the Rake

deathbattlefanon

The Rake began as a collaborative project online, as many creepypasta characters do, when one user posted on 4chan’s /b/ board inviting others to contribute details for physical attributes and habits to help make a new monster. Photoshopped images of the Rake were created and details of the monster’s identity were tracked in this 2013 blog post:

Here’s what we’ve got so far: Humanoid, about six feet tall when standing, but usually crouches and walks on all fours. It has very pale skin. The face is blank. As in, no nose, no mouth. However, it has three solid green eyes, one in the middle of its forehead, and the other two on either side of its head, towards the back. Usually seen in front yards in suburban areas. Usually just watches the observer, but will stand up and attack if approached. When it attacks, a mouth opens up, as if a hinged skull that opens at the chin. Reveals many tiny, but dull teeth.

The character’s spindly limbs, low-to-the-ground lurking, and many teeth helped contribute to its name.

In the fictitious origin story of the Rake, early sightings of the monster occurred as early as 2003 when reported encounters with the curious, frightening creature began cropping up in northeastern America before a media blackout on the subject apparently began. As a result, urban legend has it that there was little to no known information on the Rake until around 2006, when victims began collaborating to research the creature and discovered close to two dozen documents with dates ranging across centuries, all describing similar encounters with the Rake. Some of the supposed artifacts included a suicide note from 1964, a journal entry translated from Spanish dated 1880, and a mariner’s log from 1691.

The most famous story of the Rake involves a woman waking to find the monster sitting at the edge of her bed. The character is often said to creep into bedrooms, induce nightmares, and observe the dreamers for a time before killing them.