Below are some frequently asked questions. If your question is not addressed below, please ask down below in the comment section.
FAQ in English[]
General FAQ[]
General questions relating to Johnisdead.
Q. Is any of this real?[]
A. No. This story is entirely fictional, just like most ARG's.
Q. What is an ARG?[]
A. ARG stands for Alternate Reality Game. It's a story that requires reader interaction to progress, usually in the form of solving secret codes called ciphers or interacting with characters.
Q. What is Johnisdead? What does this have to do with Ben Drowned or Jadusable?[]
A. Johnisdead is a fan-continuation of Jadusable's Ben Drowned story. Check the story section below for more information.
Q. How do I play Johnisdead?[]
A. Wait for updates, speculate about the story, talk to characters, solve ciphers, explore the various websites, and submit songs. For more information, see the Gameplay page or the gameplay section down below.
Q. Who are the Internet Detectives? Why are freaky videos on their YouTube channel?[]
A. The Internet Detectives is a player group that has been playing Johnisdead since the beginning. Their YouTube channel contains archived videos from the ARG, they didn't make them themselves.
Q. Are the Internet Detectives the GM's?[]
A. No, though since the Internet Detectives are the largest organized group playing the ARG, the group as a whole is often involved with the ARG and the GM's often interact with them.
Q. Is this ARG still active?[]
A. Yes, though progress has slowed in recent years due to various factors.
Q. Is ((Insert YouTube Channel Here)) canon? What about ((Insert Channel Here))?[]
A. Probably not. There are many fake accounts and websites posing as the GM's. To check if a website or account is canon, check here: Canon Sources.
Q. How do I join the Internet Detectives?[]
A. Follow this link: https://discord.gg/UPykX3q
Q. What does Jordi Wild / Giorgio have to do with this?[]
A. Jordi Wild was a popular Youtuber who stumbled across Johnisdead, bringing in a lot of new players. The GM decided to involve Jordi Wild in a harmless way by mentioning him on Silentdork a few times.
Q. Why did Silentdork threaten Jordi Wild?[]
A. The GM's have never threatened Jordi Wild. There are many fake Silentdork accounts out there made to mislead fans and troll Jordi Wild.
Q. Why did Silentdork track down Jordi Wild and shine a light in his eye?[]
A. He didn't. All of the GM's live in the USA, and none of them have ever tracked down any players or Youtubers. The person who did those things to Jordi Wild has no affiliation with the GM's.
Story FAQ[]
Story questions relating to Johnisdead.
Q. What is going on? What's the story of Johnisdead?[]
A. Johnisdead is a continuation of Jadusable's Ben Drowned ARG. It follows a young man named Tyler and the evil cult known as the Lunar Children that is pursuing him. For more information, check the Story page.
Q. Is Silentdork evil?[]
A. No. Silentdork is the name of Tyler's YouTube channel. Tyler is the protagonist, and he is trustworthy. However, sometimes evil characters take control of his channel and upload freaky videos to it.
Q. Who is evil then?[]
A. The Lunar Children and the Moon Children.
Q. Who are the Lunar Children?[]
A. An evil cult that worships a moon goddess known as Luna. The Lunar Children was created by Patrem after he split off from a different cult, the Moon Children, to form his own.
Q. Who is Patrem?[]
A. Patrem is the leader of the Lunar Children, also known as The Father. His real name is Hank Hubbard and he was previously known as Kelbris when he was in the Moon Children. He was later killed by his adoptive son Matt after he drowned his biological son, Ben. His death caused him to Ascend.
Q. Who is Matt?[]
A. Patrem's adopted son. He's gone by many names - Matt Hubbard, Matt Hubris, Ifrit, Rodney R., and Matt R.. He has been in both the Moon Children and the Lunar Children and is currently an antagonist.
Q. Who is Ben? Is this the same Ben that haunted Jadusable?[]
A. Yes and no. Ben was Patrem's biological son. Patrem drowned him in 2002, causing him to ascend and become trapped within a Majora's Mask cartridge. If you know of Ben Drowned then this should sound familiar to you. However, Ben himself is not evil. The spirit that haunted Jadusable was an entity known as Tenebris. Tenebris simply stole Ben's name, calling himself BEN, and used Ben's spirit as a puppet while spreading chaos.
Q. Who is Tenebris?[]
A. Tenebris is a somewhat confusing entity. Tenebris is said to have existed since long before man and is merely an evil spirit that likes to toy with humans. He has the ability to travel through time, often making accurately documenting his history difficult. Tenebris requires the souls and bodies of others to fully manifest himself in our world. First, he used Ben's spirit as a puppet, calling himself BEN. Then, while on YSHDT.net, he called himself Mr. D. Later in 2015, he used John's spirit as a conduit, simply calling himself Tenebris.
Q. Mr. D is confusing... What is the difference between him and BEN?[]
A. Though we don't know all the details, Mr. D seems to be an amalgamation of many, many different souls. Mr. D is said to be Tenebris while controlling Ben, Max, Tyler, and many smaller souls. It is said that he consumes souls as if they were candy, much like a child. Essentially, the main difference is that Mr. D is simply Tenebris while in possession of Ben and many smaller souls, sometimes using Tyler's body as a vessel.
