Columbiner

RPF Fandom
Name(s):	Columbiner
Scope/Focus:	Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the Columbine school shooters
Date(s):	1999-present
See also:	True Crime Community
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Columbiners are fans of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who infamously killed many people (including themselves) at an American high school in the 1990s. They have been around a long time in various forms, but in recent years have been known to blog on tumblr.

Books have been written about them and law enforcement takes them seriously, as many have gone on to commit or attempt school shootings and other violent acts of their own. They are part of the larger True Crime Community, and are probably one of the most hated and feared fandoms to ever exist.

Background

On April 20, 1999, students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed twelve fellow students and one teacher at Columbine High School, before taking their own lives. At the time, it was the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history.

The event received intense and widespread media coverage, becoming one of the most infamous events of the decade; much of the media attention focused specifically on the perpetrators. In the years that followed, journals and videos made by the shooters became available to the public. The videos, journals, and news coverage of the shooting form the basis of the Columbiner fandom.

Activities

Columbiners participate in their fandom in a variety of ways, including creating fanart, fic, and photo edits featuring the murderers. Photo edits placing flower crowns on Harris and Klebold's heads have become particularly infamous. Furry fanart of the murderers also exists.

Even this fandom is not without ships. While works pairing the murderers together exist, self-insert stories pairing one or both of the killers with the reader or an original character appear more common.

An episode of the documentary series Zero Hour focusing on the massacre has received much attention within the fandom, as it features a dramatized reenactment of the shooting.

Notable Fans

Columbine-Influenced Violence

A large number of mass shooters have been Columbiners or otherwise influenced by the shooting.

A notable example is R. R. Stair (also known under the pseudonym Andrew Blaze), who murdered three coworkers before committing suicide. Stair was active on Columbine-centric forums, included themes of mass murder and school shootings in her Danny Phantom-inspired webseries, and on at least one occasion drew fanart based on crime scene photos of Harris and Klebold's bodies.