Ghosting (opens in new tab) aside, there is a new video game character that is making the Internet horny. I'm not sure why or how it happened, but the narrator of The Stanley Parable has been getting some pretty favorable reviews on TikTok and Steam lately. By favorably, I mean that people have been scathing about this transcendent being.

It seems to be a mix of people who crave the voice of the narrator, provided by the wonderful Kevan Brighting, and those who equate him with Stanley, the game's protagonist. It is the former that makes up the majority of my TikTok For You page, though. Some of it is rather mild, like the narrator's rather heartwarming pep talk (opens in new tab) about how people care about the protagonist. Some are more, um, not so much. Picture a compilation of weeping and ragged breathing (opens in new tab) along with "Stanley Parable narrator begging" in the search bar. I'm not sure I understand it either.

It also bleeds into the Steam reviews of the game, with very short but sweet recommendations like "Narrator is hot" and "Narrator is very hot pls add a dating sim option." Some negative reviews lament that "sex with the narrator is 0/10. I can actually get behind the idea of a game where you date a mean British voiceless voice.

The fact is that almost every wild stereotype in this space has been enigmatic and faceless. Former PCG writer Imogen Mellor, from Dream's proof that anonymity through face-publication is the influencer's best friend (opens in new tab) to people's enthusiasm for the fearless tone of the masked-up Ghost in Modern Warfare 2, has power, he writes about the power of the masked individual. Some of these I dare not think about, wondering which video game character will be the next to flood my feed with thirst traps. [Check out TikTok's #thestanleyparablenarrator tag (opens in new tab) and you'll see what I mean.