The Operator

The Operator is what is presumed to be the main antagonist of Marble Hornets, although there is evidence supporting that he may not be what he initially seemed.

Of tall stature and dressed in a business suit, The Operator is nevertheless a very inhuman being; his face is a complete, featureless blank, and his arms have an almost tentacle-like quality to them. He also may have supernatural powers.

The Operator first appeared in Entry #1. His actor has not been revealed.

Involvement

The Operator initially seems to be a malicious being, appearing at seemingly random to scare or attack Alex and later Jay. Chronologically, his first physical appearance thus far was in Entry #12, although entry #37 shows that he has been active in the characters' lives since at least 1991.

Events occurring near the end of Season 2 show him possibly allying with Alex, although the circumstances remain unknown.

Appearances

Season 1

• Entry #1 has The Operator standing around outside Alex's House.
• The Operator runs past Alex's camera in Entry #4.

  

  The Operator as seen in Entry #1

• The Operator "looks" through Alex's windows in Entry #6.
• When Brian moves his head in Entry #7, Alex (and the viewer) can see The Operator standing in the distance, where he wasn't prior.
• Alex shines his flashlight on The Operator twice in Entry #10.
• The Operator is seen in the right-hand corner of the screen as Alex approaches a set of blinds in Entry #11, then after he returns to bed, his shadow is seen passing over Alex.
• Alex mistakes The Operator for Tim in Entry #12 when he sees him in the background of a filming of Marble Hornets.
• In Entry #13, The Operator can be seen standing behind a fence, and then he appears next to a building Alex is outside of.
• The Operator opens the door to Alex's room with one of his tentacles in Entry #14 and walks off-camera.
• Throughout most of Entry #17, The Operator can be seen standing outside of the window behind Tim.
• The Operator walks through a hall, past a huddled Jay, and toward the camera, in Return.
• What seems to be The Operator walks past the open door in Admission.
• Jay encounters The Operator at the very end of Entry #23.
• After Amy turns on Alex's camera in Entry #26, The Operator appears in their house.

Season 2

• The Operator stands at the exit of a tunnel in Entry #29.

  

  The Operator as seen in Entry #43

• When Alex blows out the camera on his birthday cake in enttry #37, The Operator can be seen in the distortion.
• In Entry #39, the Operator is seen walking past Jay's car, peering through the window to the trunk where Jay is presumably sleeping.
• The Operator suddenly appears before Jay in Rosswood Park in Entry #40.
• In Entry #43, Alex walks back into Rosswood Park and encounters The Operator, seemingly contracting The Sickness, before standing up and marching towards him.
• The Operator approaches Alex in his room in Entry #44, seemingly whisking him off elsewhere.
• The Operator appears in the distortion at the end of Entry #45, as Alex yells the word "kill".
• In Entry #46, Jay sees The Operator outside Alex's window as he leaves his closet. After Alex and Jay argue in the darkness, Jay pans the camera upward and The Operator can be seen approaching behind Alex.
• After Alex kills the Bearded Man in Entry #49, The Operator appears and whisks away his body.
• In Entry #51, Alex and Brian go to the abandoned hospital, Brian leans his head against the wall and the Operator is seen at the end of the corridor and after this the Operator appears in the doorway with Tim and Brian.
• The Operator appears in Jay's hotel room in Entry #52.

Season 3

• Set back when Alex was shooting marble hornets, the operator is in Brian's house standing by the door in Entry #54  and then later the Operator's arm appears next to Alex in the doorway.
• In Entry #56, at the abandoned hospital Alex attacks Tim and the camera falls down showing the Operator standing there.
• Jay sees the Operator in a small tunnel which then is seen again infront of the camera in Entry #60.
• The Operator appears at the end of the tunnel and Tim collapses, every time Jay points the camera at it it is closer, that is in Entry #64.
•  In Entry #67, Hoodie is about to shoot Alex but sees the Operator in the doorway of the abandoned hospital.
• On a burnt tape, in Entry #70 Alex is at the park and sees the Operator to then yell at it and run towards it but it teleports closer and then just when Alex runs into it, the Operator teleports away.
• In Entry #72, Jay and Tim search Alex's house and Tim asks Jay to help open a door so Jay puts the camera on the window ledge showing the Operator standing in the field, later the Operator appears in the basement trying to attack Jay and Tim and then finally outside Alex's house the Operator is standing there while Jay lies on the floor coughing and while Tim stands up to the Operator trying to attack it but failing.

Origins

While The Operator's actual origin is unknown as of yet, Alex tells Jay of a tale in Entry #41 which may be linked to his existence. Alex says that in an area of what is now Rosswood Park, the flora, particularly the trees, would grow abnormally fast. As punishment, the locals would string up criminals from the trees and let them grow, misshaping the criminals. After the criminals died of dehydration, the locals would burn down the trees, body and all. The practice was suspended when a missing child was found dismembered in the trees.

Abilities

The Operator is suspected to have many abilities, including teleportation and electronic interference. These two have the largest amount of evidence. Other presumed abilities include mind control and The Sickness.

The Slender Man

The Operator is based on a character known as The Slender Man. The Slender Man was created as an entry in a Photoshop contest on the message board Something Awful, by user Victor Surge[1]. The character became a runaway hit and only proved more popular as Surge continued to post more material. Slender Man, or Slender Man analogues (such as The Operator) can now be found in a number of works.

Nomenclature

The name "The Operator" has thus far never been used in the series; the name was ascribed to the character in interviews by Troy and Joseph. Other than the name of the character The Operator was based on (Slender Man), the character has been referred to by fans as all sorts of permutations of the names, including Slendy, TO, and El Hombre Alto (Spanish for "The Tall Man").