Mark Fischbach

Mark Edward Fischbach, better known by his online alias Markiplier, is an American internet personality, YouTuber, producer, actor, and the co-host of the now-defunct Unus Annus channel. He is the younger brother of web comic author and artist Thomas Fischbach known for TwoKinds.

Mark is known for his various playthroughs (Let's Plays) of games, usually in the horror genre, such as Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Five Nights at Freddy's and Slender, but his main focus is on indie games of varying genres, for the purposes of giving them more attention. He is also known to have played games outside of horror, such as Minecraft (in his popular and long-running series Drunk Minecraft), as well as Happy Wheels (in his series Happy Wheels Highlights) and other projects in which he collaborates with his good friends Bob Muyskens and Wade Barnes. Of the three, Mark is the second eldest/youngest, but he acts as the group's firm leader.

During the course of his channel's run, Mark has released several sketch comedy videos (one of which his trademark alter ego, Wilford Warfstache, was born from), commonly collaborating with fellow sketch comedians from the channel Cyndago. He formerly resided in Cincinnati before moving to Los Angeles on March 4, 2014. Since then, he has made numerous visits to his hometown on various occasions, usually in the case of setting up a live streaming event with Bob and Wade.

Early life
Mark Edward Fischbach was born on June 28, 1989 at the Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii to Cliffton Morris Fischbach Jr., a German-American who served in the U.S. Army, and Sunok, a native Korean who Cliffton met while stationed in South Korea. After his birth, the couple moved around for a while before settling in a rural area in Milford, Ohio—a city within Cincinnati's greater metropolitan area—where they raised Mark and his older brother by two years, Jason Thomas Fischbach (often referred to as Thomas or Tom). The house the two grew up in had a large backyard that led to nearby woods where Mark and Thomas would often play as kids. In their early years, the brothers were discriminated against for their Korean heritage; Of the two, Thomas had a significantly worse experience, being openly discriminated by his white teachers and fellow students for his appearance. Mark's earliest gaming experience was shared alongside Thomas over his Super Nintendo system that he got as a gift for Christmas.

Throughout his childhood, Mark's parents would often argue with one another which later culminated in a divorce. After separating, the Fischbachs sold their family home and Mark and Thomas transferred from a private school to Milford High School due to a lack of funds. Mark noted that the transfer was jarring, as he lost touch with most of his friends and school life felt foreign to him. After an accident at the school's jungle gym, Mark broke his left arm and had trouble with everyday tasks. This incident led to him getting to know one of his classmates named Drew, who Mark described as a tall redhead. Drew would often help Mark while he recovered from his injury and the two ended up forming a bond overtime, with Drew introducing Mark to the high school's marching band where he played the trumpet.

Some time after, Cliffton met Dee, whom he ended up marrying. Mark described her as "the nicest person [they've] ever met." Before graduating high school, Cliffton developed terminal lung cancer which put Mark's plans on hold. He initially wanted to be a video game designer, but after some disagreements with his father, he decided on studying civil engineering at University of Cincinnati before moving to biomedical engineering due to their medical school program. In summer of 2008, Cliffton's health worsened as a result of his progressing cancer. On the morning of July 4, 2008, Cliffton passed away surrounded by his family, with his final words to Mark: "I love you, so much."

After his father's death, Mark lived with Sunok and continued his studies, feeling it was too late to change his course, while also interning at a number of dead end desk jobs that he found monotonous and mind numbing. He later started dating again, however, his mother did not approve of their relationship and eventually kicked them out of her house. Mark then found an apartment for the two, but the relationship devolved over time, with his girlfriend eventually walking out on him. Three days before showing up for his next quarter, Mark's supervisor informed him that his services were no longer needed. Over the course of several days, Mark, filled with stress and anxiety, started to feel sharp pain in his lower right side which turned out to be appendicitis, requiring appendectomy. After getting checked out at the hospital, the doctors also discovered a large tumor on his adrenal gland that needed to be removed at a later date. Mark recovered two weeks later from his surgeries with the help of his mother and stepmother.

Original YouTube channels
Following the recovery from his surgeries, Mark had decided to take firm control of his life. Using his tax refund, he bought a new camera and started making sketch comedy and gaming videos on YouTube under the name Markiplier, a portmanteau of Mark and multiplier, which refers to his original intent of wanting to portray multiple characters on his channel. The first ever Let's Play Mark did was of Amnesia: The Dark Descent. His first channel was created on March 6, 2012 and its first video was uploaded on April 4, 2012. At the peak of its activity, the channel garnered around 2,000 subscribers. Around this time, Mark went back to college for a short time, but dropped out during his second-to-last semester to pursue his YouTube career.

In early to mid 2012, the channel experienced an issue with a connected Google AdSense account, and, as a result, prevented Mark from getting partnered on YouTube, which forced him to start a new channel titled markiplierGAME, where he would reupload some of his older content. In a 2019 interview with WIRED, Mark stated that he was ineligible for partnership as a result of YouTube's algorithm determining that his account was supposedly abusing the AdSense system, disregarding the fact that Mark's channel was not monetized to begin with. Before migrating his account, Mark renamed his profile to "Please Subscribe to my NEW Channel!", but reverted the change at a later date, and unlisted almost all of his videos. The only video that is still up on the original channel is the featured vlog regarding his departure.

His second channel, markiplier2, was made on April 26, 2012. Existing alongside his, at the time, main account, it was solely used for Minecraft Let's Plays, some of which were later reuploaded to the markiplierGAME channel. It was deleted at an unknown date.

A third channel titled markiplierTWITCH was made on May 24, 2012 for the purposes of archiving his early Twitch livestreams. It has been inactive since July 2012.

New channel, collaborating with Cyndago, moving to Los Angeles
Mark's fourth and main channel was created on May 26, 2012 and consists mainly of Let's Plays, sketch comedies, animated shorts, livestreams and vlogs. Initially titled markiplierGAME, Mark renamed it back to his original alias after YouTube started to allow for users to change their display names. In 2014, he moved out to Los Angeles for better opportunities and to be closer to the YouTube Space. Around 2015, Mark was joined at his LA home by fellow YouTubers Daniel Kyre and Ryan Magee of Cyndago and later Matt Watson of Kids w/ Problems as the channel's editor. Their combined work consisted of various sketch comedies, which were famous for often featuring dark themes and disturbing elements, such as "Danger in Fiction" and "The Ned Affair - The Warfstache Saga." On September 4, 2015, Mark appeared alongside fellow YouTuber Jenna "MissesMae" Mae on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to discuss Let's Plays and gaming videos after Kimmel received backlash for his dismissive comments regarding video game commentators.

On September 16, 2015, Daniel Kyre was found in his room in critical condition after an apparent suicide attempt. Having suffered irreversible brain damage, Kyre was taken off life support two days later. Following his death, Cyndago was disbanded and Mark went on a hiatus from September 17 to October 5, 2015. Around June 2016, the group had a falling out, with Matt and Ryan parting ways with Mark to form their own channel, SuperMega. Mark kept the reasons behind their departure private until October 17, 2016, when he had decided to address several online rumors. Mark stated that he was "too much of a boss and not nearly enough of a friend" and publicly apologized to them on social media.

Unus Annus
On November 13, 2019, Mark and Ethan made a joint channel called Unus Annus, with the intent of uploading one video per day for the entire year. Once a year had passed, they were to delete the channel without preserving any of its content, as both believed that this should be a unique, one in a lifetime experience that they get to share with their audience. The channel's disclaimer stated that any re-uploads of Unus Annus' videos without their permission would be met with a takedown notice. On Friday, November 13, 2020, from 12pm to 12am PT, Mark and Ethan held a twelve hour livestream to commemorate Unus Annus' run, later ending the broadcast by deleting the channel, along with all of its videos. The following day, Mark expressed his final thoughts on the channel's conclusion. On November 14, 2021, around midnight Pacific Standard Time, Mark and Ethan uploaded a separate video on their main channels titled "Memento Mori" in which they pay respects to the now defunct Unus Annus channel on its deathday, as well as reflect on their one year journey since the series' conclusion. For their work on Unus Annus, Mark and Ethan won the Best Collaboration award at the 11th Annual Streamy Awards.

2020 - present
Following the end of Unus Annus, Mark uploaded a video commemorating the channel's year long run, the final livestream, and thanked everyone who was there for making the journey worth it. He then announced that he would do move onto new projects including In Space with Markiplier. On January 4, 2021, Mark announced that he would take a week off to write for the upcoming film and claimed that he wasn't real. During his week off, videos were made as part of the plot line where associates and friends of him made confessions before his return on January 11.

On February 20, Mark uploaded EMERGENCY MEETING!! where he stated that In Space with Markiplier had gone over-budget and announced Markiplier's Big Ass Bake Sale, an event held to raise additional funds for the project including making content exclusive for channel members. On April 16, Mark made an announcement where he stated that he was going to Canada to film a television adaptation of The Edge of Sleep where he would be reprising his role from the original podcast.

Personal life
Mark is not religious, but does not consider himself to be fully atheist. In his early life, he atteneded church on weekends with his family, but quickly lost interest in it.

Mark has several phobias, including automatonophobia (a phobia of human-like figures such as mannequins and dolls), trypophobia, fear of failure, and thalassophobia. Throughout his lifetime, Mark would attempt to overcome his fears by gradually exposing himself to phobias in controlled environments, such as swimming in the ocean.

Mark has been in a relationship with Amy Nelson since 2015.

Mark's maternal cousin Seung Hyung Bae (Korean: 승형배) is an actor.

Political views
Mark identifies as a liberal. He supports universal healthcare, gender and racial equality, and freedom of religion. He is a staunch supporter of the LGBT movement, having raised money for the Human Rights Campaign and The Trevor Project.

In 2018, following the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Mark expressed his support for stricter gun control, namely for the ban of civilian ownership of assault rifles, greater focus on mental health, and ending discrimination against people with mental disorders. In 2020, Mark condemend the murder of George Floyd and showed support for the Black Lives Matter movement and Campaign Zero.

Health issues and injuries
Prior to starting his YouTube career, Mark underwent appendectomy on account of acute appendicitis. Early examinations also revealed a large tumor on his adrenal gland which was removed at a later date. Mark recovered two weeks later from his surgeries with the help of his mother and stepmother.

On March 22, 2015, Mark was admitted to a hospital due to a sudden abdominal pain, which turned out to be a small bowel obstruction formed by scar tissue from his previous surgeries. Two days later, following a routine surgery, Mark was discharged from the hospital and sent home for a week-long recovery.

Due to an enzyme deficiency, Mark cannot properly process alcohol. After an alcohol-related incident at his family home, which caused him to temporarily pass out, Mark chose to abstain from drinking. For this reason, Mark would later retire his Drunk Minecraft series.

While filming a commercial for Axe, Mark was accidentally struck in his left eye with a pickle and suffered temporary blindness.

Through unspecified means, while setting up his equipment for a promotional video, Mark injured his nose against an office chair. A few days later, while doing aerial gymnastics for an Unus Annus video, Mark lost his balance and suffered nasal trauma after hitting his head against an aerial hoop.

On December 2, 2020, Mark was taken to a hospital to be treated for intestinal obstruction via nasogastric intubation. Once the procedure had been completed, Mark was kept for additional monitoring and was discharged from the hospital three days later.

On February 21, 2021, while walking Chica, Mark slipped on the edge of a storm drain and suffered a Jones fracture on his right foot. After getting checked out at the local hospital, Mark was sent home in a cast for a month-long recovery.

On April 21, 2022, Mark was admitted to a hospital for an intestine-related issue. He was released from the hospital two days later.

Livestreams/Fan Interaction
Mark does a variety of monthly live streams on the video game-streaming site" Twitch." During these live streams, Mark often starts with a simple game of Minecraft as "something slow to start off with".

The majority of Mark's streams act as fundraising events to assist those in need - Mark sets an amount of money to raise for the chosen charity effort (eg. Child's Play, Living Beyond Breast Cancer, American Cancer Society, etc.) as a 'goal' to reach during the span of the live stream, where he depends on the viewers to donate to help the cause in question, and occasionally making his own donation to assist. Game play is broadcasted for entertainment, and breaks are taken in-between hours to interact with the fans and encourage them to help the charity by donating.

Most of Mark's live streams are done solo, but other streams see the combined efforts of Mark, Bob, Wade, Amy, Ethan Nestor, Kathryn Knutsen and Tyler Scheid to help in fundraising for the charity efforts, whilst collaborating with each other in a different selection of games.

Occasionally, Mark's streams involve playthroughs of fan-made work. On other occasions, streams are set up to meet with fans in certain multiplayer games and order them to do his bidding (no one objects, however).

As of May, Mark has raised a grand total of $628,670.14 for several charities.

Mark also occasionally does fan sessions, commonly on the chat site Omegle, where he meets with and talks to his fans for a minute at a time, often drawing excited reactions from the people he interacts with.

Mark's livestreams and past broadcasts can be viewed on his Twitch and YouTube channels. If he feels as if a livestream on Twitch had quality material, he will upload it on YouTube so people who didn't see the original stream can watch it there instead.

Co-op/Collab Plays
Mark has played collaboration horror games a few times. He first did a collaboration with another popular YouTuber, Yamimash. After this, he continued and played multiple Garry's Mod custom horror maps and other indie games with Yamimash, and played a non-horror game called Castle Crashers with three other YouTubers: TheRPGMinx, CinnamonToastKen, and Yamimash. He also plays other Garry's Mod game modes which are called Trouble in Terrorist Town, Prop Hunt, Murder and Gmod Tower as well as Minecraft with his friends Bob and Wade, CaptainSparklez, PewDiePie, SeaNanners, GassyMexican, EatMyDiction1, Jacksepticeye, and other famous YouTubers. Mark has also collaborated with fellow YouTuber Tobuscus for a couple of videos where one of them would play Happy Wheels blindfolded and the other would try to give the first player directions before once again collaborating on the arcade-style beat-'em-up game Nidhogg. Markiplier has also collaborated with GameGrumps on both their main game-playing series and their tabletop game series Table Flip.

