Literature / Jeff the Killer (2015)

A remake of Jeff The Killer (2011) made by K. Banning Kellum, which won a community vote to be the new Jeff the Killer story on the creepypasta Fandom wiki.

The original story can be found here, and the extended "Creator's Cut" can be found on Spinpasta here. The author then released a series of sequels, though the last one ends on a cliffhanger

• Jeff the Killer: Scars of Corruption
• Jeff the Killer: Jane
• Jeff the Killer: The Disturbingly Cruel
• Jeff the Killer: Liu
• Jeff the Killer: Shades of Madness
• Jeff the Killer: Randy

Tropes:

• Accidental Misnaming: In Liu the title character refers to Jane Arkansaw as Jane Alabama, remembering it sounded like a state.
• Adaptational Context Change: Jeff's mother, not the doctor, is the one who dismisses Jeff's creepy behavior as a result of painkillers.
• Adaptational Heroism:
  • Jeff spares Liu, and his reasons for killing his parents are more understandable since they were not particularly nice to him or Liu. The opening with him trying to kill a child is cut, and it's not even clear if he plans on continuing to kill people after he kills bullies Troy and Keith and corrupt officer Donald Williams.
  • In a downplayed example, the bullies, while still huge jerks, never try to kill anyone. There is also no mention of them mugging other kids at knifepoint. They simply mess with Jeff and Liu's bikes and get into a fistfight with them. When they try to get revenge on Jeff later, they do it away from anyone else, and only try to beat him up, whereas in the original, they attacked him at a birthday party with the intent to brutally murder him and threatened all those present.
• Adaptational Name Change: Jane Arkansaw's father and mother are Drake and Elaine not Greg and Isabelle.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Jeff's mom in the begs for her life and in a last ditch tries to manipulate Jeff into sparing her.
• Bait the Dog: When Jeff is forced to come to Randy's house, Randy seems like he's not such a bad guy after all. The impression given is somebody who only got into a fight against Jeff and Liu because he felt provoked and is willing to let bygones be bygones. As a result, the reader starts thinking he might be a Red Herring who has nothing to do with Jeffery Woods becoming Jeff the Killer. Even Jeff starts to like him after a while. Then he tries to force Jeff to let Keith and Troy beat him up and his true colors are revealed.
• Big Brother Instinct: Jeff makes it clear that Liu is important to him. He spares him and assures him that he loves him even after turning become a killer.
• The Big Easy: A big part of Jeff and Liu's disappointment with Mandeville is them missing New Orleans. Jeff even tells Randy that he would never being able to get away with his behavior in New Orleans.
• Contrasting Sequel Protagonist: Liu has the title character face even worse harassment then what he and his brother faced previously, given that he is tainted by association with Jeff's crimes. Instead of becoming a killer, he becomes a cynical sellout, cashing in his reputation with the help of a Sinister Minister.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation: Jane Arkansaw's father dies not at the hands of Jeff but of copycats, due to him wanting to demolish the abandoned houses they hang out in.
• Dirty Cop:
  • Donald Williamson let Randy and co get away with the fight they had with Jeff and Liu as well as the flare gun incident that left Jeff disfigured. Scars of Corruption explicitly spells out that he was working for Randy's father Maxwell, with Randy wondering if he was paying Williamson with money or had dirt on him.
  • Shades of Madness reveals Randy's father Maxwell participated in Doctor Sawyer's experiment, due to Sawyer having police harass Maxwell.
• Expy: After his disfigurement Jeff resembles Two-Face, with one half of Jeff's face being perfectly normal looking while the other is horribly disfigured
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Randy says he only stole Jeff and Liu's bikes out of boredom, having as much issues with Mandaville as Jeff himself. Unfortunately for Jeff, Randy was also just getting Jeff's trust so that he could attack him again.
• Karma Houdini: Jeff himself, though not as much as the GameFuelTv version as he only murders his parents, with no clear indication that he plans to continue killing. His parents are asshole victims in this version, and while murder is still murder, he does end up having to say goodbye to his brother (who he truly cares for) and leave his house, forcing him to become a homeless loner.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: Troy and Keith die offpage in Scars of Corruption and Randy is forced into witness protection.
• Named by the Adaptation:
  • Randy is given the surname Hayden.
  • Scars of Corruption gives Keith and Troy the surnames Jacobson and Lockett.
• Purple Prose: In contrast to the original's Beige Prose, this story has flowery language and overly descriptive text all over the place.
• Said Bookism: The author seems almost incapable of having anyone simply "say" anything. They blurt, reply, announce, invite, and suggest, but they hardly ever say.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Randy and co get away with the fight they had with Jeff and Liu as well as the flare gun incident that left Jeff disfigured, due to Randy's father having connections with Officer Donald Williamson. Shades of Madness reveals that Doctor Sawyer had Randy set up as "control variable" for his experiments, with a life of comfort and ease being part of said experiment.
• Spared by the Adaptation:
  • Liu is spared by Jeff after he kills their parents, simply stating that Liu is now "free".
  • In the GameFuelTv version, the Jeff kills Randy and presumably Troy and Keith in the incident that leaves Jeff disfigured. In this version only Jeff is harmed in the incident and Randy and co survive the installment. Subverted with Troy and Keith who are Killed Offscreen before the second installment Scars of Corruption, but Randy goes into witness protection and lives till the final installment.
• Trophy Child:
  • This is how Jeff and Liu's parents treat them. When he and his brother get in trouble for standing up to the local bullies, their parents take the side of the cops, refuse to listen to their children about what happened even when in private, and even send Liu away as punishment. This is all because the bully, Randy, is the son of their father's new boss, and they'd rather look good to their new neighbors than support their children. After Jeff is in the hospital for being hit with a flare gun, his mother is more concerned with how he'll look than if he'll be okay mentally or physically. All of this makes it no wonder they die in this version of the story.
  • Randy also claimed to be this when he was hanging out with Jeff. Indeed the later installment confirm the entire town of Mandeville was a psychological experiment with Randy as a "control variable".
• Two-Faced: Half of Jeff's face gets hideously disfigured by a flare gun.
• Viewers Are Goldfish: The majority of its opening tells us over and over again that Jeff and Liu miss home. It later recaps Jeff's first encounter with the bullies in the same scene.
• Witness Protection: In Scars of Corruption Randy goes under witness protection after the deaths of Troy and Keith, living in Utah under the name Sean Beckett, until he outed and decides to leave the program to tell his story. Randy shows the title character's conflicts with his father, embittered by the loss of his wealth.