Purple Francis

Purple Francis is a nonexistent protagonist of the Left 4 Dead video game franchise, created as a hoax by two teenagers on February 12, 2021 on the Left 4 Dead community wiki, which subsequently received a cult following within the fandom.[1][2][3] The hoax consisted of a series of vandalistic edits to the Left 4 Dead wiki,[2] describing a nonexistent playable character named "Purple Francis," who is visually identical to the character Francis with the exception of a "purple hue".[3] The edits provided detailed nonexistent lore, and cross-references to over a dozen edited pages,[1] where Purple Francis was discussed in detail alongside other existing characters.[4][5] Purple Francis was described as having been born in a candle factory, and turned purple through an iron-rich diet, which made him "incredibly attractive to women".[6] The edits also claimed that Purple Francis's daughter had an affair with Ronald Reagan, that ten players passed out after hearing his voice in the game for the first time,[7] and that he was later removed from retail copies of the game by Valve, "due to negative feedback."[1] "Screenshots" of Purple Francis were also supplied, depicting the character photoshopped into existing artwork throughout the wiki.[7]

While the edits were eventually reverted a few days after creation, the Left 4 Dead fan community seemed to embrace the concept of Purple Francis, and a mod on Steam Workshop was released on February 14 by a developer who'd worked on official Left 4 Dead content in the past, claiming to restore the "cut content" depicting Purple Francis.[1] The original creators of Purple Francis were later identified as "Lucy" and "Unknowntrope," two teenagers who had originally come up with the concept as an inside joke.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Phillips, Tom (2021-02-15). "Left 4 Dead's "secret" Purple Francis character goes viral". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 2021-02-21. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
  2. ^ a b "New 'Left 4 Dead' Character 'Purple Francis' Was Created by Wiki Vandals". www.vice.com. 17 February 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-04-09. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
  3. ^ a b c Clayton, Natalie (2021-02-15). "Left 4 Dead wiki 'vandalised' with references to a lost fifth survivor". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 2021-02-27. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
  4. ^ Wilson, Mike (2021-02-15). "'Left 4 Dead' Fan Wiki "Discovers" Long-Lost Fifth Character in Purple Francis". Bloody Disgusting!. Archived from the original on 2021-03-01. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
  5. ^ "Left 4 Dead Wiki Desecrated To Add Fifth Survivor, Who Is Now Canon, That's The Rules". Kotaku. 15 February 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-03-02. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
  6. ^ "'Left 4 Dead' Wiki Vandalized With Bizarre Purple Francis Character". www.gamingbible.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2021-05-07. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
  7. ^ a b "'Purple Francis' Is The New King Of The Left 4 Dead Franchise [Updated]". www.msn.com. Archived from the original on 2021-05-07. Retrieved 2021-05-07.

Archive of original Purple Francis edit

Steam Workshop Purple Francis mod