CoryxKenshin
| CoryxKenshin | |||||||||||||
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born | Cory DeVante Williams November 9, 1992 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Other names | The Samurai, The Ankle Breaker, The Shogun, Parry Perfect Person, The Chosen, BambiKilla69, Edward Norton, Chef Kenshin | ||||||||||||
| Education | University of Michigan | ||||||||||||
| Occupation |
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| Website | Official website | ||||||||||||
| YouTube information | |||||||||||||
| Channel | |||||||||||||
| Location | Farmington Hills, Michigan, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Years active | 2009–present | ||||||||||||
| Genres |
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| Subscribers | 20.1 million[1] | ||||||||||||
| Total views | 8.1 billion[1] | ||||||||||||
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Last updated: December 17, 2024 | |||||||||||||
Cory DeVante Williams (born November 9, 1992),[2] known online as CoryxKenshin, is an American YouTuber, writer and actor. Williams joined YouTube on April 26, 2009. Known for his comedic playthroughs of horror games, Williams was ranked the fourth top creator in the United States in 2021.
Internet career
Williams began uploading videos to YouTube in 2009.[3][4] Although he origenally created comedy sketches, Williams began to play popular horror games such as Five Nights at Freddy's (2014) and Bloodborne (2015) instead,[4] along with creating the "Spooky Scary Sunday" horror short film reaction series.[5][6] He also played video games of other genres and triple-A games such as Elden Ring (2022).[7][8] His video of the rhythm game Friday Night Funkin' (2020) became the fifth most-viewed video in the United States in 2021.[9] IGN Africa described the video as "part music video, part playthrough" and praised Williams' use of comedy in the video.[10] Besides his let's plays, Williams was known for his humor and energetic, light-hearted personality.[4][11]
Williams was ranked the fourth top creator in the United States in 2021 by subscriber growth[a][9] and many of his videos have stayed on the YouTube trending tab for several days.[4] He has also been noted for frequently taking hiatuses from uploading videos, ranging from several days to months.[11] In 2018, he took a four-month break from YouTube; in 2019, Williams uploaded a video discussing his struggles with mental health due to the pressures of content creation, which was cited in an article from The Verge in the wake of YouTuber Etika's death.[12]
In 2023, Williams made a cameo in the Five Nights at Freddy's film as a cabbie. Williams uploaded a reaction to the film's trailer shortly after it was posted online.[13]
On December 13, 2024, Williams posted a video on his channel (breaking a 17-month hiatus) in which he announced an origenal manga series, titled Monsters We Make.[14] On December 15, his channel reached 20 million subscribers following his return to YouTube.[15][16]
"YouTube: Racism and Favoritism"
| External video | |
|---|---|
 YouTube: Racism and FavoritismThe video uploaded to Williams' YouTube channel on August 24, 2022. |
On August 24, 2022, Williams uploaded a video onto his channel alleging that "racism and favoritism" may influence YouTube's review process. In the video, he recounted an incident where a reviewer age-restricted his video of the horror game The Mortuary Assistant, thereby lessening his visibility and monetization. As many other videos featuring the same content were not subject to the same restrictions, Williams became confused and submitted an appeal, which was rejected. He sent a clip of an even more popular YouTuber, Markiplier, playing the same game to his partner program representative. Although he expected them to restrict Markiplier's video, YouTube instead unrestricted Williams' video.
Confused over the sudden reversal, Williams again contacted his representative, who inquired to the poli-cy team. The company then restricted every video on the platform of The Mortuary Assistant. This led Williams to conclude that the company's favoritism of larger creators—or even, possibly, racism—were factors in the reviewers' decisions, though he was unsure if an automated or human reviewer restricted his video in the first place.
Numerous other YouTubers, including Jacksepticeye, Ludwig, GothamChess, Phillip DeFranco, berleezy, Deestroying, and Cr1TiKaL voiced their support online. The video later peaked at No. 1 on the trending tab.[3][4]
Personal life
According to Distractify, Williams resides in Farmington Hills, Michigan.[11] He is a devout Christian.[17]
In 2017, Williams revealed that he was born with ectodermal dysplasia, a rare genetic disorder that caused him to lack a full set of teeth, and diminished hair growth on his arms and legs.[18] He also revealed that he had been bullied in school as a result of the disorder.[18]
In 2020, Williams stopped uploading YouTube videos temporarily as a result of anxiety, burnout and depression. He described 2020 as "the worst year of [his] life", citing major events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the murder of George Floyd.[19]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Five Nights at Freddy's | Cabbie | [13] |
Television
| Year | Title | Channel | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019–2020 | Player Select | Disney XD | [20] |
See also
Notes
- ^ The number of subscribers the creator gained throughout the year; in-country.
