Philip Wolny - Mark Markiplier Fischbach: Star YouTube Gamer with 10 Billion+ Views

Published in 2020 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010

Copyright 2020 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Wolny, Philip, author.

Title: Mark Markiplier Fischbach: Star YouTube

Gamer with 10 Billion+ Views / Philip Wolny.

Description: First Edition. | New York: Rosen Central, 2020. | Series: Top video gamers | Audience: Grades: 58. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018047087| ISBN 9781725346048

(library bound) | ISBN 9781725346031 (paperback)

Subjects: LCSH: MarkiplierJuvenile literature. | Video

gamersBiographyJuvenile literature.

Classification: LCC GV1469.3 .W955 2020 | DDC 794.8092 [B] dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018047087

Manufactured in the United States of America

On the cover: YouTube personality, video gamer, and comedian Mark Fischbach has expanded the boundaries of online influence; he is shown here at a movie premiere in 2016.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

I t was March 2015, and Mark Edward Fischbach was in the hospital. He had undergone emergency surgery to remove a blockage from his intestineleftover scar tissue from previous procedures. The event proved to not be serious, fortunately, but it was unusual for a twenty-six-year-old in otherwise good health. Fischbachs initial reaction was not that unusual, either: he decided to make a short video to remember the event. He asked the nurse to hold the camera while he gave an update on his health situation. What was unusual was that when he uploaded it to YouTube, the video got more than six million views.

While his drivers license might say Mark Fischbach, he is better known to the world by his online handle, Markiplier. He is an immensely popular YouTuber and gamer. The online star, who made his name with numerous Lets Play videos that make use of his oddball sense of humor, has more than twenty million subscribers on his YouTube channel.

In the hospital video, Markiplier has a tube up his nose. His voice is a hoarse whisper, a far cry from his normally rich baritone voice. Sometimes a little wild, and always funny and engaging, he has become one of the most influential pop culture figures of his generation. Among teenagers and gamers, he is one of the most popular and most watched content creators online.

Markiplier and some of his YouTuber and gamer peers are the pop stars for a new generation. It is a generation that is always online, and online fame can be short lived. Viral stars can explode on to the scene and seemingly fade away by the weekend. In this uncertain environment, it takes a certain type of unique star power to gain the kind of fame Markiplier has and not only maintain itbut grow it.

Mark Markiplier Fischbach signs autographs at Comic-Con in San Diego, California, in July 2016. He never imagined gaming would earn him the celebrity and fan following he now has.

He and others in his circles are redefining entertainment and popularity itself. They are proving that it is no longer necessary to appear on a popular television show, have a hit on the pop charts, or shoot a monster jump shot in basketball to have an impact on millions of dedicated fans. In 2015, Susanne Ault of Variety magazine noted that eight of the top 10 slots in a survey ranking talent are now commanded by YouTube creators. While pop stars and athletes of the past became extremely popular for being different (more artistic, more athletic) from the average fan, Markiplier and other online personalities are not quite like this. Much of their popularity comes from being approachable, everydaybut still very talentedpeople, who just happen to also be gamers.

Markiplier has also never been afraid of trying new things or experimenting with new formats. He has more recently started to branch out into comedy. Despite setbacks, personal losses including friends and familyand the difficulties of being a career online entertainer, Markiplier continues to thrive.

C HAPTER 1

Before There Was Markiplier

I n the 1980s, Marks father, a career US Army soldier, met his mother in South Korea. They later moved around a bit before settling in Hawaii. In 1987, they welcomed their first child into the world: Jason Thomas Fischbach, called Thomas. On June 28, 1989, Mark Edward was born at Tripler Army Medical Center on the island of Oahu in the state capital, Honolulu. He was a big baby at 10 pounds and 3 ounces (4.6 kilograms).

An Ideal Childhood

Not long after Mark was born, his father retired from the military after twenty-three years. They moved all the way to Cincinnati, Ohio, where Marks father would work as an illustrator in publishing. The boys spent their early years there.

In a video series titled Draw My Life, Mark described his familys time growing up in Cincinnati as an ideal childhood, adventurous and fun:

We moved into this awesome home with a gigantic backyard that led into these really amazing woods where me and my brother spent most of our time. I mean, if we werent on the computer, we were out in the woods playing in the creek, picking up tadpoles, cutting vines, swinging on them. I mean, we really bonded together over those woods and thats one of the things that I miss most about that house.

When not outside, the brothers spent time on the computer. Mark credits his father with introducing the boys to computers very early. I mean, seriously, this thing blew my mind at the time because I could not imagine ever living without out it, he said in Draw My Life.

The brothers also fell in love with video games. It was the 1990s, and computer games had been around for some time. However, the eras gaming consoles were a far cry from the simple, seemingly primitive computer graphics of early 1980s arcade classics, such as Pac-Man or Donkey Kong. Newer, more advanced systems took video games to another level: from a childs hobby to a multibillion-dollar industry. Like their backyard adventures, gaming introduced the boys to a world of imagination before the internet truly took center stage.

Computer software generally, and game technology in particular, has come a long way since an earlier generation became obsessed with arcade games like Pac-Man, which launched in 1980.

Divorce: Ups and Downs

The boys especially bonded over the Super Nintendo console that Thomas got one Christmas. Mark said on Draw My Life, This thing was the reason that me and my brother are so close today, because we played so many games together with it. Brotherly bonding soon became even more important. While it had seemed like an ideal life, Mark and Thomass parents fought fairly frequently. Mark thought his mother in particular was unhappy with the marriage, especially since their father was a good deal older than her. They mostly tried to ignore it, and their parents tried to patch things up.

Gaming consoles from the 1990s, such as the Super Nintendo pictured here, excited youths like the Fischbach brothers with their more advanced graphics and playability.