The Smiler
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | The Smiler |
| Occupation: | Rollercoaster |
| Relationships: | |
| Fandom: | Alton Towers |
| Other: |  |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
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
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. 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[2]
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.[3][4] 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.[5] It has an entry on Sexypedia[6], and was submitted to the Tumblr blog sexymancatalogue as 'Tumblr Sexything Of The Day #165'.[7]
Similarities with True Crime
True Crime channels and influencers have discussed the accident,[8] 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
- Heaven Says / alton towers animation meme (ft. The Smiler) (Sep 2023) by Random Person
- [flipaclip] Saxo Beat Meme (Alton Towers OC Animation) (Jun 2024) by JeweledStone, featuring OC!Smiler/OC!Oblivion.
Fan Songs
- Ever Been On The Smiler? (Jun 2017) by AsrielEverything
Cosplay
Fanart
Links
- This joke hit me so hard and fast I had to draw it as quickly and messily as I could (Feb 2019) by andersam5
Gallery
[Theme Park Inspired] X-Sector Siblings (May 2022) by Thetageist, specifically the Smiler sibling.
Whizzer's Way of Flirting (Jun 2023) by Mitchika, featuring OC!Smiler and OC!Spinball Whizzer.
smiler sonic (Dec 2021) by holylawndart, featuring Marmelised!Sonic
Meta
- Hear me out. (Feb 2024) by cablestwisted
Resources & External Links
- The Smiler (Alton Towers Attraction) - Ao3 Fandom tag
- The Smiler (Alton Towers) - Ao3 Character tag
- The Ministry of Joy - FANDOM wiki
- The Ministry of Joy - Amino page