Alpharad

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alpharad
Alpharad at Frostbite 2020.jpg
Rabon at Frostbite 2020
Personal information
BornJohn Jacob Rabon IV
(1995-12-19) December 19, 1995 (age 26)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation
YouTube information
Channels
Years active2014–present
Genre
Subscribers2.61 million (main channel)
Total views1.2 billion (main channel)
Associated acts
YouTube Silver Play Button 2.svg 100,000 subscribers 2015
YouTube Gold Play Button 2.svg 1,000,000 subscribers 2018
Updated: September 23, 2021

John Jacob Rabon IV (born December 19, 1995), better known by his online pseudonym Alpharad, is an American YouTuber, esports personality, and musician. He is best known for his gaming videos on the Super Smash Bros. series along with his participation in the fighting game community as a tournament organizer.

Early life[]

Rabon was born on December 19, 1995, in Los Angeles, California. He gained an interest in filmmaking around the fifth grade, uploading comedic videos for his friends, one of his first videos being Major O's.[1] Later, he would take video editing and cinematography classes in high school.[2] Rabon attended the University of Oklahoma while making YouTube videos as a full-time job.[2][3] His original goal was to be a writer, director, or editor of some kind, but soon learned that in being someone else's editor he couldn't have as much creative freedom as he could making his own content.[2]

Career[]

YouTube[]

Rabon created his main YouTube channel on January 13, 2014. Since its creation, he has made various gaming videos on his channel, Alpharad, including the Super Smash Bros. series, Pokémon, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Fall Guys, as well as other Nintendo titles.[3][4][5] He has also dabbled in speedrunning, specifically in a video of him intensely playing through a Super Mario 64 first-person shooter mod, as well as being a retired Super Mario Odyssey speedrunner.[6] Rabon's main YouTube channel has reached over 2 million subscribers as of August 2020.[4][5]

Esports[]

Rabon has been involved in esports as a tournament organizer and affiliate with other prominent esports personalities. In January 2020, he participated in a Pokémon VGC tournament with fellow competitive Super Smash Bros. players ESAM, Mew2King, and Ludwig Ahgren amongst other content creators.[7]

Two months later, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rabon co-hosted five online tournaments called the “Quarantine Series” with fellow YouTuber Cr1TiKaL,[8] which consisted of two events, Minors and Majors, offering $5,000 and $10,000 in prizes, respectively.[9][10] The major invitationals featured top Super Smash Bros. players such as MKLeo, Samsora, Nairo and Marss,[10] and was streamed on both Cr1TiKaL's Twitch channel and Rabon's YouTube channel.[8]

In 2018, Rabon purchased a monthly stake for the esports organization, Panda Global, becoming their content director and a minority shareholder.[11][12] He had previously expressed his desire to hold more weight in the organization.[2]

In October 2021, Rabon hosted a Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl charity tournament with Panda Global member Coney for The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The tournament featured content creators such as Cr1TiKaL, Ludwig Ahgren, Trihex and Jaiden Animations, and ultimately raised over $100,000.[13][14]

Other ventures[]

Music[]

Rabon is also a musician who formed a band named Ace of Hearts.[15][16][17] Their first single was "Fool for You", which was released on April 1, 2020. The bands first EP, Monophobia, was released on June 5, 2020.[15] This was then followed by another single, "Silver Lining", which was released nearly a month later on July 1, 2020. The band's second EP, Scorpion Queen, was released on December 13, 2020.[16] The band's single "Lights Off" was released on March 31, 2021. Ace of Hearts' most recent single, "Deadbeat Boulevard", released on November 11, 2021. Their newest album "Frozen in Time" was released on December 10th.

Monophobia
No.TitleLength
1."Fool for You"3:09
2."Manic Daydream"2:36
3."Lighter Than Air"5:35
4."Monophobia"3:26
Total length:14:47
Scorpion Queen
No.TitleLength
1."Scorpion Queen"5:50
2."Your Name"5:20
3."All the Rain"4:17
Total length:15:27

Copypasta Theatre[]

