Username: 666

Username: 666 (also known as sm666 or Nico Nico Douga) is a video posted by Japanese YouTube channel nana825763 in 2008. It shows what apparently happens when one searches for the username "666" on YouTube and then refreshes the page multiple times.

The video has gained notoriety since its release and is generally regarded as one of the internet's first urban legends. Much discussion has taken place regarding its content and authenticity, leading to many rumors and recreations in the years since its initial upload. nana825763 has also created several other similarly-themed and presented horror videos, including a Username: 666 'sequel' simply titled, "Another YouTube".

While an account with the name "666" has been proven to have existed on YouTube, it is not known with 100% certainty who owned it or why it was banned. However, evidence brought up in this video suggests that nana825763 was the owner of the account, and that it was taken down by Google or YouTube following a complaint about its "graphic and repulsive" nature made on a help forum.

The below narrativization of the original video was translated and edited from Japanese.

Story

YouTube is a remembered piece of history. Back then in 2006, not much was known about it; most of the community was just people uploading cat videos. But one particular user caused enough controversy to be recalled.

The channel had posted a ton of gore porn and blood fetish material, earning them a ban for violating the site's Terms of Service. Such material can still be accessed, however.

One day, a person on YouTube posted their experience with the channel from a defunct blogging website.

"I worked for YouTube during 2006. I was a busy employee and uploaded videos there, too. What I didn't know was why some of the YouTube moderators had suspended a particularly troublesome account. I was more so wondering why I wasn't allowed to visit the page, rather then what was on it.

Eventually, one of the other moderators handed me a piece of paper with a written link on it. He then pleaded me not to ask about the "secret username" ever again.

The link lead to a user page. The URL was simply, 'www.youtube.com/666'. That day, I went home after work and typed it into my computer, finding that the account was suspended.

But when I refreshed the page several times, some things changed. The layout became gradually more red and distorted. All of the video tags turned into the letters "X 666", and every single piece of text on the screen also said '666'. I thought someone was hacking my computer, but I denied it and continued to refresh the page.

Just then, a channel popped up. 666's banned channel. I looked at some of the videos. Most of them were crazy depictions of gore, smothered in distorted, swirled graphics. I decided to leave the video I was watching and went to click on another one, but a blank pop up appeared instead. I clicked an empty button, and it took me to another video by 666.

The video consisted of a woman drowning in a pool of blood and other horrible things happening. Naturally, I thought this was disgusting, so I tried to pause it. It didn't let me; it wasn't responding. I decided to close Internet Explorer, but it wouldn't budge. Going on another video didn't work, either. I thought there was no way out until I remembered...

'The shut down button! Of course!' I decided to shut down my computer so that whatever virus this was would relinquish its hold. But the button wouldn't work. Shut down buttons respond all the time! I knew then that I must have been hacked.

All hope was lost. I couldn't get out of Explorer, and the video just kept going on and on. The girl in it was staring at me, all while random, horrible sounds burst from my speakers.

At the very end, her hand popped out of the video box and crashed my computer.

After a few days, I was fired. That horrid experience with 666's channel had affected me too much, and I could no longer work my job. That was when I thought of something: 'Could this actually have been made by the devil? Or was it just a joke to scare YouTubers?' Either way, the myth was very mysterious. I hadn't gotten any sleep after watching those videos. I wonder who made them..."

The blogspot became defunct 2 days after the above blog was posted. If anyone tried to access it, a message would pop up saying "Removed by Admin. Error Code: 666". The blogger sent me his experience by email, asking me to post it this on this website. He also left a note:

"NEVER VISIT NOR REFRESH USERNAME:666. ONCE YOU HAVE FINISHED, IT WILL NEVER STOP. IT WON'T COME OUT."

I'm not sure what he means. I hope no one has ever tried this...

2022 YouTube URL "Easter Egg"

In mid-2022, it was noted in several Reddit posts and demonstrated in a stream by Markiplier that altering the word "watch" in any YouTube URL would take the user to a trimmed, cropped, reuploaded version of the original Username: 666 video. While thought by some to be genuine devilry or an intentional easter egg on the part of YouTube, it was soon discovered that the phenomenon was a result of the user "CasualChannel User 20220510" hacking into several accounts and redirecting their URLs, likely as a prank. Said user also made their own videos appear on many accounts' home pages, provoking a wave of videos addressing the issue. The account has since been terminated, and the "easter egg" no longer works.