unforum

[Gus23]

Masky vs Slendy...what are they?

[Zeta Kai]

Here are my theories regarding the Operator, copied from the MH wiki; (WARNING! this post is long!):

The Operator appears to have no facial features, lacking eyes, ears, a nose, or a mouth; the flipper-like "hands" at the end of his/its extra-long arms seem to lack fingers or thumbs. It is unknown whether the Operator needs to breathe; he/it has not been shown to do so, but there is no concrete evidence that he/it does not. He/it does not speak or otherwise vocalize, & therefore any communication needs to be accomplished via other means, such as a proxy (see below). He/it does seem to be able to sense his environment, as evidenced in Entry #1, when he turned his head to face Alex, as if he/it were suddenly alerted to Alex's presence. This implies that the Operator has a means of extra-sensory perception, some para-sense that has a wide field of detection, but needs to focus by turning his head to face a point of interest. Whether this is a form of psychic/psionic detection, an electromagnetic perception that does not require external sensory organs, or some other means of sensing is unknown.

The Operator's appearance is that of a very tall figure in a black suit & tie. It is assumed that this is not his natural appearance, or even his natural form, but an approximation of human form taken as an affectation. This implies that the Operator looks the way that he/it does because he/it wants to do so. This could mean that he/it is doing this in an attempt to fit into his environment, & that he/it may drop this façade when not in the presence of human beings. The effectiveness of this disguise is apparently minimal, due to the Operator's unusual height & lack of facial features, which belie his dapper dress & expose his unnatural origins.

The Operator's gender & sexuality, if any, is unknown. He/it is referred to as a male, but given "his" unusual characteristics, this is largely a convenient convention of nomenclature. The Operator could just as easily be female, or (perhaps more likely) of an indeterminate gender. Since only one Operator is known of with any degree of certainty, there is no way of knowing his reproductive practices, if any.

The Operator moves very slowly & stiffly when directly observed by eye or camera. However, he/it seems to be able to cover distances very rapidly when not under direct observation. This leads one to believe that he/it is capable of some form of teleportation. Another interpretation is that the Operator operates on something akin to a quantum level of reality, where his position in time & space cannot be determined without direct observation (see below).

The Operator does not seem to able to communicate directly with people. He is never shone speaking with or to anyone (or making any sound at all, for that matter), & his lack of a visible mouth seems to suggest that he is effectively mute. He/it therefore would need to use a proxy, something or someone to speak for him. This role is perhaps the purpose of the Masked Man, AKA totheark. It is possible that totheark serves as the "voice" of the Operator, a way of conveying his intentions & goals to others. As his thought processes are likely as strange & unnatural as he/it is, it is not surprising that totheark's messages are bizarre & difficult to decipher. It is only slowly becoming clear that totheark (&, by extention, the Operator) wants J to get them something, & that that is why he/it/they are interfering with J's life.

The Operator is obviously not a human being, or even a natural creature of earthly origin. He/It does not seem to obey the normal laws of physics as we understand them, & seems to operate at least partially in another reality. He may be some sort of fey creature, a demonic spirit, or perhaps even a tulpa emerging into our reality. I suspect that the Operator is a being from another dimension, one in which the laws of physics behave quite differently. To speculate further, I'd guess that the reality that the Operator calls home is one that behaves on a macroscopic level similarly to how quantum particles do in our reality. The reasoning behind this is that the Operator is able to distort time & space with his presence, & may even be able to control these distortions (these distortions seems to affect electromagnetic recording equipment, & perhaps other electrical devices, as well). These quantum-like distortions would explain the temporal simultaneity & spacial superposition that the Operator seems to exhibit. He/it is able to move through space (& perhaps even time) very quickly when not being observed, in a manner reminiscent of a quantum-level particle ("the act of observing disturbs the observed"). It is possible that direct observation of the Operator constrains him/it to our reality, giving Alex Kralie (& later J) a means of delaying the Operator's influence. How Alex determined that capturing him/it on camera would have this limiting effect remains unknown.

[Corvus42]

I like the idea that 'Masky's (I also like the idea of there being more than one) are essentially cultists. People who have fallen under the Operators influence and who serve him rather than being killed(or whatever really happens). The mask effectivly symbolises a lack of a face(but not truly faceless, that ouwld be presumptuous).

[HunterEris]

[Salty]

They're ghosts. Troy and Joseph confirmed.

[HunterEris]

[Zaden]

If the Slender Man can't talk, who was parroting Jay in Entry #23?

And by the way, I am under the impression that the Slender Man killed Seth in Entry #22. I know there's nothing concrete to pin it on him specifically or that Seth is no more, but that's what I want to believe.

[XurbanUnfiction]

[Ol'Slendy]

[sp103]

Even after 39 episodes we still really don't know much about "the operator" as the makers call him. Mainly because the most basic questions are still not answered (Why is he stalking alex, what did it have to do with Marble Hornets etc).

I think Tim (Masky) is the human counterpart to the Operator, as he can do things since he is human such as use weapons, etc things the Operator cannot do.

Of what we've seen from the first season it doesn't really seem the movie Marble Hornets had anything to do with the Operator. My initial impression was the movie was about him in some way, hence the stalking, but what it appears to be is just another teenager drama.

[Salty]

[Zarggg]

[Brainiac]

[quote="Zarggg"]

[Philosopher Xu]

I do not agree that the Marble Hornets movie has nothing to do with the Operator - I believe it has everything to do with his appearance.

The Operator is based on the Slenderman mythos, and we can expect him to conform to certain tropes regarding Slenderman. We know that Slenderman stalks children, causes paranoia and strange sicknesses, people under his influence compulsively draw faceless figures, and he doesn't talk or communicate in any way. This is all quite well represented in the Entries.

The Marble Hornets movie, what we know of it, concerns a teenager (played by Brian) returning to his hometown after an undisclosed number of years away. Presumably this character left as a child - in other words the script of Marble Hornets probably contained many references to a fictional childhood. The whole drama of growing up was likely spoken out loud many times, and if the actors were doing what they were supposed to, they were feeling and emoting childhood memories as they performed their roles.

Therefore I theorize the fictional story "Marble Hornets" is what attracted the Operator, not the location or a previous connection to the director or the actors. When Alex films him repeatedly, our current involvement with this particular version of Slenderman begins.

There is further evidence - the script revision immediately followed by Tim going "Masky", and Jay's role as the script assistant which they both made absolutely sure we understood in the scene at Brian's house (complete with Jay waving the script at us) and Jay's subsequent deepening involvement with the Operator.

To address the other half of the query, Masky is simply Tim wearing a mask. We have been given conflicting evidence as to why he wears it, and what his motives are. Sometimes he attacks Jay, sometimes it looks like he's protecting him. He may or may not be the person posting the TTA videos. The Masky character is suitably enigmatic and I think we are going to have to wait a few more entries to discover enough about Tim to put it all together.

[Zarggg]

OOG: