Over the past few years, streaming has become part of the online landscape. Content creators invite others into their corner of the Internet to share in the experience of playing video games, making art, watching movies or videos, or sometimes just having a chat. Streaming has become widespread with celebrities partaking in the trend and streams to raise money for charities being commonplace. Among the new faces to the streaming community are a new breed of content creator, a cross between streamer, a performer, and a fictional persona: the Vtuber.
Vtubers—literally “virtual YouTubers”—present a twist on the streaming formula. While many streamers show both their game screen and a live camera feed of their face, to show their reactions to gameplay and story events, in place of a webcam Vtubers have an animated character. This character is treated as a costume, role or identity with a backstory that their viewers are familiar with. These personas are also capable of being rigged to react with facial expressions that mimic those being expressed by the Vtuber in real time, adding an additional layer of characterization to the character perceived by the audience.
The trend of Vtubers has become incredibly popular in Japan to the point companies that specialize in Vtuber content have been established and these streamers are netting huge sponsorship deals. Hololive is among the most well-known, with a large portion of the highest paid Vtubers in 2020 being among their sponsored streamers.
A quick look at the appearances of the top grossing Vtubers reveals a trend of anime-like characters that are often centered around a detailed yet accessible backstory. What kind of character can a Vtuber portray? The possibilities are potentially endless: even looking just at Hololive’s English language branch, you can find everything from a plucky detective to a grim reaper to a shark.
While Hololive might be the most famous, however, they’re not the only Vtubers out there. There are many smaller creators who act independent of sponsors, creating their own content and bringing their own unique brand of animated personality to the growing field.
King_Belphegor’s streamer wasn’t a Vtuber to begin with. In fact, he had been streaming for a few years without a consistent schedule. Knowing some Vtubers himself and having a mascot character design that he was not doing anything with, he made the switch from showing his face on stream to showing the character. He decided to use the platform of Vtubing to flesh out the character more as a creative outlet.
King_Belphegor’s persona is the demon king of sloth. Initially he wanted to observe mankind’s growing dependence on their inventions, but his demons fell victim to their natures. Intrigued by video games, he decided to take up streaming to pass the time until he feels able to continue improving Tartarus. His streams include Path of Exile, Hades, Warframe and similar games, and he intends to stream artwork creation.
“I think a Vtuber’s dedicated audience can really add to the experience just because there’s a character to interact with and build upon,” King_Belphegor’s Vtuber said regarding the persona aspect. Kojiro’s streamer agrees, remarking, “They’re [Vtuber audience members] reacting to the Vtuber rather than the person behind the Vtuber, so it’s like getting to react to an animated character in real-time.”
Kojiro Kaelus is an ancient island dragon with a deep backstory rooted in his creator’s own lore. His streamer wanted to be an anime beefcake and appreciated the anonymity that came with being a Vtuber versus traditional streaming. Kojiro’s streamer tries to stay in character and he finds it easy to do so by keeping his lore in mind and making references to his origin story when appropriate. He prefers to “wing things and adjust as needed” instead of having a set formula for keeping his channel engaging to his audience. He streams music composition, games such as Minecraft, various Mario and Legend of Zelda titles.
The anonymity of a Vtuber persona is part of the appeal. King_Belphegor’s streamer explained that having these digital personas works as an alternative for a streamer showing their face. For performers, “having that little layer between yourself and the audience can do wonders for boosting someone’s confidence levels.” He has also noted that Vtubing has acted as a good outlet for people with disabilities in his experience.
Vtuber personas also add self-expression, allowance for writing, performance, and character roleplay to the usual joy of streaming. As Marjorie01’s creator/streamer explained, she liked not having to been seen on camera: “I would rather have my art talk for me than have my face.”
Marjorie01’s persona is an android who does not recall her purpose or her original programming. Stuck in a scientific facility, she games, sometimes playing Stardew Valley, Triple Triad, Psychonauts or suggestions from her audience. She also practices artwork, sometimes of other streamers’ personas, when she’s not creating robots.
Marjorie01’s creator got herself started by building up her Twitter presence first, then by streaming to Twitch. She followed and engaged with other Vtubers before her first stream as Marjorie.
For Marjorie01s creator, the creative aspects—character design, theming and performance—were part of the appeal of being a Vtuber. She wanted to make her own character and practice with digital art more. “Being amongst them [other artists] inspires me to do better,” she said.
When asked “Is the creative aspect of Vtubing important to you? Why or why not?” Kojiro’s streamer replied, “It is because we get to shape ourselves and who we are. How we present ourselves and represent ourselves can change an entire community.”
A common theme among the interviewed Vtubers is the appeal of the assortment of events, games and activities streamed as well as the in-the-moment type events that keep their audience engaged.With it being a performance to so many, the experience has more layers than simply watching a charismatic person play a video game. Everything from collaborations, to scheduled schticks, challenges posited by fellow streamers, this group of creators have become a veritable variety show.
With the streamers wanting to portray a character, some difficulties can present themselves with remaining in character during a stream. There are streamers who have a performing background including voice acting. This experience and background can support the persona and the separation between character and actor.
King_Belphegor’s streamer is working out how different he wants his persona to be from his own personality. He occasionally falls out of character while gaming, reacting as a flustered gamer (rather than a demon king) to the situation on his screen.
Kojiro’s streamer finds it easy to stay in character. While he’s playing as Kojiro he is himself “with embellishments.” Marjorie’s creator also sees her persona as similar to her, just with the robot identity. She intended for Marjorie to be vague at first, so she could add to her during her streams. She has phrases she says like “When I was human instead of way back when” that give Marjorie some differences from herself. Kojiro’s streamer also remarked “as cool/cute/sexy as they are, they’re [Vtubers] still people.”
The Vtuber trend was also helped along by the pandemic. With people being at home frequently and seeking safe activities, streamers became a go-to means of entertainment and interacting socially for many. For many gamers trying out streaming in their increased leisure time, it is understandable that they saw the appeal of having a persona as the face of their streaming channel. For audience members, it’s understandable that they were drawn in by the novelty of not just watching an ordinary human streamer, but watching an android or a demon king.
With unique, inspired character designs, backstories, games and gimmicks to choose from, Vtubers have cemented themselves in internet gaming culture for the foreseeable future. King_Belphegor’s streamer encourages anybody interested in Vtubing to take the plunge as it has been an overwhelmingly positive experience for him.
Kojiro’s streamer explained that the Vtuber communities are tightly knit and that he has formed a lot of friendships and received a lot of support for himself and his endeavors. As Vtuber technology continues to advance and become more accessible, and more and more people join these audiences every day, it’s safe to say Vtubers aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