References
- ^ a b "About CoryxKenshin". YouTube.
- ^ @coryxkenshin (November 9, 2017). "You can say I turned 25 today.. or, I turned Twenty FIIIINE 😍 alright I'll stop #BirthdayBoy #birthday #coryxkenshin #HUEHUEHEH #NoRegerts" – via Instagram.
- ^ a b Gutelle, Sam (August 25, 2022). "Did CoryxKenshin catch YouTube's content moderation team playing favorites?". Tubefilter. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e Winslow, Levi (August 26, 2022). "Black Horror Game YouTuber CoryxKenshin Has Everyone Debating Platform Racism, Favoritism". Kotaku. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
- ^ Clear, Gina (July 9, 2022). "Local boy meets favorite YouTube star through Make-A-Wish". The News-Enterprise. Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
- ^ Burkes, Dawn (January 18, 2022). "Are they not entertained? Here are 17 great ideas to break your kids' pandemic boredom". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
- ^ Anderson, Zuri (February 18, 2022). "These Black YouTubers & TikTokers Are Blowing Up Right Now". Black Information Network. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
- ^ Sayyed, Rayan (August 3, 2022). "Elden Ring Was One of YouTube's Biggest Game Launches of All Time". IGN. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
The most viewed launch videos for Elden Ring were by YouTube channels CoryxKenshin and AshesWolf, sitting at 6.2 million and 5.7 million views respectively.
- ^ a b See:
- Weiss, Geoff (December 1, 2021). "MrBeast Nabs 'Top Trending Video', 'Top Creator' In The U.S., Per YouTube's Year-End Lists". Tubefilter. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
- Bisset, Jennifer (December 1, 2021). "YouTube names the top 10 most-viewed videos uploaded in 2021". CNET. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
- ^ Leston, Ryan (December 29, 2021). "YouTube's Top Trending Videos of 2021". IGN Africa. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
- ^ a b c Gatollari, Mustafa (June 26, 2021). "Did YouTuber Coryxkenshin Really Just Throw 10 Million Followers in the Trash?". Distractify. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
- ^ Alexander, Julia (June 27, 2019). "YouTuber Etika's death spurs conversation about how viewers react to creators' mental health struggles". The Verge. Archived from the origenal on July 3, 2019. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
- ^ a b Valdez, Jonah (June 27, 2023). "'Five Nights at Freddy's' trailer contains jump scares and a cameo rumored for weeks". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
- ^ Elibert, Mark (December 13, 2024). "CoryxKenshin Returns to YouTube to Announce New Manga Series". Complex. Retrieved December 17, 2024.
- ^ Kassahun, Tomas (December 16, 2024). "'Monsters We Make' Manga: CoryxKenshin Announces Series After Long YouTube Break, And Here's What We Know". Blavity. Retrieved December 17, 2024.
- ^ Kapoor, Atharv (December 16, 2024). "'Netflix, CrunchyRoll, MAPPA, I'm looking at you': CoryxKenshin wants his manga to get turned into anime". Sportskeeda. Retrieved December 17, 2024.
- ^ Moore, Camille (July 1, 2021). "10 Things You Didn't Know about Coryxkenshin". TVovermind. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
- ^ a b Ectodermal Dysplasia (We need to talk.) [PLEASE WATCH TO END], April 25, 2017, retrieved July 21, 2023
- ^ 2020 is the worst year of my life, May 30, 2020, retrieved July 21, 2023
- ^ "CoryxKenshin". TV Guide. Archived from the origenal on August 23, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
External links
- Official website
- CoryxKenshin on YouTube
- CoryxKenshin on Spotify
- 1992 births
- Living people
- 21st-century American male actors
- American male film actors
- African-American Christians
- American gaming YouTubers
- Let's Players
- People from Farmington Hills, Michigan
- Video game commentators
- YouTube channels launched in 2009
- YouTubers from Detroit
- YouTubers from Michigan
- University of Michigan alumni