite's competition in November 2008. Inspired by "Megalomania" from Live A Live and the final boss music of Brandish 2: The Planet Buster, the track was intended for the romhack's final boss battle, and was developed by Fox screaming "whatever [he] felt like" into a microphone and copying it down. The name itself is a combination of "megalomania" and "Transylvania", the latter of which intended to tie into the project's Halloween theme. Years later the track would be remixed for the webcomic Homestuck's soundtrack as "MeGaLoVania" with help from Joren "Tensei" de Bruin, and Fox would use another rendition as the final boss theme for the "genocide" route in his 2015 video game, Undertale, when fighting the character Sans.

Christopher Edwin Niosi, also known by his pseudonym Kirbopher, is an American voice actor, animator, and producer. His voice-work includes Lord Uroko in Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea, Arataka Reigen in Mob Psycho 100, Dezel in Tales of Zestiria, Taira in Queen's Blade Rebellion, Tetsuya Kinomoto in Dr. Stone, Khoury and others in the Pokémon series, Ernesto and others in OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, Pegasus in the Viz Media dub of Sailor Moon, Haruo Sakaki in Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle, and Godzilla: The Planet Eater, and Therion and Mattias in Octopath Traveler.

Deltarune is a role-playing video game developed by Toby Fox. The player controls a human teenager, Kris, who is destined to save the world together with Susie, a monster, and Ralsei, a prince from the Dark World. During their quest to seal the Dark Fountains prophesied to end the world, the group makes both friends and foes. The combat system is turn-based and uses bullet hell mechanics. Similar to Undertale, enemy encounters can be resolved peacefully or through violence.

Sans (<i>Undertale</i>) Character in Undertale and Deltarune

Sans is a character in the 2015 video game Undertale. He is the brother of Papyrus and initially appears as a friendly NPC with an easy-going, laid-back personality. Sans is also featured in the 2018 video game Deltarune, where he can only be found at his shop, which is a remodeled version of Grillby's Diner from the original game. Sans was created by Toby Fox with support from the artist Temmie Chang. The character's name is based on the Comic Sans font, which is used for most of his in-game dialogue. This sans typeface was replaced with a "cutesy irreverent typeface" in the Japanese version of the game.

<i>Hazbin Hotel</i> American adult animated musical television series

Hazbin Hotel is an American adult animated musical comedy television series created by Vivienne "VivziePop" Medrano. The series revolves around Charlie Morningstar, princess of Hell, on her quest to find a way for sinners to be "rehabilitated" and allowed into Heaven, via her "Hazbin Hotel", as an alternative to Heaven's annual "Extermination" of souls due to Hell's overpopulation. The series is produced by SpindleHorse Toons in collaboration with A24, Amazon Studios, and the animation studio Bento Box Entertainment.

<i>Undertale Soundtrack</i> Music from the video game Undertale

Undertale Soundtrack is a soundtrack album by Toby Fox, released in 2015 for the video game Undertale.

Raymond (<i>Animal Crossing</i>) Fictional character

Raymond is a character in the Animal Crossing series, having first appeared in the 2020 release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons for the Nintendo Switch, as well as an update in the 2017 mobile game Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. He is an anthropomorphic cat who may appear on a player's island in New Horizons and subsequently recruited as a villager to their island. He also appears in the manga adaptation of New Horizons, and has had merchandise created featuring him, including stickers, magnets, and plushes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">W. D. Gaster</span> Hidden character in Undertale

W. D. Gaster is a character from the 2015 video game Undertale. He cannot normally be encountered in the game, and is never discussed directly as part of the game's main narrative. Players can only encounter events related to him either by luck or by modifying certain game files. A sprite from one of these events, internally named "Mystery Man", is generally used to portray W. D. Gaster, though the sprite's connection to the character is unconfirmed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alphys</span> Character in Undertale and Deltarune

Alphys is a character in the 2015 video game Undertale. She is a bisexual monster who serves as a scientist under the leader of the Underground, Asgore, and is a fan of anime and manga. She is also a friend to Mettaton, a robot, and the captain of the Royal Guard, Undyne, who eventually becomes her girlfriend. She suffers from social anxiety, depression, and self-harm tendencies, and the depiction of her struggles with these have been the subject of praise and commentary by critics. She watches the player-character throughout the game, offering guidance at some point, though with limited benefit. She is revealed to have dark secrets, including ones that relate to experimentation. She also appears in Deltarune in a different role.

