The Operator is the assumed proper name for the Slender Man in the Marble Hornets universe. This tall, strange figure is the primary antagonist for the cast and crew of the student film Marble Hornets. This being is somehow connected to the strange symbol known as the Operator Symbol.
Speculation
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 be 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 extension, 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.
~ Zeta Kai
Abilities
The Operator's powers are mostly guessed at, but general consensus seems to be that he possesses some form of teleportation. He has been shown at times to appear and disappear completely at random, which either serves to support this theory or indicates that he is very fast.
He also seems to have some sort of time travel ability; there have been a couple of instances of a person being somewhere one second, and then being somewhere else hours- or sometimes days- later, though they will not have noticed any passing of time.
It is this ability that leads me to believe that he also has some form of omniscience; he knows all things. Past, present, and future. Things that have happened, are happening, or won't happen until much later. I think this is actually why he "operates" at completely random times and places; because he knows when, exactly, he'll be acquiring new prey; for whatever purpose that serves.
Another ability also involves some sort of interference with technology. He is known to jam up cameras and distort audio devices. Whether this is an ability or a some sort of image that today's image recorder's are incapable of capturing, it has been seen in nearly every Entry in which The Operator appears. This ability may revolve around where he comes from, which might be from the future(see second paragraph).
In addition, he seems to hold some sort of hypnosis, or influence over his victims; several have recorded themselves getting up and doing things that they don't remember doing. An influence over the mind completely, would definitely provide an explanation to several of these occurrences.
~pau_explains~
Appearances
Warning: Spoilers ahead about The Operator's and other character's doings. It is recommended that you do not to read about entries you haven't seen.
Entry 1 First seen here, the Operator is seen to be standing outside Alex Kralie's house.
Entry 2 Though not seen, Alex talks about seeing a man at the roadside on his way back to his house from the Marble Hornets set. (This man is most likely the Operator.)
Entry 4 Glimpses are seen of a tall man running past the camera; again, this is most likely the Operator.
Entry 6, thought to be a direct continuation from Entry 1, shows the Operator looking through the windows of Alex's House.
Entry 7 The Operator appears in the distance, observing the car that Alex is in, previously being hidden from the camera (and, supposedly, Alex) by Brian's head, though it is apparent that the Operator was not in that position a few seconds earlier.
Entry 10 The Operator appears twice: once at 0:50, behind some tall grass, and at 1:22 on the far right of the screen.
Entry 11 has a spot of light, possibly that of a shirt collar (0:33) and the silhouette of a man (01:05), appear either inside or outside of one of Alex's windows, and a shadow and gust of wind inside Alex's bedroom (1:55), all most likely caused by the Operator. In this Entry, certain drawings on the wall imply that the Operator is somehow related to totheark.
Entry 12 The Operator seems to have first appeared to Alex in this entry, when it appears in broad daylight to the actors and producers of Alex's movie, interrupting their shoot.
Entry 13 Alex seems to run into the Operator, either by accident or not. The Operator is also seen behind a fence just before the audio and video go wonky.
Entry 14 has the Operator actually enter Alex's room, presumably to do something, as Alex is seen later with blood covering his face and staring at something across the room.
Entry 17 The Operator appears outside the window located behind Tim from 0:14 until the distortion comes in.
Return Four seconds into the video it emerges from around a corner and approaches the camera.
Admission A figure similar to The Operator passes by the camera.
Entry 23 At 6:50, The Operator reaches toward Jay before the footage distorts.
Entry 26 The Operator appears inside the house with Alex and Amy.
Entry 29 shows the Operator standing at the end of a tunnel.
Broadcast The Operator may be the figure on the right side of the footage, but this is inconclusive.
enttry 37 The Operator appears immediately after young Alex blows out the candles on his birthday cake.
Entry 40 Jay has a very close encounter with the Operator and narrowly escapes, leaving his camera on the ground.
Entry 43 has Alex coming in dangerously close range of the Operator, bringing him to his hands and knees and seemingly putting him in a hypnotic state
Entry 44 has The Operator seemingly removing Alex from his room to an unknown location.
Entry 45 After video tearing occurs, the two masked people run off. It is likely that the Operator was present, though it was not seen.
Entry 46 The Operator appears in Alex's house.
Entry 48 The Operator is seen briefly in the woods.
Entry 49 After Alex murders the man in the tunnel, the Operator appears. It then disappears, taking the corpse with it.
Entry 51 has two Operator appearances: First in the hallway where Brian leans his head against the door, then at the entrance to the room with Tim in it.
Entry 52 The Operator appears in Jay's hotel room.
Entry 54 Though not confirmed, it appears The Operator attacks Alex, Seth, and Tim.
Entry 56 The Operator is seen at the end, after Alex attacks Tim.
Entry 60 The Operator is seen down in the maintenance tunnel after Jay finds Tim's old medical documents.
Entry 64 The Operator appears at the end of the tunnel, and Tim collapses.
Entry 65 The Operator appears in the tunnel after the camera goes red and it also appears in a doorway later on.
Entry 67 The Operator appears just as the hooded man is about to shoot Alex.
Entry 72 The Operator appears outside the window of Alex's old house, in the basement, and then again outside the house.
Entry 76 The Operator appears at the end when Jessica is running through the woods. Jessica mistakes it for a passerby and runs after it for help.
Entry 80 The Operator appears at the end, he turns his head and reaches for Jay.
Entry 82 The Operator appears in multiple spots while Jay looks around after crossing through the tunnel.
Entry 86 The Operator teleports Alex and Tim from Benedict hall to Rosswood during their final confrontation.
Main differences between Slender Man and The Operator
- The Operator has no tentacles, as the original Slender Man mythos had.
Further Speculation
- Call me crazy, but in Entry #1, just before the Operator turns its head towards Alex (specifically 0:33-0:34) and more clearly whilst it turns its head, I can swear I see a moving tentacle. The reason I say this is mainly because as The Operators head moves, the "tentacle" appears to contract. Am I the only one who sees this? I am very well aware that common acceptance is that the Operator lacks tentacles, but who's to say that the Operator has just never had them deployed? The Slenderman could retract it's tentacles in the mythos… who's to say not the Operator as well? (Is it the Operators other arm? I somehow don't think so, but it just might be…) Refer to the second picture on this page to see what I mean- the "tentacle is to our left, reversely the Operators right- and watch the entry again to possibly understand what I mean. -Barn Owl
- No tentacles are employed in this series. What you saw was either a trick of light, shadow, or just seeing what you want to see. ~Zarggg
More Information
- See the Slender Man page for more details about the legend, rumors, and mythos behind the Slender Man (the OOG inspiration for the Operator).
- See the totheark page for more details about totheark's connections to the Operator.
- See the Operator Symbol page for more details about the mysterious symbol that keeps appearing around the Operator.