On June 27, 2021, Rabon announced a one-time pop-up show to be held the very same day. He and thirteen other creators dramatically read copypastas to a live audience at the Black Box theatre in Los Angeles. Stage guests included Daniel Thrasher, Adriana Figueroa, Drumsy, Mari Norwood, Jules Conroy, Phil Visu, Cristina Vee Valenzuela, Ross O'Donovan, Dan Fulling, C. J. Ya, and Rabon’s project manager Deanna Gowland. The viral video of the performance involved a segment where several of gaming streamer Ninja’s Twitter posts were read aloud; Ninja later shared the video on his Twitter page.[18][19]

Personal life[]

In 2018, Rabon married his long-time girlfriend, Fiorella Zoll. They were living in their home state, Oklahoma, before moving to Los Angeles alongside close friend and frequent collaborator JoSniffy. On June 15, 2020, Rabon came out as bisexual.[20] Rabon announced his divorce to his wife Fiorella on October 20, 2021, stating that they had been separated for some time before the announcement.[21] During an episode of Rabon’s podcast, How Did We Get Here?, Rabon opened up about his experience being diagnosed with ADHD.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Rabon, Jacob, IV (December 22, 2008). Major O's (video). JRabonProductions. Retrieved August 4, 2021 – via YouTube.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ a b c d Groot, Justin (October 11, 2016). "How to Play Anything: An Interview with Alpharad". The Meta. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Bonnet, Siandhara (February 4, 2019). "Oklahoma City band collaborates with former OU student, YouTuber". OUDaily. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Haime, Jackson (August 14, 2020). "Fall Guys: Is Yellow Team Really The Worst?". Screen Rant. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Weiss, Geoff (September 1, 2020). "CAA Signs Prominent Gamers Alpharad And The Completionist (Exclusive)". Tubefilter. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  6. ^ Hernandez, Patricia (March 1, 2021). "The latest Super Mario 64 speedrun trend gives Mario a gun". Polygon. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  7. ^ Bartlett, Eric (January 14, 2020). "Eight Professional Super Smash Bros. Players and Personalities Give Pokemon VGC a Try in Wolfe Glick's Invitational Tournament". The Game Haus. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  8. ^ a b Michael, Cale (March 24, 2020). "Alpharad, Cr1TiKaL launch Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Quarantine Series". Dot Esports. GAMURS Group. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  9. ^ Kelly, Michael (May 3, 2020). "Sonix defeats MKLeo to win Cr1tikal & Alpharad's Smash Ultimate major". Dexerto. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  10. ^ a b Tate, Dylan (March 25, 2020). "Quarantine Series to feature online Smash Bros. tournaments". Upcomer. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  11. ^ Observer, The Esports (June 28, 2018). "Panda Global Adds YouTuber Alpharad as First Equity Partner". The Esports Observer. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  12. ^ Khan, Imad (January 26, 2019). "Panda Global, the Esports Team That's Saying No to VC's". The Esports Observer. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  13. ^ Michael, Cale (September 28, 2021). "Panda to host Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl charity event featuring Ludwig, Cr1TiKaL, and more". Dot Esports. GAMURS Group. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  14. ^ Michael, Cale (October 6, 2021). "ConnorEatsPants wins Panda All-Star Nickvitational, event raises $100,000 for The Breast Cancer Research Foundation". Dot Esports. GAMURS Group. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  15. ^ a b Weiss, Geoff (September 1, 2020). "CAA Signs Prominent Gamers Alpharad And The Completionist (Exclusive)". Tubefilter. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  16. ^ a b Rabon, Jacob, IV (February 2, 2020). "Alpharad in 2020 ❤️". TwitLonger. Retrieved August 4, 2021.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ Rabon, Jacob, IV [@Alpharad] (February 2, 2020). "tl;dr - Making less content in 2020 (going from 5-7 weekly uploads to like 2-3) - Will probably never ever stop making content, I love it too much - Focusing on music / mystery project - My band (Ace of Hearts) is releasing an album (Scorpion Queen) in May of 2020 - #LTP" (Tweet). Retrieved August 16, 2021 – via Twitter.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ McGuire, Keegan (July 15, 2021). "Ninja's Tweets Have Never Seemed So Dramatic". SVG. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  19. ^ Rabon, Jacob, IV (July 12, 2021). "Copypasta Theatre" (video). Alpharad. Retrieved July 20, 2021 – via YouTube.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. ^ Rabon, Jacob, IV (June 15, 2020). Super Sir Mario World (video). Alpharad Deluxe. Retrieved June 18, 2021 – via YouTube.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ Rabon, Jacob [@alpharad] (October 20, 2021). "