Q. Wait, Tyler? Tyler was controlled by Tenebris?[]
A. No, not our Tyler. Remember, Tenebris likes to play with time. Mr. D's exact nature is confusing because he relies on travelling through different timelines and cycles. During some of these cycles he uses a Tyler from a different timeline as a vessel. As one character put it, this Tyler is one that had made a very different choice than ours - It was a Tyler that had actually joined the Moon Children, as opposed to ours who fights against them in the present.
Q. Who is this Regiminis guy?[]
A. Regiminis is Tyler's former friend, Kevin. Kevin had secretly been a member of the Lunar Children and is now pursuing Tyler, attempting to capture him.
Q. Drowned is confusing... Is it just Ben?[]
A. Kind of. Drowned is the amalgamation of two spirits - Ben and Max. Max is an innocent young boy who was lured into the Lunar Children by Patrem. Tenebris wanted to capture Drowned so he could have his old puppet back - Ben.
Q. Who's this green guy?[]
A. You're probably referring to Doug, who appeared in a few of Tyler's videos. Doug was the protagonist of the first arc of Johnisdead before he was Transcended, becoming one of the Four Giants. He now pursues Tyler and is an antagonist, though he was likely killed via the Kill Switch.
Q. Who are the Four Giants?[]
A. The Four Giants are four transcended cultists. The main goal of the Lunar Children is to gather the Four Giants along with Tyler so that they can summon Luna into our world. The Four Giants are Kelbris, Alex, Spencer, and Doug.
Q. What is Ascension and Transcension?[]
A. Ascension is a special ritual used by both the Lunar Children and the Moon Children. Ascension essentially allows one to continue interacting with the world even after death. More skilled ascended spirits have the ability to travel between different dimensions known as parallelos. Transcension is a special form of ascension that allows one to retain their physical body even after they ascend. For more information, check the Ascension page.
Q. What's this parallelos business?[]
A. Parallelos can be viewed as different dimensions, or more accurately, different "layers" of our world. There are a wide variety of different parallelos and some members of the Lunar Children are skilled in traversing them. If one follows what is known as the "Parallelos Path", they will essentially be able to teleport by slipping through different parallelos. For more information, visit the Parallelos page.
Q. What is the "Kill Switch"?[]
A. The Kill Switch was a poll that was discovered on Youshouldnthavedonethat.net within The Truth. Players were given an option to completely kill of Mr. D, the spirits within him, and the Four Giants. The players voted yes, though it's likely some form of Tenebris has survived.
Q. How does Johnisdead.com tie into all of this?[]
A. Johnisdead.com is a website owned by the Lunar Children. It's said to be a holding place for many ascended souls. Basically it's a prison for trapped souls - ghosts. That's why there is so much disturbing imagery on the site.
Q. What is that weird book?[]
A. The Libro Lunarus. It is a sort of holy book to the Lunar Children, though some characters have claimed that Patrem has defaced it and written lies within it. Despite this, it seems to have some special powers.
Q. What is happening right now in the story?[]
A. Check the timelines for the latest updates within the story, and the story page for a summary of the entire story so far.
Gameplay FAQ[]
Gameplay questions relating to Johnisdead.
Q. How do I play the game?[]
A. A variety of ways. Search websites like Johnisdead.com and Lunarchildren.com for new updates and hidden pages. Solve unsolved ciphers like the ones found in video descriptions and webpages. Submit videos and items to cause various effects within the story. Interact with characters via email or comment sections.
Q. How do I solve ciphers?[]
A. Johnisdead uses many different types of ciphers, so there's no single way to solve them. For a thorough introduction and tutorial on solving ciphers, along with various resources, check the Unsolved page.
Q. How do I submit songs and items? What does it do?[]
A. Using video responses is a form of gameplay that first began in Jadusable's ARG. The best way to explain this is by using an example. Let's say Tyler wishes it would rain near his home. Players can help him by recording themselves playing either The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time or The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and playing the Song of Storms on their ocarina, which causes it to rain. By uploading this video to YouTube and linking it in a special place, users are "submitting" this video, and it now has a chance to cause it to rain outside Tyler's house.
Basically, whatever players record themselves doing in-game will cause the same to happen within the ARG. This is often referred to as "Song Powers", however, using other items while recording themselves playing has also worked, such as using the Stone Mask to turn players invisible. A full rundown on this can be found on the Gameplay page.
Q. Where do I link my song submission to?[]
A. First of all, before you submit any song or item, make sure you have the consensus and approval of other players. Songs and items can be dangerous, sometimes having unexpected effects on the characters. We don't want to accidentally get Tyler killed. Secondly, the location of where songs can be submitted has changed many times throughout the ARG. Originally it was on Within Hubris, though it was later changed to the Lunar Children Forums. Currently, it seems like players can submit songs by simply linking them in the character's comment sections.