Captain Disillusion Exposes Fake Viral Videos

Captain Disillusion debunks fake viral videos and shows how they were made. Photo Credit: YouTube

By CHRISTOPHER MEJIA

In our digital era, some people abuse ever-increasing technology to get their ten minutes of fame by deceiving people with the use of video editing technology. Thankfully, we have a hero on our hands, and his name is Captain Disillusion!

Captain Disillusion makes content that debunks fake viral videos and explains how video editing works, along with some “silliness” sprinkled in.

A typical post consists of him acting as a humorous “superhero,” with jokes here and there, debunking a fake video that he has chosen or that was requested by his fans. He usually finishes his videos off with a joke that includes an obviously fake video edit or the technique used in the fake video itself, to make fun of the failed attempt.

What makes this YouTuber different is that he puts absolutely way too much time and effort into his videos. In one popular post, “Superhuman Tape Measure Skills DEBUNK,” he goes all out and completely exposes every single inch and crevice of the fake video.

Though Captain Disillusion plays the role of an obnoxious, quick-witted superhero in his videos, in real life, he is actually quite shy. He was born Alan Melikdjanian to circus performer parents  in the Soviet Union. When he was around age eight, he developed an interest in animation, and in college he studied video production and 3D animation.

Disillusion’s channel has been around for over 12 years (longer than PewDiePie!), powered by a constant flow of fake online videos. 

“It was a viral video of a penguin that compelled me to produce my first piece as Captain Disillusion,” Melikdjanian told the Miami New Times.

Disillusion told the Skeptical Inquirer, “I’m a terrible case study for how to do well on YouTube” because he has been left behind by other YouTubers. However, he has managed to amount a following of over 1.68 million subscribers by providing consistent quality in his posts.

Although he hasn’t had many “viral” moments, and he hasn’t evolved much, if at all, throughout his history, in a way his consistency is what makes him unique. You know that when a new upload arrives, it will be just as good as every other video he has posted.

I discovered Captain Disillusion at age 12. I’m not going to lie -- I was a pretty gullible person. There was just something about him that I found very different. His videos made me become more skeptical about reality and what we’re told and shown. He taught me to question things as much as I can and come up with answers myself, instead of just taking in whatever I’m given. He brought a very important skill to light for me, and that has made him a very memorable YouTuber.