From what I’ve discovered, not many people are very knowledgeable about different YouTube celebrities. While almost every friend I’ve brought this up to is familiar with PewDiePie, who is currently just shy of 46 million subscribers, hardly anyone seems to be familiar with Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, or even the Game Grumps. While I realize that browsing YouTube “let’s plays” (videos in which YouTubers record themselves playing various video games while adding commentary) isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, I thought one guy in particular was worth mentioning. This is not to say that other YouTubers aren’t noteworthy; Markiplier has succeeded in raising tens of thousands of dollars for different charities and other YouTubers like Jacksepticeye are hilarious to watch and are just awesome people overall.

However, lately I’ve found myself unable to stop visiting the YouTube channel of a different, lesser-known celebrity and watching his videos. This young man, a 20-year-old named Calvin, goes by the username “LeafyIsHere” and has been uploading “let’s plays” since he was 16. He now has close to 3.7 million subscribers and has uploaded a total of 349 videos. What makes him stand out, you might ask? He’s notorious for being one of the Internet’s biggest cyberbullies. In almost every single one of his videos, Leafy calls someone out who he has found either laughably bizarre or worthy of mocking. Surprised? I was too when I watched a video of his for the first time. After unsubscribing from him in a bout of disgust at the kind of person he came across as, though, I couldn’t resist clicking on yet another of his videos in the “Related Videos” section. Maybe it was because of the shock factor that I felt drawn in, and I’m clearly not the only one. Leafy has managed to garner a following of fans who call themselves “the Reptilian Army” and often hunt down the people he mentions in his videos just to comment “Hisssssss” on their videos.

You may still be scratching your head. Why bother giving this jerk more attention than what he deserves? The one thing that makes Leafy stand out from other infamous figures is that he owns up to the fact that he’s a terrible person. He also stands up against YouTubers such as Keemstar and Onision who have gone as far as to lash out at others and, in Onision’s case, abuse them. I find it somewhat refreshing that he's a self-admitted schmuck. While it in no way absolves him of some of the terrible things he’s said about people, it at least brings him several pegs above people like Donald Trump who seem incapable of admitting that they have faults. At the same time, however, Leafy and Trump ironically have something in common: they both attract their followers through a significant amount of personal charisma and possess the gall to spew out insults that the rest of us would never dare say out loud. As my dad puts it, the main reason Trump has made it so far along the road to the White House is that people are tired of politicians who are representative of the stereotypical “establishment” and who act politically correct almost 24/7. Likewise, LeafyIsHere contrasts with other well-known YouTube celebrities because he brings a strong new flavor of personality to the website, and unlike Nicole Arbour, he isn’t oblivious to his bigotry. His brashness is simply entertaining to witness just as Honey Boo Boo’s tawdriness has put her on the spotlight. Some may see him as nothing but a bully while others may view his bold expression of opinion to be revolutionary. Judge him how you will, but nonetheless, I wouldn’t be surprised if he discovered this article and made a video commentating on it. He's been known to do that, and if it happened to me, I would just laugh.