The Smiler

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Character
Name: The Smiler
Occupation: Rollercoaster
Relationships:
Fandom: Alton Towers
Other:
+ The Smiler + (Apr 2024) by MadamMonarch
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The Smiler is a rollercoaster at the British theme park Alton Towers. Many of the park's rollercoasters are anthropomorphised in fandom, though The Smiler is arguably one of the most popular to do so with. Fanworks will frequently involve anthro!Smiler interacting with the other coasters.

The coaster also features extensive lore centred around The Ministry of Joy, an organisation focused on spreading joy through perhaps less than humane methods. Horror is a key theme of the ride and backstory, especially psychological and body horror, and fanworks often reflect this. Alternatively, the ride has also been suggested as an obscure example of a Tumblr Sexyman.

Fans will cosplay as The Smiler itself, recreate the ride in the likes of Planet Coaster or Roblox, and write fic about the activities of the Ministry.

Canon

Lore

“why the hell does a rollercoaster have a fandom” because it has lore that could easily be turned into an analog horror arg series, Susan >:/

kickasscentral on Tumblr [1]

The Smiler is based around a fictional organisation called The Ministry of Joy, whose goal is to force social compliance through constant smiling. They began experiments around the mid-late 20th Century in The Sanctuary, a facility in which medical personnel performed treatments on patients, known as Advocates, meant to cause this permanent state of happiness. The treatments became more and more horrifying, and eventually the process of Marmalisation was created and later refined. The Sanctuary reopened in 2012 to attract more advocates in preparation for The Smiler itself, their newest means of administering treatment.

Characters

Other

At the park, the coaster itself, opening in 2013, represents the marmalisation process, with the central multi-legged contraption being the Marmaliser. The Sanctuary acted as a scaremaze.

The Smiler is a well known coaster, especially in the UK, in part due to an incident that occurred in June 2015, in which an occupied train crashed into an empty stationary one part way round the track.[2][3] Though there were no fatalities, two women became amputees as a result.

Fandom

Theme park and ride fan bases will come and go but no attraction in the world has made quite as huge a sub-cultural impact like The Smiler at Alton Towers. Having opened in 2013 after a little bit of a wobbly start, this world-beating Gerstlauer Infinity Coaster has sparked one of the most creative and dedicated fan-bases of any ride in the world outside of a Disney theme park. But why? What is it about The Smiler that sparks such imagination, adoration and creative investment from its ever-growing base of Smiler-stans?

From fan-art to cosplay, fursuits to fan-fiction and everything else in between, something about The Smiler just seems to resonate with people like no other coaster before it.

'What's The Deal With The Smiler?' by Cupcakes & Coasters, 2021 [4]

Besides the lore, the popularity and notoriety of The Smiler as a coaster itself, including the ride experience and theming, may have contributed to the fandom's creation. The coaster is record-breaking, having the highest number of inversions on a a coaster in the world, with 14, and is generally well regarded amongst coaster enthusiasts.

Some rollercoaster enthusiasts encourage a distinction between fans of the coaster as an attraction and fans within transformative fandom, though many fans are also both.

The fandom appears to have had a resurgence in popularity on TikTok around early 2024.[5][6] New fans began to compare The Smiler with fandoms such as Hazbin Hotel, especially in regards to the character of Alastor, and Five Nights at Freddy's, something other fans saw negatively, in part due to a perceived cringe associated with these fandoms. Other folks seemed genuinely confused that a rollercoaster could possibly have a fandom.

The Smiler is often depicted in fanworks alongside the other rollercoasters at the park, in particular Oblivion, the other coaster in the area The Smiler resides in, known as 'X-Sector'. Shipping will occasionally happen, such as Smiler/Oblivion.

Some fans have suggested The Smiler has Tumblr Sexyman vibes.[7] It has an entry on Sexypedia[8], and was submitted to the Tumblr blog sexymancatalogue as 'Tumblr Sexything Of The Day #165'.[9]

Similarities with True Crime

True Crime channels and influencers have discussed the accident,[10] leading to some fans of the coaster, both the attraction and the character, frustrated about some of the information spread about the incident and rollercoaster safety in general.

Common Tropes & Themes

  • Original Characters - These can vary from original anthro versions of the coaster itself, to original human characters who interact with the story of the ride and The Ministry of Joy.
  • Horror - Including gore and psychological horror.
  • Non Binary - OC!Smiler's are often non binary, and frequently use pronouns other than she/her or he/him, including the likes of it/its and they/them.

Fanworks

Animatics & Vids

Fan Songs

Cosplay

Fanart

Links

Gallery

Meta

RP & Fannish Blogs

Resources & External Links

Articles

References

  1. ^ Tumblr post by kickasscentral, Archived version posted Posted 22 April 2024.
  2. ^ Since the Smiler has been trending on different platforms and some new fans are spreading misinformation about the 2015 crash, so here is the correct information:, Archived version Tumblr post by alton-towers-real, posted 11 April 2023.
  3. ^ I feel I need to say this;, Archived version tumblr post by ask-humanised-nemesis. Posted 3rd June 2015. Quoting an (uncredited) facebook post explaining roller coaster safety protocols.
  4. ^ 'What's The Deal With The Smiler?', Archived version by Cupcakes & Coasters. Posted 6 February 2021.
  5. ^ Tumblr post, Archived version by startixx on Tumblr. Posted 9 April 2024
  6. ^ Smiler fandom that's growing on Tik Tok, Archived version thread on r/altontowers posted 9 April 2024.
  7. ^ The Smiler coaster at Alton Tower is Tumblr Sexyman coded., Archived version Tumblr post by brwolf1995. Posted 14 June 2024.
  8. ^ The Smiler, Archived version article on Sexypedia.
  9. ^ Tumblr Sexything Of The Day #165, Archived version. Posted 8 March 2024.
  10. ^ The Smiler Crash: A Rollercoaster Tragedy Waiting to Happen, Archived version Youtube video by Eleanor Neale. Published 10 November 2023.
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