Papyrus (<i>Undertale</i>) Undertale character

Papyrus is a character introduced in the 2015 video game Undertale. He is a skeleton with a large ego who aspires to join the Royal Guard, and also the brother of Sans and friend of Undyne. He is eternally optimistic, and despite wanting to capture the human to prove himself, finds himself befriending the human instead. He does not appear in Deltarune, but has been alluded to. He was created by Toby Fox with support from Temmie Chang. He was originally envisioned as a creepy person who wears a fedora and has no redeeming qualities, though Fox did not like this idea, so he scrapped it. His character communicates with the papyrus typeface, which had to be changed to a "faux hand-drawn vertical script" when translated into Japanese.

Alastor (<i>Hazbin Hotel</i>) Fictional character

Alastor "the Radio Demon" is a fictional character created by Vivienne "VivziePop" Medrano who primarily appears in the musical adult animated series Hazbin Hotel as one of the overlords of Hell. He was voiced by Edward Bosco and Gabriel C. Brown in the pilot and a series of music videos from 2019 to 2024, and by Amir Talai in the animated series since 2024. A constantly-smiling sinner, Alastor returns after a seven-year absence to run a hotel known as the Hazbin Hotel with Charlie Morningstar, princess of Hell, whom Alastor seeks to guide and control, while also wanting to free his own soul from the service of an unknown being. He is often accompanied by the hotel's bartender Husk and housekeeper Niffty, and he is considered a rival by fellow overlord Vox and Charlie's father Lucifer.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Schmondiuk, Natalie (September 29, 2022). "Tumblr Sexyman Explained". The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on June 3, 2023. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Good News, Undertale Fans: Toby Fox Just Wrote A Sans x Mob Psycho 100 Story". Kotaku. September 8, 2022. Archived from the original on November 11, 2023. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 Galiz-Rowe, Ty (September 8, 2022). "Sans Undertale wins Tumblr Sexyman 2022 bracket". Gayming Magazine. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Doyle, Jack (November 24, 2022). "These Are the Sexiest of Tumblr Sexymen". The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Toby Fox Reacts To Sans Undertale's Win Against Reigen As Ultimate Tumblr Sexyman". Anime News Network. March 20, 2024. Archived from the original on January 20, 2024. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  6. 1 2 Diaz, Ana (September 9, 2022). "Sans from Undertale won the Tumblr Sexyman poll, and I haven't known peace since". Polygon. Archived from the original on December 5, 2023. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  7. ↑ Wolens, Joshua (September 15, 2022). "Toby Fox wrote a fanfic to explain why Undertale's Sans is the 'ultimate Tumblr sexyman'". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on December 1, 2023. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  8. ↑ Hirun Cryer (September 9, 2022). "Undertale's Sans wins Tumblr Sexyman poll, inspiring Toby Fox to write the event's lore". gamesradar. Archived from the original on September 9, 2022. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  9. 1 2 Baker-Whitelaw, Gavia (January 31, 2023). "Tumblr users have voted on the ultimate Sexyman, and it's Cecil from 'Welcome to Night Vale'". The Daily Dot . Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  10. ↑ Hampton, Rachelle (host); Williams, Wil (guest) (February 22, 2023). "Tumblr Revived the Welcome to Night Vale Fandom: A poll to find the top "Tumblr Sexyman" reminded users how much they loved narrator Cecil Palmer". ICYMI (Podcast). Slate. Event occurs at 32:09. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  11. 1 2 Colangelo, BJ (December 1, 2022). "Why Animation Fans Are Going Wild For Hazbin Hotel's King Of Hell". Slashfilm . Retrieved April 5, 2024.
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