Mood
Mark plays with a style contrasting that of many other Let's Players on YouTube - while some, such as ChaoticMonki (Cry), play with a subdued, sarcastic, and sometimes panicked mood, and others such as PewDiePie play with a constantly confused, panicked, and action-packed way, Mark plays with a mixture of both. When things are quiet, he thinks and calms down before trying to solve any problems.

He commonly takes on an exaggerated facade of courage and bravado when clear of danger, proclaiming his superhuman strength, bravery, and incredible sexy good looks (most prevalent in his earlier playthroughs). He (jokingly) overstates either his gaming skills, or his incompetence with solving puzzles, and threatens off-screen monsters, and sometimes real people, with a variety of awkward violence.

Upon the appearance of an enemy in-game, he often panics, giving his trademark screams and fleeing towards the nearest available hiding place. Upon the departing of, or escaping from the threat, his smooth attitude returns and so do his jeers of derision towards the game's antagonist(s).

However, on certain rage games (e.g. Cat Mario, Give Up, Getting Over It), even unintentionally rage-inducing games (e.g. Surgeon Simulator 2013, Amnesia: The Great Work), or during any nonsensical puzzle, he goes into fits of rage, usually due to the difficulty of finding the solution. He is often very fired up while playing such games and usually takes a while afterward to calm down. While he is shown to become extremely aggravated to the point where he begins banging on the desk in his earlier rage game playthroughs, his rage reaches new levels in his recent rage Let's Plays, often resulting in broken chairs and damaged equipment.

Skills
Alongside his suave and sonorous voice, Mark has a well-trained eye for quality in games, praising creative or innovative features, especially physics-based examples.

After playing a game, he will often pause for a minute before ending the video to talk about the quality of the game, what the developers did and didn't do well, as well as giving them advice as to how to make the game better.

Mark is also known for his hidden talent of bending his feet backwards. This has been shown multiple times at the conventions he has attended.

Mark has said publicly he's been attending acting and improvisational comedy classes. A vocal fan of the improv television program Whose Line Is It Anyway?, creatively also involved in music since playing the trumpet in school band, Mark's channel reflects that with parody songs while his skits with Cyndago show his natural comedic acting chops. He hints at a possible foray into serious music while playing Killing Floor 2 with JackSepticEye and LordMinion777 in May of 2015.

Recently, he has been taking up guitar and performing on tour. Mark has also since uploaded a cover of 'Thinking out Loud' by Ed Sheeran onto his channel. Along side this he has taken singing more seriously, getting voice coaching lessons so that he can sing along to the music.

In order to perform on tour, Mark has attended regular improv classes with Tyler, Ethan and others.

"Most Caring YouTuber"
Mark is referred to by some of his fans as an exceptionally caring and lovable person, which is one of the main reasons his channel is growing so rapidly. Special vlogs in which Mark talks directly with his fanbase are not rare, but on 10/10/2013, after finishing the fan-made game Ripest of Fears, Mark openly admitted that he has lost some of the contact with his fanbase while doing his best to be a good entertainer, and he accused himself of giving too much importance to things that really didn't matter, such as putting his subscribers counting ahead of himself.

One can see that Mark truly cares for his fans as, closing to the end of the video, he inadvertently showed signs of having cried during his speech and excused himself of making fun of some aspects of the game he was playing, as he admitted that some effort was put into it and that was what really mattered and thanked once more his loyal fans and promised to change back to the way he was, trying harder to reestablish some of this contact he lost by doing more special vlogs and answering more frequently to people.

Games Played
Mark's channel consists of a series of games that vary in genre and content. Horror games, such as the Slender series, SCP - Containment Breach and its number of custom mods, and Amnesia, its sequel and various custom stories, make up the majority of Mark's video count. Among the many horror games he has played, the Five Nights at Freddy's series stands out as Mark's channel's most popular series, with the first part alone having garnered over 87 million views.

Other games of a more peaceful or fun mood are also prevalent, such as Minecraft. Also among the list of games he has played are a number of games that are considered highly difficult ("rage" games) and a number of independent, or "indie", games.

Mark has played quite a few horror and action adventure flash-based games, the majority of which originated from Newgrounds.com, such as the Henry Stickmin series and Riddle School. Mark happily frequented the website before starting his channel, keenly aware of and supporting this area of indie gaming often times overlooked.